BMC gifts fire force land to builder

Without setting up the promised unit, civic body gives entire FSI to developer

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has doled out a plot reserved for the fire brigade to a private developer for commercial purposes.

While it is understood that the plot was allotted to the developer at the instance of the Shiv Sena MLA from Dahisar, the local MP from the Congress has asked the civic body to revoke the decision.

Documents with BMC’s development planning and building proposals departments show a plot on the Dahisar-Link Road near the east-west flyover — approximately 4.5 acres — as being reserved for fire brigade.

The BMC has allotted more than half the plot to a private developer for constructing two-high rises (19 storeys each, with the first two floors for stilt parking). In lieu of this, the developer promised to build the fire brigade facility free of cost.

But sources say there’s more to the deal that what meets the eye. While the builder has not constructed the promised fire brigade, the BMC has allowed the developer to ‘develop the remaining 50 per cent site to the full permissible FSI’.

This means the developer will consume all the available FSI — even from BMC’s share.

Sensing a major scam, the New Link Road Resident Forum (NLRRF) from Dahisar have taken up the case.

Residents claim the BMC commissioner himself has revoked the plan in May this year due to political pressure. The revocation order has been put on hold. “When the BMC themselves can construct a fire brigade and use the remaining land for public amenities or for providing housing to the firemen, why should it gift the land to a private developer?

“Is the civic body, with a budget of Rs29,000 crore, so cash-strapped that it could not even spend Rs50 crore to build a fire station on its own?” said Harish Pandey, a forum member. The forum is planning litigation against the BMC.

Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte had, on May 28, given orders to revoke the commercial exploitation in a meeting with Sanjay Nirupam MP, along with local corporators and residents.

However, it is learnt that the building proposals department has given the Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) ‘in-principle’ approval for a proposed project to start construction the same day.

Senior BMC officials said it was after Nirupam’s meeting with Kunte that the BMC revoked the decision to use the land for commercial exploitation. However, local MLA Vinod Ghosalkar met Kunte afterwards and told him that commercial exploitation was in the interest of the locals as well as the BMC. “The decision taken to revoke the proposal should be implemented without any delay,” Nirupam said.
Courtesy:
Geeta Desai @desaigeeta
Published Date:  Dec 03, 2013
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=56073&boxid=31900&ed_date=2013-12-03&ed_code=820009&ed_page=3

BMC blind to high-profile illegality

Civic body fails to do a campa cola on sukhada-shubhada bldgs where netas stay
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seems keen to initiate action against seven Campa Cola Compound buildings, but it seems to be dragging its feet over high-profile twin societies Shubhada and Shukhada in Worli (in pic), where also unauthorised alterations have been carried out.
Infighting in the BMC is responsible for the delay.

According to a senior civic official, the matter has been referred to the civic body’s legal department, following a dispute between the building proposal department and the designated officer from the G-south ward office.

The dispute started after the designated officer questioned the department if he has the authority to take action, based on the notices the department has issued to the societies over the violations.

In April this year, the civic body had issued notices to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Punjab governor Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, Maharashtra state Congress president Manikrao Thakre and ministers Patangrao Kadam and Anil Deshmukh, among others under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, following complaints from RTI activist Amit Maru.

These politicians have allegedly converted shops allotted to them into offices and even gymnasiums and carried out unauthorised alterations.

Civic officials said that since the societies did not remove the unauthorised alterations, the matter was forwarded to the designated officer of the G-south ward in September to initiate action.

As per a gazette notification issued on April 15, 2013, designated officers across the city have been empowered to initiate action against unauthorised constructions in their respective wards. The notification has made a ward’s assistant engineer (building and factory) as the designated officer.

“Because the notices have been issued by the building proposal department, action will be delayed. The designated officer will have to start the process from the beginning, such as seeking the required plans, inspecting sites to verify the violations and initiate action,” said a civic official.

“But if the designated officer overlooks any irregularity, even by mistake, he will be held responsible. We believe the assistant engineer of the building proposal department, who issued the notices to the societies, can be made the stand-in designated officer. He knows the issue well, so he will be in a better position to take action,” added the official.
Courtesy
Vishwas Waghmode @vishwas_01
Published Date:  Nov 09, 2013
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=54890&boxid=36102&ed_date=2013-11-09&ed_code=820009&ed_page=4

मुंबई महानगरपालिका में शक्कर की खरीदी में धांधली!

