Mumbai: BMC chief's report blames roads department boss for potholes

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally decided to make big guns within the civic body culpable in the multi-crore road works scam. Senior BMC officials said Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has prepared a report on the scam in which he has clearly cited lack of supervision by a senior BMC official in charge of the roads portfolio. Though the report has not named the officer, the summary of the documents clearly points to the then additional municipal commissioner (roads), SVR Srinivas.

SVR Srinivas

The BMC's roads department came under the scanner after 34 roads in the city failed the quality test undertaken by the civic body early this year. An FIR was filed by the BMC on April 27, and 22 people have been arrested since then. Now, the civic administration has decided it will not spare senior officers involved in the controversy.

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Road work is monitored by engineers at the ward level, the BMC's roads department, third party auditors and vigilance and additional municipal commissioner (roads).

A senior BMC official said on condition of anonymity, "The BMC probe has clearly stated that there was no supervision by the senior civic official. While initiating action against the engineers, one cannot turn a blind eye to the culpability of the superiors in the road work scam."

He said, "The BMC chief is out of India on an official trip. Once the delegation returns, Mehta will submit the report to the chief minister's office for action against the senior official."

Despite repeated attempts, Mehta remained unavailable for comment. When contacted, Srinivas, before disconnecting the phone, said he would call back. Attempts to contact him after that were unsuccessful.

In April, the Shiv Sena had threatened to file a no-confidence motion against Srinivas over the roads scam. The very next day, Srinivas was transferred to the State Industrial and Investment Corporation of Maharashtra.

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Sandeep Deshpande, MNS group leader in the BMC, said he had, on the floor of the house, demanded an inquiry against Srinivas in the case. "If the chief engineer has been arrested, why spare the IAS officer?"

Preeti Sharma Menon, national spokesperson, AAP, said, "The IAS officer heading the roads portfolio when the work was allowed must be brought under the ambit of inquiry. If found guilty action should be taken against him."

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"Everyone was talking about corruption in the BMC, but, there was no concrete evidence. This is for the first time that there is substantial material to prove the contractor-civic body nexus in the sub-standard quality of road work. The BMC should ensure that the case is taken to its logical end," said Jitendra Gupta, road expert.