Big B donates equipment, infrastructure to Covid facility

Amitabh Bachchan is donating resources to help set up a 25-bed oxygen facility in Juhu. The veteran actor has teamed up with producer Anand Pandit for the same.

Pandit, who had already set up a similar facility in Dadar, says: "A 25-bed oxygen facility has been set up at the Ritambhara Vishva Vidyapeeth in Juhu. After a trial run, the centre was up and running by 10 am on Tuesday, May 18. Mr Bachchan has donated the equipment and infrastructure for the facility and all necessary permissions have been granted by the BMC."

"When Amit ji heard that I was scouting for places in Juhu, he called me and said he wanted to help in every way possible. He has always supported my social initiatives wholeheartedly and also contributed his time and resources. I hope this centre will help bring much needed relief and healing to those in need. We will continue to find ways to make a difference somehow during this tough time," he adds.

Pandit had recently teamed up with actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn, too, to establish a 20-bed Covid-19 ICU at Shivaji Park and is working and scouting locations to set up another one in Borivali.

He says: "It is imperative for the industry to come together at this time to help as many people as possible. We are facing an economic, humanitarian and social crisis at a scale that would have been unimaginable even last year. And those who can, must do everything to change the bleak narrative around the pandemic to one that gives hope."

Amitabh Bachchan stars in Pandit's production "Chehre". The theatrical release of the film has been postponed for now owing to the Covid outbreak.