एक आम आदमी बाजार से शक्कर खरीदता है तो उसे प्रति किलो 36 रुपये देने पड़ते हैं, लेकिन देश की सबसे बड़ी महानगरपालिका थोक में खरीदने के बावजूद एक किलो शक्कर 40 रुपये में खरीद रही है। बीएमसी की स्थायी समिति ने हाल ही में 900 क्विंटल शक्कर 40 रुपये प्रति किलो की दर से खरीदने के प्रस्ताव को अपनी सहमति दे दी। आम तौर पर जब आप कोई सामान थोक में लेते हैं, तो निश्चित दर से काफी कम में मिल जाता है।

बृहन्मुंबई महानगर पालिका (बीएमसी) अपने अस्पतालों और प्रसूतिगृहों की रसोई के लिए हर साल अनाज खरीदती है। इसी के तहत बीएमसी 900 क्विंटल शक्कर खरीदने वाली है। 

बीएमसी ने शक्कर के साथ गेहूं और चावल खरीदने के लिए भी निविदा मंगवाई थी। इसमें से शक्कर आपूर्ति के लिए सिर्फ दो कंपनियां सामने आईं। 

किफायत करने के बजाय प्रशासन ने 40 रुपये में कंपनी को ठेका देना मंजूर कर लिया। वहीं, बीएमसी 900 क्विंटल शक्कर के अलावा 1400 क्विंटल गेहूं और 2400 क्विंटल चावल खरीदने वाली है। इस पूरी खरीदी पर 1 करोड़ 40 लाख रुपये खर्च होंगे। 

उधर, प्रशासन इस मामले में सफाई दे रहा है कि संबंधित कंपनी ने तो एक किलो शक्कर 41 रुपये में देने का प्रस्ताव रखा था, लेकिन 40 रुपये में खरीद कर बीएमसी ने 90,000 रुपये बचा लिए हैं।

साभार:

नवभारत टाइम्स | May 13, 2013, 08.30AM IST

लक्ष्मण सिंह॥ मुंबई

http://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/other-news-mumbai/Bungling-in-purchase-of-sugar/articleshow/20018812.cms

BMC Scams: BMC audit notes reveal 3kcr irregularities over 4 decades

Mumbai: The BMC’s audit department has issued over 13 lakh audit notes on civic projects since 1974, pointing out financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 2,852 crore in tenders awarded and also in the work done. The amount also includes outstanding bills from the property tax and water departments.

Most of these notes are related to financial irregularities or mismanagement in the civic body. The municipal chief auditor (MCA) is a part of the civic standing committee and his main duty is to oversee expenditure made by the civic administration. Bill payments, tender rates and receipts are all verified by his office.

The maximum number of audit notes has been issued to the octroi department—octroi evasion is one of the biggest problems ailing the BMC. There have been over 34,000 notes written by the MCA to the octroi department. About Rs 40 crore is yet to be recovered from people who have evaded octroi. With the BMC planning to scrap octroi and switch to local body tax (LBT) from October, there is little chance of recovering the money.

There have also been notes regarding irregularities in tenders awarded by the education department; the tenders were floated with inflated rates than what was estimated.

The notes also pointed out that the BMC has lost revenue due to the delay in several projects. Delay in upgradation of municipal hospitals has cost the civic body an additional Rs 26 crore. More than 14,000 audit notes were issued, but a negligible amount was taken seriously by the health department.

V Satpute, the chief auditor, said they have been sending these notes but very little action is taken on them.

“There are several audit reports that are yet to be even accepted by the municipal commissioners, they have been pending for a long time now,” said Satpute.

He also said staff shortage was a major problem in the department, with over 335 posts lying vacant.
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Garden illegally scrapped, its FSI given to VIP societies: Activists

Mumbai: New violations have surfaced at two Worli housing societies that are home to top politicians, with activists saying a public garden was de-reserved to increase floors without requisite permissions from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the civic body.

The Sukhada and Shubhada societies are already in the spotlight for notices sent by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to some residents, from deputy CM Ajit Pawar to BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for illegal alterations and conversion of shops into offices and gyms.

