05 April,2021 05:21 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
The passenger walks out of Emerald Inn after checking in
Reported by - Samiullah Khan, Shirish Vaktania, Diwakar Sharma
The spread of COVID-19 at jet speed may have dealt a crippling blow to Mumbai, forcing the state government to bring back lockdown-like measures, but a handful of civic officials deployed at the international airport seem to be actively contributing to the explosion of daily cases which are now over 11,000. For only Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000, these staffers are letting passengers from foreign lands escape the compulsory seven-day institutional quarantine, an investigation by mid-day has found.
This newspaper uncovered shocking lapses by BMC officials deployed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport whose job is to ensure passengers from the UK, Europe, Middle East and South Africa undergo the mandatory 7-day institutional quarantine. These are the nations that have reported fast-spreading variants of coronavirus and such passengers could be potential carriers of such strains.
mid-day came across many passengers evading the mandatory quarantine with the help of BMC officials through an elaborate arrangement to make their exit from the airport look perfectly compliant with all norms. mid-day formed two teams of reporters and photographers that trailed a few such passengers across the length and breadth of the city to uncover the murky dealings.
A BMC official helps the man board an auto near NKGSB Bank on LBS Road in Kurla on April 3. Pics/Satej Shinde
As per civic guidelines, put up on BMC's portal, international passengers above 65 years of age needing support, pregnant women, parents with children below 5 years, people having serious illness and those who landed in the city in extreme family distress conditions are permitted home isolation. All other flyers must undergo institutional quarantine for seven days, says the SOP.
International passengers are ferried to hotels marked for quarantine, in BEST buses
After getting clearance from the immigration window at the international airport, civic officials show the passengers a list of hotels marked for institutional quarantine. This is where a âdeal' is struck if the hotel budget does not suit a flyer's pocket or the hotel room is inadequate for his stay for seven consecutive days.
A mid-day team reached the international airport to discreetly inquire about the malpractices by civic officials. We struck a conversation with a civic staffer and told him a female passenger would be arriving in Mumbai from a Gulf country and expressed eagerness to take her home bypassing the institutional quarantine.
This civic staffer told mid-day that passengers should choose West Inn hotel to get their work done
The BMC employee offered a âsolution' to a mid-day reporter. He said, "Tell your passenger that after getting clearance from immigration, there is a BMC counter where international passengers are asked to fill a form and mention the name of a hotel. If she mentions West Inn hotel, we will manage to send her directly to home instead of getting her institutional quarantined for seven days."
The reporter told the civic official that the female passenger would be reaching the city the next day which was April 2. The official gave out his mobile number and asked the reporter to contact him on her arrival. "Call me, we will manage," said the civic official.
mid-day team saw many BEST buses parked near the arrival section of the international airport. Depending on their choice of hotel, six to seven passengers were asked to sit in each bus. Except for a mask, neither the drivers nor the civic officials had PPE suits on them.
The passenger in cap at Sunshine hotel on April 2
The team followed a BEST bus with registration number MH 47 AS 1016. It reached the Sunshine Hotel in the vicinity and one passenger stepped out. One Innova car bearing registration number MH01 BU 6378 arrived and the passenger's luggage was shifted to the vehicle from the bus. The passenger was asked to go back to the bus.
His luggage being transferred to an Innova bearing registration number MH01 BU 6378
The BEST bus reached a local pan/tea shop. The driver and the BMC official accompanying the flyers got down to have snacks, tea and cigarettes. Something was discussed in private at the shop and the BEST bus left from there and reached West Inn hotel in Andheri.
The same passenger came out of the bus, while others remained inside, and entered the hotel with the BMC official. After a while, the Innova arrived there. A few minutes later, the passenger walked out of West Inn and sat inside the Innova in which his luggage was previously kept.
The man gets down at Om Anant Residency in Ulwe
The Innova moved towards Ghatkopar. It stopped near the Phoenix mall and one of the occupants from the car came out and bought some munchies from a shop. As the vehicle waited near the mall, a person reached there on a Scooty and collected a parcel from the occupants.
The team kept trailing the Innova went all the way up to Ulwe, about 60 km from the airport, and stopped near Om Anant Residency where the passenger got down. After enquiring with the residents, mid-day learnt that the man had arrived from a Gulf nation and he lives in flat number 102.
mid-day followed a BEST bus with registration number MH 47 AS 1016 carrying seven international passengers from the airport. A few of them had arrived from Oman. The bus headed towards Chakala but we lost track of it due to traffic. We managed to catch up with it but the passengers from Oman were not inside. At one location in Marol, the bus stopped and one passenger alighted with his two bags. Soon, a motorcycle with registration number MH 04 FN 7904 approached him.
A BMC official (right) with an international passenger (in light blue T-shirt) in a discussion near BKC Dormitory on LBS Road in Kurla on April 3. (extreme left) mid-day's Shirish Vaktania in a helmet
The team trailed the motorcycle which finally reached Bhiwandi via Eastern Expressway and Thane.
The motorcycle stopped and bought something from a shop at Kalher in Bhiwandi Taluka. After riding for 2.5km, it reached Kilhuri Diva and midway they stopped to have sugarcane juice. But the rider forgot his helmet at the shop so they returned to the spot to collect it. The name of the passenger was Vijay Pawar.
The flier is finally on his own near Dadar gurudwara at Shindewadi. Pic/Satej Shinde
The same day, the team returned to the airport and talked to BMC officials to send a female passenger directly home. "How do you know about it?" wondered a BMC employee at the airport.
A mid-day reporter told the civic employee that the female passenger would be arriving next morning. "How will you manage it?" asked the reporter. "Our morning team is different. Had it been today, we would have got it done," replied the BMC official.
