The century-old heritage bungalow, where civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal currently resides, is located at Carmichael Road
The opposition lashed out at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for spending public money on multiple repairs of the civic chief's bungalow and also dismissed municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal's claims that he was facing problems due to leakage and seepage issues all over the house. Even civic activists said that the BMC should curtail its expenses by not giving its officials such luxurious homes, which were difficult to maintain.
Speaking to mid-day, BMC's opposition leader Ravi Raja said, "Yes, we rejected the claim because repairs were done just three to four months ago during the tenure of the previous commissioner. Is this the quality of work that the BMC does? Why can't it be repaired once and for all so that public money is not spent multiple times? The BMC must take action against the previous contractor who did not do the work properly."
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'Check such spending'
BJP leader in the BMC, Vinod Mishra has shot off a letter to the Mumbai Mayor questioning the move. "We aren't able to do public work because of budget cuts due to the pandemic and here the BMC commissioner is spending R40 lakh for repairs. Just four months ago, when former BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi was staying in the bungalow, money was spent on repairs."
Sending a video of the poor condition of his bungalow, Chahal said, "The bungalow is in a dilapidated condition. The entire roof is covered with plastic sheets, still water seeps into the rooms. Anyone is free to visit the bungalow and decide if repairs are necessary."
Rejecting the claims of wasting money, the BMC clarified that the bungalow was built in 1920 and was a Grade 2 listed heritage structure. The civic body completed its structural audit in June 2019 and as per conservation recommendations, basic repairs and conservation works were taken up in August 2019. Administrative approvals from the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) have been in place since a year now with ongoing repairs.
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'Lots of repairs needed'
"During monsoon, there may be issues like water leakage, cracking of walls, deterioration of the condition of furniture in the bungalow. What the house needs is comprehensive repair and restoration and not just minor changes," a BMC official said.
Civic activist Jitendra Gupta said it was a shame that the bungalow of the civic commissioner was not properly maintained. "The entire city is covered in plastic sheets and if this is what needs to be done to the commissioner's bungalow as well, it reflects very badly on the civic body?"
Another prominent civic activist Kamalakar Shenoy said that he was of the opinion that the commissioner and other senior bureaucrats should be provided with three-bedroom flats instead of bungalows which are expensive to be maintained. "Luxuries to public servants need to be curbed at all costs. If the government and BMC have no money to pay the salary of doctors and police, the first thing they should is to stop all such perks and luxuries concessions," he added.
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