In the garden case, the BMC had repeatedly requested the urban development department not to go for deletion of the open space reservation. TOI has a copy of the resolution passed by the BMC improvements committee on November 5, 2001, where it stated that the modification would serve no public purpose and would be beneficial only to the developers of adjoining plots.

Despite the objections, the state government agreed to dereserve the garden plot and transfer the floor space index (FSI) to a residential zone.

In a reply to an RTI application filed by activist Amit Maru, it was learnt that the deputy chief engineer of development plan wrote to the secretary of urban development department in 2001, that the land belonged to the estate department of the BMC and the public garden reservation could not be deleted. If deleted, the land could be merged with the adjoining plot only with BMC sanction.

“It was also noted that the land falls within 500 metres of the high tide line and thus is affected with the CRZ notification of 1991,” Maru said. “This is a clear case of corruption and land-grab by politicians. An inquiry should be initiated by the municipal commissioner and the officer hand in glove with politicians should be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”

Lawyer and former IPS officer Y P Singh had filed a legal notice on July 19 last year to the MCZMA chairperson and additional chief secretary, urban development department, stating that there was an illegal FSI grant to the societies.

“Under the CRZ notification there can’t be any change in user or deletion of garden reservation in the CRZ,” he said. “The FSI of a plot can’t be more than what it was on February 19, 1991, the date of CRZ notification. They de-reserved the garden plot and moved its FSI to the neighbouring plot. This was done without permission from the MCZMA and the MoEF.”
Courtesy:
Linah Baliga TNN
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Another Adarsh? Worli towers built without green clearance

MUMBAI: The two housing societies in Worli proposed, built and occupied by state politicians were constructed without mandatory environmental clearances, just like the controversial Adarsh society.

Both the 32-storey Shubhada and 14-storey Sukhada fall in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) II as they are located within 500 metres of the high tide line. This made it mandatory for the societies to get clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Management Zone Authority (MCZMA).

Documents with HT show that after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation rejected the proposal to construct these societies in 1997 for lack of a no- objection certificate (NOC) from the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the societies approached the state’s urban development department instead of going to MCZMA. Subsequently, in 2003-04, the UDD, which is headed by the chief minister, issued an NOC. This despite a January 2002 MoEF order that all proposals for construction in CRZ areas in Mumbai had to be cleared only by the MCZMA.

State environment secretary Valsa Nair Singh on Wednesday refused to comment on the matter without examining the concerned papers.

“We did not need any CRZ clearance as there were already structures that existed between the sea and our plot, so we did not obtain such a nod,” said Ranjit Deshmukh, chairman of Shubhada and former state Congress chief.

“Despite not requiring CRZ nod, we approached the UDD and got an approval,” said MS Belekar, the societies’ architect

Activist Amit Maru, who exposed the irregularities in the construction of the two highprofile societies, said: “The BMC had made it clear that the society will need CRZ clearance However, the society conveniently went to UDD because MCZMA would never have allowed them to use so much floor space index and go so high.”

The societies house politica heavyweights such as deputy CM Ajit Pawar, former CM Ashok Chavan, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre and BJP leader Gopinath Munde.
Courtesy:
25 Apr 2013
Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Kunal Purohit kunal.purohit@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Dumping Ground Scam: Civic body paid contractor 1,300% more

BMC evidently ignored own consultant’s advice several times; contractor yet to start processing waste 4 yrs after bagging contract
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) willingly squandered away precious public money, nearly 1,300% more as tipping fee than what its own consultant advised it to pay to a contractor for the controversial Deonar dumping ground.

Hindustan Times has documents to show how Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) had, in December 2005, proposed that the contractor be paid Rs40 per metric ton for processing the city’s waste.

The BMC, instead, decided to pay the contractor Rs550 per metric ton, a whopping 1,275% more than the original cost. While the civic body has been blamed for approving such an inflated cost, insiders point to the discrepancies in the various escalations proposed by IL&FS.

After its 2005 report, the consultant submitted another report in January 2006, raising the tipping fee to Rs150 per metric ton for processing waste at Deonar. One year later, the firm raised the tipping fee by nearly three times to Rs445 per metric ton.

Going a step ahead, the civic body decided to grant a total of Rs 550 per metric ton as tipping fee to the contractor, UPL, for composting waste. This was in addition to the amount being paid to the contractor for the partial closure and landfill creation at the dumping ground.

