Citing various issues faced by Mumbaikars, Shelar mentioned several scams, thefts and bogus activities rampant in the civic body. (File) The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on average, spends around Rs 40,000 crore annually for 1.40 crore Mumbaikars which amounts to Rs 2 lakh crore for a period of five years, but where has all this money gone, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar asked in the Assembly on Thursday.
“Today, Mumbaikars are left with no option but to say ‘Hamey toh haadso ne sambhala hai’ (accidents are a part of our lives),” the MLA said.
He was speaking as the Opposition tabled the concluding week motion in the Assembly. Citing various issues faced by Mumbaikars, Shelar mentioned several scams, thefts and bogus activities rampant in the civic body.
“The plot at Carter Road in Bandra West – reserved for BMC market, school, old age home and DP Road – was transferred to a developer. This transaction was worth Rs 2,000 crore,” Shelar said.
He also alleged that while the government and the corporation took credit for the work done by doctors during the pandemic, there was a major scam in connection with the masks and PPE kits distributed to doctors during this period.
“Three companies got the contract of supplying PPE kits and N-95 masks. All these three companies – Symphony Multi Trading, Ultra Multi Trading and Toyo Limited – bear the same address which happens to be the residential address of a Yuva Sena office-bearer,” he said.
Shelar went on to allege that the ruling regime awarded many contracts to party workers and office-bearers in a similar manner.
“When RTI activist Ankush Kakade collected information about 18 works undertaken by the corporation, it was found that in 12 projects the corporation had paid the contractors Rs 50 lakh and Rs 17.84 lakh though they had not completed the work. The contractors had to return the amount to the corporation,” he said.
Similarly, following a Kurla resident’s complaint, “it was revealed that property tax was not being levied on nearly 3,554 properties in Mumbai. This is how the corporation is functioning in an absolutely indiscriminate and bogus manner,” the former BJP minister said in the Assembly.
He stated that the state government and other semi-government organisations owe nearly Rs 21,905 crore to the corporation, which amounts to nearly 60% of its budget. “I am not talking about the property information revealed about the standing committee chairman, but I am referring to an audio clip that went viral about him abusing a contractor… the chairman was heard threatening the contractor to leave the assigned work.”
Scams are rampant in Mumbai under the guise of environmental conservation, Shelar alleged. “The experience certificate presented by the contractor who was awarded the sewage disposal work contract has been found to be bogus. Tenders for sewage treatment plants in Mumbai were floated. The Dharavi and Versova tenders were floated at 30-60% higher rates, whereas in Bhandup and Worli it was 27-34% higher. Later there were negotiations. It was decided to award the work at 15 to 16 per cent lesser rates. But a citizen went to the court and the court rejected all these tenders,” he said.
He also said that it was decided to buy electric buses for BEST in a similar manner. Now the bus supplied by Tata is priced at Rs 14 to Rs 15 lakh whereas the same bus has been procured at Rs 32 lakh, he pointed out. Also, in another instance, BEST paid Rs 80 crore to a company to set up biogas plants in Satara and Ahmednagar, Shelar said, adding that in the last decade, not a single MW of electricity could be generated, but this company is now demanding Rs 102 crore.
“This is Mumbaikars’ hard-earned money. Why is it being spent in this manner? Why is everyone vying for the cut-commission in every work,” Shelar sought to know.
On one hand, an announcement was made that there will be no increase in property tax, but as soon as an administrator was appointed, a 14 per cent increase in property tax has been proposed, he said. “Now this amount will be recovered from Mumbaikars. But during the pandemic, a five-star hotel in Mumbai was forgiven Rs 8.5 crore. Even those putting up hoardings in Mumbai were exempted from tax and their arrears were also waived off. This is how the corporation is functioning.”
He also said that during the pandemic period, the corporation claimed to have spent Rs 368 crore for cleaning school premises.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