This civic staffer at the airport promised to resolve the problem
That day, another mid-day reporter followed BEST with registration number MH 47 AS 1289. The bus left the airport in the afternoon and reached Emerald Inn hotel at Sakinaka where one passenger in a red T-shirt got down with his luggage and entered the hotel. Apparently, after conducting his check-in, the BMC official and the passenger with his luggage returned to the BEST bus which again headed towards the airport. The same passenger then entered another BEST bus bearing registration number MH 47 AS 0971 that had other flyers too. The bus left and reached Kurla, stopped near a tea-cigarette shop. The passenger as well as the BMC official got down. The duo discussed something for a few minutes and was back in the bus that began moving on the LBS Road.
The baggage tag showed the passenger's name as Vijay Pawar
The bus stopped before the junction of LBS Road and BKC in front of a petrol pump and the passenger, who had been first taken to a hotel in Sakinaka in a different bus, got down and the BMC official followed him carrying his luggage. The duo crossed the road and flagged an auto. The international flier got inside with his luggage, while the BMC official returned to the BEST bus which then headed towards Dadar.
Hotel West Inn at Andheri Sakinaka was mentioned as one of the places where the âsetting' is allegedly done.
It stopped at Shindewadi and another passenger alighted along with the BMC official. The duo went inside a narrow lane, discussed something in private and the passenger was allowed to go in a taxi.
Vijay Pawar rode the bike all the way up to Bhiwandi on April 3. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
"A couple of days ago, BMC officials had brought two passengers to our property in a BEST bus but the room was not available. Both the passengers had arrived from foreign land. Since the room was not available, the BMC officer took them back to the airport," said Zainuddin Manu, the owner of West Inn hotel.
The team met a BEST driver named Vasant who has been ferrying international passengers from the airport to hotels. Posing as family members of a female passenger arriving from a Gulf country, mid-day reporters asked if he could help. Vasant said he has been doing the "setting" for 10-12 people daily. Vasant said he drops them at hotels who are released after check-in.
BEST bus driver Vasant said BMC officials send 10-12 fliers home by taking money every day
Reporter: My sister is coming from Dubai today
Vasant: When will she arrive?
Reporter: She will come by this evening
Bus driver: Where do you stay?
Reporter: Borivali
Bus driver: Do you want to take her home or you will drop her at the hotel
Reporter: Airport officials are not letting international fliers go home. Is it possible?
Vasant takes a mid-day reporter to a corner for settlement
Bus driver: Take the contact details of Dipali who is running a hotel and she will manage everything but give my name to her
Reporter: How much will I have to pay her?
Vasant: You have to pay R10,000 to Dipali to avoid quarantine for your sister
Reporter: How will you do it?
Vasant: First, we will take the passenger from the international airport to a select hotel. In the hotel we do the check-in. We release them once they pay up Rs 10,000
Reporter: You mean my sister will have to stay in the hotel?
Vasant: No, no. Only she will have to visit the hotel, give a copy of her passport and spend just an hour for the paperwork. There is a hotel in Borivali but they are not releasing people. Every hotel is taking a minimum Rs 2,000 from the customer. I will provide you with the cheapest hotel and your work will be done in only Rs 10,000-12,000
Reporter: Koi problem nahi hoga na?
Vasant: BMC officers visit the hotel daily and they collect money. The hotel and BMC people have full setting
Reporter: My sister will not get into any problems na?
Vasant: Not at all. Every day, we are dropping 10-12 people and doing the setting. Call Dipali and she will manage everything. Give the money to her after completing your work.
mid-day got in touch with tout Dipali, who refused to meet the team. She demanded R12,000 to get the work done. After much haggling, she brought it down to R11,000. "We will get the passengers checked in and then help them go home. We will collect the money after that," she said.
The Deputy Municipal Commissioner Parag Masurkar said, "Around 15 days ago, we have stopped sending BMC staff in the BEST buses carrying passengers who have arrived in Mumbai from foreign countries."
"Now, the list of passengers is given to the BEST bus driver who takes them to the hotel for institutional quarantine. We have a full mechanism to check if the passenger reached the hotel or not. On the sixth day, we visit the hotels and examine them to know if they are symptomatic. If they are found symptomatic, we take them to COVID hospital," said Masurkar, who is the in-charge at the airport for institutional quarantine of passengers travelling from foreign lands.
"I don't know who goes in the BEST bus with passengers; I need to check. But apart from BMC staff, the officials from the Collector's office are also there at the airport and the list of hotels is kept with the staff of Collector office," said Masurkar, adding, "I will check with my staff in a day or two to know who goes in the BEST bus with passengers. Also, there is CCTV footage to ascertain if BMC staff are going with the passengers in BEST buses."
The Collector's office staff at the international airport for segregation
The Collector of Mumbai Suburban district Milind Borikar said his staff segregate international passengers arriving in Mumbai. "I am not aware of the malpractice which is going on there at the airport but the entire procedure of quarantining passengers travelling from foreign countries is controlled by the BMC only. We have no role to play into that."
Borikar said their team identifies passengers who are not coming from UK, Europe, Middle East and South Africa and send to their respective districts for home quarantine. "Simultaneously we are intimating their district collectors."
On being asked if the list of hotels is kept with the Collector office staff at the airport, as told by the DMC Masurkar, the Collector said, "No, no. He is giving you wrong information because we are not at all concerned with the quarantine facility; our staff is working there only to segregate passengers."
"The list of hotels is kept exclusively with the BMC officials; he [Masurkar] must be short of information," underlined Borikar, who further added that there are six to eight counters of Collector's office near Customs office inside the airport to segregate the international travellers.
- Diwakar Sharma
