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This is an archive article published on March 17, 2021

PCMC to file police complaints against marriage hall owners, hotels and families for violating Covid-19 norms

Officials have also been directed to act against those celebrating birthday parties in hotels and in public spaces.

PCMC to file police complaints against marriage hall owners, hotels and families for violating Covid-19 normsPimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil has directed officials to file police complaints against marriage hall owners and hotels for hosting marriage ceremonies if the guests are found violating Covid-19 safety norms. (Express file photo by Rajesh Stephen)

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil has directed officials to file police complaints against marriage hall owners and hotels for hosting marriage ceremonies if the guests are found violating Covid-19 safety norms. Officials have also been directed to act against those celebrating birthday parties in hotels and in public spaces.

“I have directed officials to take action against marriage hall owners who are found to be violating norms,” Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil told The Indian Express on Wednesday.

Asked whether families organising marriages will also face action, Patil said, “The police will inquire into their role…if they are found to be guilty, then action will also be taken against them.”

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As per the state government directives, 50 persons are allowed to attend marriages if they are held indoors. And 100 persons are allowed if they are held outdoors. “If it is a closed hall, then 50 persons will be allowed. If the place has a ground or a lawn, then not more than 100 persons will be allowed,” civic officials said.

The PCMC chief said he will also urge police to take action against those organising birthday parties with more than the number of people permitted. “Hotels are being permitted to operate only with 50 per cent customers at any given time. And at open roads or chowks, birthday parties are not allowed at all,” officials said.

Patil has also directed officials to conduct stringent checks, with the help of flying squads, at crowded places such as vegetable markets and shopping malls. “If unnecessary crowding is taking places, then Section 144 should be imposed in such areas including chowks,” the PCMC chief said.

Meanwhile, Namdev Dhake, BJP’s PCMC House leader, has urged the civic administration to ensure that patients do not have to struggle for hospital beds as the coronavirus cases are rising. “The civic administration should ensure adequate number of beds are available and patients do not have to struggle to get beds,” he said.

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Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More


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