BMC clears project, official unaware of details

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) standing committee members slammed the civic administration on Wednesday after it was noticed that Pallavi Darade, Additional Municipal Commissioner, is unaware about a Rs 137 crore road repair proposal tabled at the committee.

Though the proposal for road repair was cleared by the committee, members questioned on transparency promise that civic chief Ajoy Mehta had made in civic body’s annual budget.

The proposal was to repair one of the busiest roads of the city, Lal Bahadur Shashtri (LBS) Marg. However, Darade was unable to provide proper details about the proposal which she had received in the morning. Councillors said that the administration thinks that the committee may sanction any proposal without scrutinise it.

Opposition raised question on transparency in the functioning of civic administration. Samajwadi Party group leader, Raees Shaikh said, “The corporation just think that we are sitting in standing committee to just clear whatever proposals is brought by the administration. Such practices have downgraded the standing committee’s power.” He added that this must be investigated how the proposal was brought in the standing committee and who were officials.

Surprisingly, Yashwant Jadhav, House leader, said that the road repair work is important and should be completed before monsoon because of which it should be cleared.