300% inflated contract for city dump site project

MUMBAI: The garbage is not the only thing raising a stink at the Deonar dumping ground.

A report says that the contract given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to redevelop the solid waste management facility at the site was in violation of norms and nearly 300% above the estimate drawn by the civic body.

This means taxpayers in the city will end up paying about Rs4,000 crore for the project that has now come under scanner.

The report was commissioned following allegations of corruption in the redevelopment of all three dumping grounds in Mumbai — Kanjurmarg, Mulund and Deonar — and was submitted to the state in September 2011. It has not been made public.

On the basis of this report, CM Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday set up a special investigation team to probe the scam.

The state government had asked public-private-partnership (PPP) expert Ajay Saxena to examine the bidding process and assess the financial bids for the redevelopment projects.

The report points out that according to the detailed project report by the BMC, the cost for such a garbage processing and landfill facility worked out to be Rs338 crore for 25 years.

The consultant in his bid estimated it at Rs1,009.7 crore for the same period. The tipping fee estimated was at Rs451 crore, while the one offered to the consultant works out to Rs3,000 crore.

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