As a result of this escalation, the cost of the project too went up. While IL&FS’ 2005 report pegged the total cost of the Deonar project at Rs160 crore, the final cost approved by the BMC in July 2009 was a staggering Rs4,408 crore, 2,655% higher than the original cost.

“There was rampant cost escalation even before the project could take off. The BMC officials then should have read it as a sign of things to come and changed the consultant,” said a senior civic official in the current solid waste management set-up.

This was not all. While the BMC agreed to pay Rs3,000 crore of the total cost as just tipping fees, the National Building Construction Company, a central government body, had proposed to do this for no cost.

However, sources from UPL said: “We firmly maintain that the entire bidding process, including the evaluation had been absolutely transparent and fair, and we reject any allegation to the contrary.”

Same story at Kanjurmarg, Mulund dumps
MUMBAI: While the total spending on Deonar dumping ground has gone up by almost 3,000% of the original cost, the cost of the other two dumping grounds too has undergone a similar escalation, making them a big burden on the civic exchequer.

At Mulund, the city’s smallest dumping ground which can handle only 500 metric tons of waste every day, the consultant IL&FS had recommended in January 2006 that only Rs150 be paid to contractors as fee tipping per metric ton of garbage.

BMC OFFICIAL However, the consultant raised this figure to Rs290 per metric ton in February 2007. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) went a step ahead and paid Rs525 as tipping fee per metric ton of garbage to the contractor.

It was a similar story at Kanjurmarg dumping ground, the city’s newest dump site. After first proposing a tipping fee of Rs150 per metric ton here, the consultant revised it to Rs276 per metric ton. The BMC approved the final tipping fee at Rs525 per metric ton, a hike of 250% from the original fee.

An insider said the civic body, while tabling the Deonar proposal before the standing committee, compared its rates to that at Kanjurmarg dumping ground.

“The administration did not, however, disclose all information about how much garbage both the dumps will be using. Thus, it felt as if the rate quoted by the Deonar bidder was not so high. But it was actually a clever manipulation,” he said.

Despite the big money spent by the BMC, there is hardly any progress on the two dumping grounds. In fact, the civic body has been considering scrapping the contract allotted to a UPL-led consortium.

“There has been little progress on the ground four years after the contract was given to them. While we have been taking regular action against them, including penalising them, we are contemplating stricter action,” said an official of the BMC’s solid waste management department.
Courtesy:
9 Apr 2013, Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Kunal Purohit kunal.purohit@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

SCAM IN MAKING: Did not approve 17-acre Worli slum revamp plan: CM

Mumbai: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said he had not approved Lokhandwala Infrastructure’s controversial proposal to redevelop a 17-acre slum plot off E Moses Road in Worli.

“There is no question of my sanctioning it,” Chavan told TOI, responding to a report in this newspaper, which said “the decision to issue the Letter of Intent (LOI) by the SRA was taken at the highest political level”. Chavan admitted that he knew that the letter was issued by the authority’s CEO last month. “The LOI was issued to the civic body, and not the developer,’’ Chavan said. “I will ask my officers to find out who applied for the LOI, the civic body or the builder.”

Locals claim that a huge chunk of Jijamata Nagar comprises chawls, and not slums, as claimed by the builder and SRA. D B Realty is also reportedly involved in the project.

On Tuesday, TOI reported that this project was among those stayed by Chavan two years ago when it came to light that select builders were awarded prime slum lands to redevelop under a controversial clause (3K) of the Slum Act. The project will rake in a profit of Rs 8,000 crore for the builder. A NCP leader is reportedly pushing for the project.

The BMC, which owns the land, had earlier urged Chavan to scrap the project and invite bids. “I have asked BMC to propose how it intends to go ahead with it,” he said. Sources said the LOI was full of contradictions. “If the BMC owns the land, why should the SRA ask it to give an NOC for the project,” said a source, adding if Lokhandwala Infrastructure is only implementing the project, as the LOI claims, how was it appointed without inviting bids.

