Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde asks CAG to probe Rs 12,000 crore BMC contracts before, during pandemic

MUMBAI: Chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a probe into projects worth Rs 12,000 crore that were undertaken by the BMC between November 28, 2019 and February 28, 2022, when the MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray was in office.
Shinde's announcement follows an assurance given by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the legislative assembly on August 24 that allegations of corruption and irregularities in major contracts allotted by BMC would be directed to CAG for a scrutiny.
"We will entrust the probe to CAG, which has very high credibility. We expect that the probe will be completed in a time-bound period. Once the CAG report is received by the government, we will fix responsibility and take stern action against erring politicians and bureaucrats,'' Fadnavis said.
'BMC contracts given to new firms with no track record'
As per the CM's communication, the CAG, which is a wing under the central government, is expected to look into controversial decisions by the BMC related to setting up of field hospitals during the pandemic. This would include a land deal at Dahisar as well as purchases of equipment, medicines and oxygen from vendors who were allegedly linked to officials and politicians in office.
"The CM is determined to take the probe to its logical end in a time-bound period. All the politicians and officials found guilty will be taken to task as per provisions of law,'' a senior bureaucrat told TOI.

Citing an instance in which BMC officials are alleged to have shown favours, the official said assistant municipal commissioner Manish Radhakrishna Valanju had approved a contract in his area to Genehealth Diagnostic Private Limited, a company connected to his father Radhakrishna Valanju. Similarly, a contract for setting up RCPCR testing facilities in various wards has been allegedly called into question for the manner in which new companies with no proven track record and those connected to leaders or BMC officials were favoured.
It was also found that in June-July 2021, BMC ordered oxygen generation plants installed in various hospitals, for which a black-listed highway construction company was given a contract on June 16, 2021.
Among the main allegations are the contracts for running Covid care centres and jumbo or field hospitals and the medical services provided by them. A firm known as Lifeline Hospital Management Services was given a contract to run five such centres. This company was not registered when the contract was given on June 26, 2020. Subsequently, it was found that it was an unregistered firm, and that it had been given a contract worth Rs 100 crore in a non-transparent manner.
Large scale purchases made in the name of medical emergency have also come under a cloud. In one such deal, BMC bought two lakh vials of Remdesivir at the rate of Rs 1,568 per vial on April 7, 2020. On the same day, the Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute and the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation bought Remdesivir vials at Rs 668 each. "It was a clear nexus between the BMC official and the supplier. More shocking was the fact that assistant commissioners were given special powers for purchase of materials for covid centres, there was rampant corruption in the entire deal,'' the official said.
Regarding the questionable Dahisar land deal, it was found that MCGM purchased land at Dahisar from Nishalp Realities, which is owned by developer Alpesh Ajmera, for Rs 349 crore, while Ajmera himself had bought the same piece of land from a local family for Rs 2.55 crore. "This is one of the biggest land scams, it should be probed at the highest level,'' the bureaucrat said.