While activist alleges CM was exposed to COVID-19 at hall that was ordered to be sealed, civic body admits notice was a blunder as there is no norm to seal commercial premises and the staff that tested positive there lived elsewhere.
A BMC official said affected workers did not stay on the Thackers’ premises. Pic/Bipin Kokate
The BMC had sent a notice to Thackers Banquets at Girgaum chowpatty about sealing it recently, as COVID-19 cases were found there, but, an activist has alleged, the civic body did not paste the notices there stating this, and exposed the chief minister to danger, as he attended a wedding there. However, the BMC has clarified that the notice to Thackers was issued by mistake as there is no norm to seal commercial premises and the staff that tested positive stayed elsewhere. The owner of Thackers Banquets has also said they had quarantined all affected persons and not allowed them back to work until they were discharged from quarantine.
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The issue came to light when local activist Satish Daundkar's complaint to the civic commissioner last week was forwarded to the ward officer. "The BMC served a notice but did not put up any kind of boards mentioning cases, which are generally put up outside a residential building. It was thus impossible for the CM to know if the place had positive cases. But it was the duty of the BMC officials to ensure that such events don’t take place," Daundkar said.
While the notice, a copy which is available with mid-day, was issued to the banquets asking them to seal it from January 3, 2021 to January 16, 2021, the wedding of a Sena corporator's daughter was held there on January 6.
‘Norms have changed’
Civic officials now state that the notice was issued to the establishment by mistake as none of the commercial premises so far have been sealed or asked to shut down. One of the officials said, “Earlier when the cases were at the peak many a times, we found positive cases at medical stores and grocery stores, and we used to ask them to shut down but now the norms are to isolate the affected person and sanitise and disinfect the premises within 48 hours.” Daundkar, however said, “The affected workers stayed inside the banquet premises and thus it was necessary for the BMC to take appropriate action regarding this. And despite sending notices, if such violations take place then the action should be taken against the civic officials.”
‘Informed owners of mistake’
However, D ward assistant municipal commissioner Prashant Gaikwad said affected workers did not stay at Thackers. He said, "There was a mistake on the part of an officer to send such a notice to Thackers and we informed them about this as well. The positive cases stayed in a residential building and thus its floor was isolated and not Thackers Banquets. There is no such norm of sealing any commercial establishment. When the cases were found, the owner took cognisance and the rest of the staff too was tested as per requirement.”
The owner says
Owner of Thackers, Dilip Thacker, sent the following message to this reporter. “You are correct, we did have cases of COVID-19 many weeks ago and as a responsible business, had quarantined all affected persons. As educated and responsible employers, we would not bring any such affected person back to work until they have been discharged from quarantine. Further, this happened over a few weeks ago. We are happy to inform you that all our employees have recovered from this pandemic. We believe that there are some miscreants, who, in an attempt to malign our reputation, are spreading incorrect information.”
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