Metro buffer zone: BMC orders probe
A day after lawyer YP Singh alleged that the BMC had turned ablind eye to the construction of two malls in a buffer zone meant to reduce the noise from the Metro railway, the civic building proposal department was asked to conduct a probe and check if permission was given for the buildings. TNN
Courtesy:
Nauzer K Bharucha TNN
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OCTROI SCAM : In a first, police slap MCOCA on octroi agents

Stringent law applied after agents are found to be habitual offenders of octroi evasion and are increasingly leaning towards underworld

In a bid to clamp down on the growing organised activities of octroi agents in evading octroi, as well as to check their increasing tilt towards crime, for the first time the police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (prevention) Act against octroi agents.

In July last year, some octroi agents had attempted to kill another agent at Kopri, in neighbouring Thane, after he allegedly tried to eat into their clientele.

The supari to kill octroi agent Rajesh Chandrabhan Ghadge was given by a group of agents to the Chota Rajan gang. On July 13, Ghadge was in his office when the assailants attacked him with a chopper and also fired at him. Ghadge escaped, but the attempt on his life ex posed the murky dealings of octroi agents. In subsequent days, 14 people, including some Chota Rajan gang members and octroi agents, were arrested. And last week the Thane Police invoked MCOCA when they found that some of the arrested agents were habitual offenders in octroi evasion and had been booked by the Mumbai police in the past too.

“We have invoked MCOCA in the case related to the attempt to kill Ghadge. The matter is under investigation,” Additional CP (Crime), Thane Police, Milind Bharambe told Mumbai Mirror.

Three of the agents, Mandir Baliram Bhosle, a resident of Thane’s Wagle estate, Rohit Yashwant Gaekwad, a resident of Kopri, and Mayank Sundarani were found to be involved in several cases of octroi evasion. The Thane police allege that Bhosle and Gaekwad decided to eliminate Ghadge as he was trying to eat into their business by offering their established clients a better deal. They had warned Ghadge, but when he continued, they allegedly planned his murder, the police have alleged.

“Octroi evasion is a multi-million rupee business and the attractive returns compel the players to go to any extent to serve their interests. Earlier, it was limited to assaults on government servants, but the Ghadge episode shows that the players are also hand in glove with the underworld,” said a senior Crime Branch officer from the Thane police said.

The Mumbai police’s EOW had also arrested Bhosle, Gaekwad and Sundarani in May last year in an octroi evasion case based on a complaint by mobile phone manufacturer Micromax. Three other companies — BITS, CAH Infosystems and Pentagon Systems — also filed complaints of cheating by octroi agents with EOW, in which Bhosle, Gaekwad and Sundrani had been booked.

HOW OCTROI AGENTS OPERATE
When goods enter Mumbai, manufacturers have to pay a prescribed octroi. The goods are evaluated at the entry points, where octroi is collected and receipts are issued.

In the cases involving the three agents, the manufacturing companies had disbursed the octroi amount, but these agents allegedly generated fake octroi receipts and pocketed the money.

Other agents also indulge in undervaluing goods, so that manufacturers end up paying less octroi.

To get a rough idea of the quantum of octroi evasion, one must study the figures: BMC has a total of 38 octroi nakas at the entry points of various transport modes. For vehicles, BMC have nakas at Dahisar, LBS Road, Eastern Express Highway, Mumbai-Panvel Highway and Airoli. Other nakas are located at the international airport, at each railway terminus, and also at Indira Dock (for waterway transport).

Each octroi post has close to 200 agents operating, and on an average 1,000 trucks enter Mumbai from each of the five octroi posts by road every day. MCGM’s octroi revenue is close to Rs 5,000 crore annually.

When the Anti Corruption Bureau conducted a crackdown against agents in November 2010, octroi revenue shot up by close to Rs 1.5croreperday,orapproximatelyRs500crore per year.
Courtesy:
Abhijit.Sathe @timesgroup.com
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BMC Redevelopment Scam : BMC yet to recover ` 628 crore from builders

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is yet to recover Rs628.03 crore as premium from builders who took up redevelopment of civic properties.

By the end of 2012, the civic body had sanctioned 104 proposals for redevelopment of civic properties. From this, the BMC is expected to earn a revenue of Rs1,036.15 crore. However, so far, the civic body has received only Rs408.11 crore.

The premium payment is done in several stages. Twenty per cent of the amount is to be paid while getting the letter of intent sanctioned from the BMC, and 60 per cent while getting the commencement certificate. The remaining amount is to be paid before getting the occupation certificate.

