BMC suspends two chief engineers

In one of the most stringent moves it has made, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has suspended chief engineers of roads and vigilance departments for irregularities in road repair works. The civic body will also file a police complaint against six contractors, and two third-party audit companies, who have also been blacklisted in this case.

The civic body’s preliminary report has slammed roads department officials for large-scale malpractices in road repair works. In the 34 roads works that were inspected, there were on average 53 per cent irregularities in the works that were executed, said the report.

The inquiry committee has called for immediate suspension of then chief engineer (roads) Ashok Pawar, who is now working as chief engineer (building and maintenance) and Uday Murudkar, chief engineer (vigilance), who has already been suspended in the desilting scam earlier.

The six contractors that have been blacklisted are Mahavir Road Infra, J Kumar Infra Projects, Relcon Infra Projects, KR Infra Projects, RPS Infra Projects and RK Madani. The two third-party auditors facing the action are SGS and IRS.

The report has said that it was a “complete failure of administrative machinery” with respect to the road repair works. Not a single work was done as per the conditions specified, it said. In some cases the irregularities were almost 100 per cent. All the officials of roads and vigilance departments — from the top-ranking officials to the juniormost ones — failed miserably to control malpractices and supervise the works, it said. While immediate action has been taken against top officials in these departments, the report has also asked to fix the responsibility on other officials in a phased manner. According to officials, many irregularities were found in road repair works: no filing of roads was done, there was no excavation of soil, no transportation of soil and debris was carried out, and only initial cement–concrete layering work was done in most of the cases.

The BMC had initiated a road inquiry in September last year after mayor Snehal Ambekar wrote to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta alleging malpractices in road repair works. On January 25 this year five roads, namely Malad Reservoir Road, Khadakpada Road, Malad (east), Vasri Hill Road, Guru Gobind Singh Road in Andheri and Jai Chandra Karva Road in Malad were sampled. Sampling of new roads was done in February as well, which also showed similar irregularities.

On Tuesday, Mr Mehta submitted the inquiry report to the mayor. However, despite receiving the report, Ms Ambekar refused to divulge any details. “The report will be tabled in the civic house and then be made available to all,” she said.