Thane: The
opposition members in the standing committee on Wednesday confronted the municipal administration for ‘misrepresenting and manufacturing facts’ reportedly to clear payment of Rs 9 crore to a government agency for a recent tree plantation drive. The issue cropped up after corporators Najeeb Mulla from the NCP and Narayan Pawar from the BJP questioned the proposal for clearance of the bill for a tree plantation drive. The duo alleged the administration to have secretly fudged minutes of the general body meet held last week showing the proposal was okayed under section 5(2)(2) Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 as an emergency work while the corporators denied approving the same.
“How can the TMC bring about this proposal before the standing committee when the rule book says all proposals should be approved by the GB first? The standing committee has the right to re-allocate funds to an extent but the TMC cannot bypass the GB. What was the emergency for diverting such a huge amount for tree plantation,” questioned Mulla. — Manoj Badgeri
