Mumbai: In a jolt to the BMC, two employees of the civic body's Disaster Management Cell tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Twelve other staffers of the disaster management cell have been isolated within the cell's control room and will continue to work.
While the entire BMC headquarter premises has not been sealed, the building where the disaster management cell is housed was sanitised and disinfectant was sprayed on all floors immediately.
Civic employees of other departments were asked to vacate their workstations and go home for the day, till the sanitization process was completed.
When contacted, Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani told The Free Press Journal that initial reports about the BMC headquarters being sealed were incorrect, and that the affected department would remain operational too.
"Two employees working with the disaster management cell, a guard and a canteen boy, were not reporting for work as they have tested positive for coronavirus.
As a precautionary step, the entire civic headquarters and the annexe building was sanitised starting Monday morning. However, messages circulating about the BMC HQ being sealed are false," added Kakani.
Later in the evening, BMC's public relations department issued a press statement confirming that two positive cases were detected from the Disaster Management Cell, and the building was sanitized but not sealed.
"Two employees working in the disaster control room tested positive for coronavirus. The two have been asymptomatic to date.
No symptoms were seen in other staff of the cell. Meanwhile, 12 employees of the cell have been isolated in the control room. Meanwhile, the work of the Disaster Management Cell will be handled by two groups -- the one which is isolated in the control room and another group in the backup control room in Parel.
Work will be divided between the two groups and the civic disaster management will continue to be functional," stated the press release. The BMC Disaster Management Cell is situated on the third floor of the BMC annexe building, connected to the civic headquarters’ heritage building, and is manned by 50-60 employees.
It is the focal point for the dissemination of information and coordination between departments and crack teams during emergencies. During the coronavirus crisis, the BMC Disaster Management Cell had been upgraded.
The cell also acts as a control room to keep a watch on containment zones across the city, and manages the logistics of all the departments, including flowing information to all ward offices. "These are all emergency services and cannot be shut down. Hence, we will remain operational by taking due precautions," said a senior officer from the disaster management cell.
