INDIAN police are having a field day handing out fines to people who do not wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many just cannot get used to the accessory, which has come to symbolise the new normal, having been made compulsory in most big cities.

New Delhi ride-sharing driver Munish Tiwari said he has received two tickets for fines of 500 rupees (RM28) since taxis got back on the road a month ago, wiping out a day’s earnings.

“It is just not comfortable, and I cannot breathe when I have to wear it.

“I have to wear it when there are passengers, but as soon as the door closes and they are gone, normally, I take it off. I am easy prey for police.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chided the country’s 1.3 billion residents for being “careless” about social distancing.

Offenders in cities across India tell similar stories to Tiwari’s.

The country has almost 880,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 23,000 dead, and experts said the peak is still weeks away. However, both the rich and poor expressed feeling awkward or uncomfortable covering up their face.

Masks hanging from people’s ears or not covering their nose are a familiar sight on the streets. Many wear no mask at all.

Delhi police said they have issued more than 42,000 fines since March – 792 on Sunday alone – to people not wearing masks or flouting social-distancing rules.

Police across India have reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, which range from 200 rupees in Bangalore to 1,000 rupees in Mumbai.

Bangalore police chief Hemant Nimbalkar announced on Twitter last week that his officers collected mask fines worth more than US$132,000 (RM563,700) in one month.

“We are not at all proud of this feat,” he said, appealing for greater respect for social distancing as cases surge in the southern city.

‘It is exhausting’

In Firozabad, located in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, offenders escape a fine, but have to attend a four-hour class on social distancing and write 500 times: “A mask has to be worn.” But, the message is still hard to get across.

Harish Kumar, an artist who sells religious souvenirs outside a Hyderabad temple, said being overweight already makes breathing difficult for him, and wearing a mask exacerbates the issue.

“When I am in my shop, I take off the mask, and when I go out, I wear it.”

On one Hyderabad street, AFP came across teacher Sunitha Michael with a mask clenched between her teeth.

Her excuse was that she had just finished a phone conversation.

“Quite frankly, I hate having to wear a mask as it is exhausting, but I have to comply with the guidelines.” – AFP, July 14, 2020.