RTI: Civic engineer to pay 25k fine for withholding info

Mumbai: A junior engineer of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 for refusing to part with data under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

On August 3, 2011, the complainant, Chandresh Gala, had filed an RTI plea seeking information about a recreational ground at Sheetal Nagar in Mira Road.

Gala filed the plea before MBMC’s junior engineer Umesh Avchar. When Avchar failed to respond within the stipulated period of 30 days, Gala filed a first appeal before the assistant director in the town planning department, Satyavan Dhangave, on September 3, 2011.

When Dhangave failed to respond within the stipulated period of 90 days, Gala went for a second appeal before the state information commission (Konkan region) on October 14, 2011.

Recently, the commission found Avchar guilty of refusing to reveal information sought under the RTI Act.

The penalty for failing to provide information is Rs 250 per day. Civic officials said the fine of Rs 25,000 will be deducted from Avchar’s salary every month. The civic body has also been directed to take “administrative action” against Dhangave. Gala will get the details of his RTI plea free of charge.
Courtesy:
Sandhya Nair & Nitasha Natu TNN
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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
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