In order to curb the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city, the Government Railway Police (GRP) recently penalised over 100 people in the past two days for moving within railway premises without face masks. On Tuesday, the GRP started a drive to ensure the safety of commuters using the train service. So far, the GRP has collected Rs 29,200 as fine. Speaking to Hindustan Times, a GRP officer said, "We needed to crackdown as we need to ensure safety of commuters during the pandemic. We found that people were not wearing masks despite us insisting for it." On Tuesday, GRP penalised 35 people across the three railway lines in the city and collected a fine of Rs 10,000. On Wednesday, they caught 66 passengers and fined them Rs 19,200 with the maximum number of people being penalised at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). "On Tuesday, we fined 25 passengers, and on Wednesday also the number was 25. Each commuter caught without mask was fined Rs 200," said Hemant Bawdhankar, senior police inspector, CSMT GRP. The second station where the maximum number of commuters were fined was Thane, followed by Kurla. GRP officers said that since the railways have started to allow women commuters along with essential workers, the concern for safety owing to COVID-19 infection has increased, and hence, the drive will continue. Keep scrolling to read more news Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

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