The premium contributes to a major part of the civic body’s revenue. “Recovery of premium is a constant and ongoing process. We would recover the remaining amount from developers in due course of time,” said a civic official from the BMC’s estates department on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, the civic body is in the process of framing policies that would add to its revenue. A month ago, the BMC formulated a policy under which developers will have to pay an additional 25 per cent of the land value, as stated in the ready reckoner, to carry out slum redevelopment on civic land.
Courtesy:
    5 Jan 2013
    Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
    HT Correspondent
    htmetro@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

OCTROI SCAM: BMC crackdown on car owners earns them 20L

There’s bad news for hundreds of thousands of Mumbaikars who have registered their cars outside the city to escape the octroi charges: the civic body officials will cover the entire city to bring the octroi evaders to book, and their deadline is March 31.

Around two weeks ago, the civic body officials visited at least 10 housing societies in south Mumbai and found 35 cars which were registered outside the city, for which octroi was not paid. The drive was part of BMC’s door to door initiative to track cases of octroi evasion by the vehicle owners, and earned them Rs20 lakh in penalties.

Identifying vehicles registered in Mumbai is easy: all such vehicles have registration numbers beginning with MH 01 (Mumbai Central RTO), MH 02 (Andheri) and MH 03 (Wadala-Worli). Those who register their vehicles in Mumbai are required to pay the octroi of 4.5per cent of the vehicle’s cost. Many car owners prefer to register their vehicles in Navi Mumbai, where instead of octroi, just oneper cent cess is levied. For instance, if your car costs Rs 10 lakh and you get it registered in Navi Mumbai, you end up saving Rs 35,000.

However, if you are a resident of Mumbai driving a vehicle registered elsewhere, the civic body can charge 10 times the actual octroi for non-payment of octroi as per Section 192 (1) of the BMC Act. This works out to a penalty of Rs 4.5 lakh for a vehicle costing Rs 10 lakh.

Ramesh Arote, deputy assessor and collector, BMC said the civic body officials found around 100 cars registered outside Mumbai in the south Mumbai drive, but most of them were able to prove their residence/business operations in the areas of registration.

“The drive will continue,” Arote said, “It’s a common ploy by the vehicle owners to save money, but such tactics result in huge losses to BMC.” He added that all vehicle owners in the BMC-controlled areas have been asked to furnish details of their vehicles.

The citizens were not worried. While one of them said it was “impossible” for BMC to launch a door-to-door check, a resident of Andheri added, “I got my car registered on my office address in Airoli. What can BMC do about it?”
Courtesy:
Pandurang.Mhaske@timesgroup.com
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मनपा नगरसेवकों का कार घोटाला - पैसे जनता के, सैर करें नगरसेवक

मुंबई।। बीएमसी के नियमानुसार यदि कोई नगरसेवक मुंबई के बाहर व्यक्तिगत दौरे पर आधिकारिक गाडि़यां ले जाता है तो , उसे पैसे चुकाने पड़ते हैं। हालांकि , हमारे जनप्रतिनिधि मेयर सुनील प्रभु , सभागृह नेता यशोधर फणसे और पूर्व स्थायी समिति अध्यक्ष रविंद्र वायकर समेत अन्य पांच पूर्व नगरसेवकों ने पैसे अब तक नहीं भरे हैं। बीएमसी ने तीन साल पहले 2008-09 में इन नगरसेवकों को व्यक्तिगत दौरे पर गाड़ी ले जाने बाद 8.62 लाख रुपये का बिल भेजा था।

15 नगरसेवकों के पैसे बकाया
बीएमसी अपने विभिन्न समिति अध्यक्ष और सदस्य नगरसेवकों को गाड़ी मुहैया कराती है। इन गाडि़यों का उपयोग मंुबई से बाहर अपने व्यक्तिगत काम के लिए करने पर प्रशासन इसके पैसे वसूलती है। तीन साल पहले 15 नगरसेवकों के दौरे के पैसे बकाया थे , लेकिन इनमें से आठ नगरसेवक ने अब तक पैसे नहीं चुकाए। इस सूची में सबसे बड़े नाम है शिवसेना नगरसेवक व मेयर सुनील प्रभु , पूर्व स्थायी समिति अध्यक्ष रविंद्र वायकर और सभागृह नेता यशोधर फणसे। सूत्रों से मिली जानकारी और एनबीटी के पास मौजूद बकाएदारों की सूची के मुताबिक , मेयर को 27,404 रुपये , वायकर को 11,912 रुपये और सभागृह नेता को 2,063 रुपये का बिल बीएमसी ने भेजा था।

