Mumbai: mid-day investigation jolts BMC into action, probe ordered against fliers who escaped quarantine

Reported by ndash Diwakar Sharma Samiullah Khan and Shirish VaktaniaSenior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC officials swung into action after middayrsquos frontpage report about civic staff helping international arrivals skip the mandatory institutional quarantine in exchange for bribes Among the few senior civic officials who visited the airport on Tuesday was Deputy Municipal Commissioner DMC Parag Masurkar who told midday that records of international travellers arriving from the UK Europe Middle East and South Africa are being verifiedBMC officers at the airport during their inspection on MondayThe verification is being done right from the Immigration counter to the hotels where they were sent for quarantine Civic staff were seen verifying log sheets and documents of all international passengers maintained by them at the airportldquoWe are crosschecking the names and details of passengers highlighted in your report We are verifying with our records and the hotelsrdquo Masurkar saidldquoThe people seen in BMC jackets are not our staff but private loaders who have been appointed by us to load passengersrsquo luggage into the BEST bus at the airport They had been accompanying passengers in the BEST bus right from the international airport to the designated hotels But we started receiving complaints against the loaders so we stopped their services 15 days agordquo said MasurkarA BEST bus followed by midday seen at Kings Circle Matunga on April 3ldquoWe are also checking how the loaders were allowed to enter the BEST buses if their services were stoppedrdquo Masurkar addedWhen asked if BMC officials present at the airport are under the scanner for not stopping loaders from boarding the buses Masurkar said ldquoAction would certainly be taken against them if found involved in the malpracticerdquoldquoAlso ward officers have been asked to crosscheck the list of passengers and their availability at hotels in their jurisdiction If passengers are not found at the hotel action will be taken against them and others involved in this racket The culprits will be brought to book within the ambit of lawrdquo said MasurkarCCTV footage scannedThe BMC has found loopholes in its system and has checked the footage of CCTV cameras installed on BEST buses Masurkar said ldquoWe have recovered the CCTV footage from the entry and exit points of the airport and buses We found that many people violated quarantine rules We also verified middayrsquos photos with the CCTV footage People violating quarantine will be booked we are in the process of registering the FIR which will be done by TuesdayrdquoA BMC official helps an international passenger get into a cab after dropping him midway at Dadar on April 3Apart from Masurkar Assistant Municipal Commissioner AMC Prashant Sakpale of K West ward visited the airport with 15 staffersOn Monday midday found that at the airport the staff which was caught on camera has disappeared from the airport While BEST bus driver Vasant also caught on camera has been asked not to report to work pending an investigationldquoWe have a special COVID war room at BMC offices This team collects daily data on passengers from the airport We can also trace their locations through their mobile number given to us at the airport exitrdquo a civic official saidmidday was present at the airport during Masurkar and Sapkalersquos inspectionSeven to eight workers appointed on contract a BEST driver and conductor were also scolded by the BMC officiersParag Masurkar deputy municipal commissionerldquoIn addition the AMC and health officers have been asked to personally check on passengers who arrived six days ago and were asked to quarantine Responsibility has to be fixed and action has to be taken against those guiltyrdquo the source saidBMCrsquos official statement in response to middayrsquos report on quarantine malpracticeThis has reference to the news item titled ldquoCITY Flying into Troublerdquo published in midday Mumbai edition dated 5 April 2021 In this regard on behalf of the Municipal Administration I would like to clarify as mentioned below ldquoThe news published in todayrsquos midday reflected some alleged malpractices being exercised with respect to quarantine of international passengers at hotels The BMC has taken this issue very seriously and the detailed enquiry has been immediately ordered by the administration Deputy Municipal Commissioner ZoneIII Shri Parag Masurkar is directed to conduct detailed enquiry of this alleged malpractice and to submit the report to Municipal Commissioner within 15 days Apart from this all the concerned Assistant Commissioners and executive Health Officer are directed to check all the quarantine centres in their jurisdiction where the passengers are quarantined during last one week till date and to take stringent action as per the provisions of Epidemic Diseases Act 1987 the Disaster Management Act 2005 and other legal provisions in case of any passenger breaching quarantine normsrdquo mdash Tanaji Kamble PRO BMC