BMC to arrange vaccination drive, testing camps at film sets

Mumbai In the wake of several Bollywood celebrities getting infected with Covid-19, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that it will arrange special testing drives and vaccination camps at the outdoor shooting locations in Mumbai.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, who is also in-charge of the public health department said that many crew members present at the locations have travel history as they come from different parts of the country to Mumbai.

“The BMC may arrange camps in shooting locations at studios or in the film city at the earliest to inoculate the crew members present. The drive will be conducted by the local ward office and will be conducted in the lines of BMC’s campaign to ensure all the employees in the workplace are fully vaccinated,” said Kakani.

“In a film set, there are many crew members who have travel history and might not have completed their vaccination course. These members work on different locations and if they contract the virus, they can become super spreaders, which is why we are working towards starting this drive as a precautionary measure,” he said.

Kakani also said that besides setting up a vaccination centre, the BMC is also planning to arrange awareness campaigns to sensitise those who are working at sets to ensure that they take vaccines at the earliest. He also maintained that the ward officials have been instructed to expedite the number of daily tests conducted each day.

“Before allowing shooting to start post the second wave, the BMC had clearly stated that testing camps should be there at the site of the shooting and all the members should be tested regularly for everyone’s safety,” he said.

Rajul Patel, chairperson of the BMC health committee said that vaccinating the crew members working at a film set is the need of the hour because a large number of people work together at the film sets.

“Many famous celebrities have started to take the rules imposed by BMC lightly which is why many of them have become positive in last one week,” said Patel.

“We are planning to start mobile vaccination vans as well in the shooting areas to make sure more people get their dose at the earliest,” Patel said.

Another senior BMC official of the public health department said that the BMC will prepare a list of the shooting activities that are happening at their ward and then will contact to administrative heads in-charge of the shooting, to check if a camp could be set up