Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is thinking of amending trade licence and other rules pertaining to commercial establishments to allow punitive provisions for violation of Covid safety norms, mayor Asha Lakra announced after holding a marathon meeting with trade organisations on Saturday.

The civic body has decided to roll out an aggressive week-long awareness drive to reinforce Covid safety norms among traders and shoppers from Sunday.

Lakra said she would hold another meeting early in December to chalk out modalities of including punitive provisions in the Jharkhand Municipal Trade License Regulations-2017 and other rules for shops and markets.

“Saturday’s meeting was aimed at seeking traders’ cooperation to enforce Covid safety norms with shops and business establishments. We have asked them to follow the principle of ‘no goods without mask’ and display this message prominently at their establishments. We are also going to launch a week-long sensitisation drive across the capital through banners, posters and public announcements,” she said.

Lakra said the RMC would hold another meeting in the first week of December to devise ways to introduce punitive provisions in the municipal act. “These may include fines, cancellation of trade licence, among others,” she said.

While the district administration has launched a mask checking drive since Wednesday, the civic body is also gearing up to step up the vigilance in markets under its command areas to curb the spread of coronavirus amid fears of another wave of infection.

“The situation in some markets is such that widespread violations are taking place. It is time for tough action. If awareness and appeals don’t help, then one has to instil fear to enforce rules,” she opined.

Police and the district administration have so far slapped 1,000 people with fines for not wearing masks, collecting close to Rs 5 lakh since Wednesday, according to an official communiqué. Close to two dozen shops were sealed and seven were served notices for violation of Covid norms.

Out of 2,162 active cases in Jharkhand now, Ranchi accounts for 769, the highest in the state. Since the outbreak, Ranchi recorded 27,720 cases of which 26,757 were cured and 194 died. The district has 2017 active containment zones as of now.