Bengaluru will receive 2,000 home guards for Covid service

With the number of new Covid-19 infections on the rise in Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has agreed to deploy 2,000 home guards to ensure people adhere to Covid-safe practices.

The decision comes after the Covid-19 state technical advisory committee (TAC) told the government at a recent meeting that following health protocols was critical if it wanted to prevent a second wave of infections from spreading.

According to Rajbir Singh, the chief of marshals, BBMP marshals are cracking down on those who don’t wear masks or practice social distancing, they are overworked and overburdened. As a result, regulation in Bengaluru is becoming a problem. The city currently has 216 marshals deployed in 27 assembly constituencies. In division, four people work in shifts. Besides, marshals patrol the streets in cars, keeping an eye on the public.

In addition to marshals, a decision has been made to deploy 2,000 home guards to ensure Covid-appropriate behavior, we want to be stricter with the laws than before, BBMP commissioner Gaurav Gupta said.

Bengaluru registered 24,590 new cases between March 28 and April 5. During the same time span, the number of active cases rose from 15,882 to 30,782. Since May of last year, the BBMP has arrested 3.9 lakh, people, for violating health regulations and received Rs 9.3 crore in fines. BBMP marshals have fined 3.7 lakh people for not wearing masks, and collected Rs, 8.7 crores so far.

Karnataka’s Health Department recorded over 5,000 new Covid-19 cases and 32 related deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 10.20 lakh and the death toll to 12,657. A total of 1,856 patients were discharged from the hospital on that day. On Monday, 3,728 new cases were registered in Bengaluru Urban alone, out of a total of 5,279 new cases reported.