बकाया लाखों में
वहीं , सबसे अधिक पैसे शिवसेना के पूर्व नगरसेवक प्रकाश चालके पर 4,09,916 रुपये और बीजेपी के पूर्व नगरसेवक विश्वनाथ म्हस्के पर 3,21,121 रुपये बकाया हैं। इस बारे में जब पूर्व स्थायी समिति अध्यक्ष व वर्तमान विधायक रविंद्र वायकर से पूछा गया तो उनका कहना था मेरा सारा दौरा आधिकारिक था। स्थायी समिति अध्यक्ष होने के नाते यह पैसे प्रशासन को भरने थे। सभागृह नेता फणसे ने कहा कि मैं कभी मुंबई से बाहर गया ही नहीं। यदि बीएमसी ने ऐसा कोई बिल भेजा है , तो उन्हें पड़ताल करनी चाहिए। विश्वनाथ म्हस्के का कहना था कि मेरा कोई पैसा बकाया नहीं है। मैं जब भी मंुबई के बाहर गया , ईंधन के पैसे दिए हैं। वहीं , मेयर सुनील प्रभु से संपर्क करने की कोशिश की लेकिन उनसे बातचीत नहीं हो पाई।
साभार
लक्ष्मण सिंह॥ नवभारत टाइम्स | Dec 24, 2012, 02.26AM IST
http://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/Public-money-walk-Nagrsevk/articleshow/17735572.cms

BMC ‘loses’ 400 files involving dodgy developers

The BMC commissioner has asked for police complaints to be filed against members of his own staff after it emerged that over 400 files relating to construction projects in the city had gone missing over the last few months.

Most of these files relate to controversial projects, and the fact that they had gone missing came to light after citizens and activists probing illegalities sought them under the Right To Information Act. Months after filing their applications, they received replies saying the files could not be found.

Last month, they complained to the civic body chief Sitaram Kunte, who has now ordered that the officers in charge of the missing files be booked under the Maharshtra Public Record Act of 2005.

According to Section 9 of the Maharashtra Public Records Act, officers responsible for lost documents can be sent to prison for five years, or fined Rs 10,000, or both.

Among those affected by the files going missing are the Oshiwara Lokhandwala Citizens’ Association (OLCA) and Save Open Spaces (SOS), an non-profit organisation. The two bodies had sought copies of files pertaining to close to a 100 under-construction and complete buildings in Andheri, Oshiwara and Juhu, including 11 in the last three months. “When the 30-day deadline (for the civic body to respond) elapsed, we approached the BMC, only to be told that the files had gone missing,” said Ashoke Pandit, a member of both OLCA and SOS. “We suspected that there were large-scale violations in these projects, which is why we had asked for the files. The fact that they’re missing suggests that officials are hand-in-glove with the developers.”

When Aftab Siddique, chairperson of 33rd Road Khar ALM, found that a few of the files she had sought were missing, she asked for a complete list. “I was shocked. I started digging further and sought details of all the missing files,”said Siddique. The BMC gave her a list of 303 such missing files of projects in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz alone, and Siddique says that nearly all of these involved developers who had flouted norms. Recently, Siddique was part of a group of citizens who approached Kunte with details of the missing files, asking that action be taken. “Some citizens came to me on Lokshahi Din (a forum for redressal of citizens’ complaints) last month and complained about certain illegal constructions. When I asked the concerned officers, I found that the files had gone missing,” Kunte said.

He has now ordered a detailed probe and asked the deputy chief engineers of the Building Proposal Department to identify the officers who were supposed to be maintaining the missing files. He also ordered that cases be filed with police stations at the ward office level, and that the officers involved be booked under the Maharashtra Public Record Act, 2005. “Responsibility will be fixed on those involved,” Kunte said.
Courtesy:
Yogesh Sadhwani and Pandurang Mhaske
Posted On Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:13:30 PM
http://mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20121217201212171213415034efe7ddc/BMC-%E2%80%98loses%E2%80%99-400-files-involving-dodgy-developers.html