Harsha Bhogle hails ban on spitting in public in Maharashtra, says better late than never

The 'Voice of Indian Cricket' Harsha Bhogle hailed the Maharashtra government's decision to ban spitting in public and welcomed the move despite being long overdue. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope made this announcement in a statement on Saturday. The action comes as Maharashtra continue to report a high number of Coronavirus cases daily and is already India's hardest COVID-hit state.

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Harsha Bhogle welcomes ban on spitting in public

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Penal charges

The first-time violators will have to pay Rs 1,000 fine and perform public service for one day while the second-time offenders will have to pay Rs 3,000 fine and perform public service for three days, the minister said. If violations continue, the punishment would be Rs 5,000 fine and five days of public service.

"Apart from this, as per various sections of the Bombay Police Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the punishment will range from six months to two years of jail or fine," Tope said in the statement.

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COVID cases in Maharashtra

Maharashtra continued its steep increase with 2940 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 99 deaths, on Saturday, May 30. At the time of writing this articled, there are 34,881 active cases in the state. The number of recovered cases in the state rose to 28,081 after 1084 patients were discharged in the day.

Out of the total deaths reported, 40 deaths occurred in the last two days and the rest are from the period 6th May to 27th May 2020. Out of the 59 deaths in this period, 35 were recorded in Mumbai, 7 in Panvel, 6 in Thane, 6 in Vasai-Virar, 2 in Navi Mumbai, 1 was recorded in KalyanDombivali, 1 in Jalgaon and 1 of a resident of another state. 

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