Civic officials under scanner over illegal constructions….Kunal Purohit
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has launched a full-fledged inquiry into the role of several officers of the H-west ward (Bandra, Khar, Santacruz) for encouraging illegal constructions.
Sources said chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had a major role to play in ensuring that an inquiry against these errant officials was lodged.
Senior officials from the ward confirmed that the ACB officers had visited them on Saturday and asked them to furnish documents on illegal constructions.
In its inquiry, the ACB found that 23 officials had been helping such structures flourish.
“There has already been a departmental inquiry against them. The report strongly indicted five officials for either encouraging or refusing to take action against these structures,“ an ACB official said on condition of anonymity.
“There is a clear case of official misconduct here. Our job will be to establish whether there was any sort of criminal misconduct, a quid pro quo for ensuring these constructions remain safe.“
Niket Kaushik, additional commissioner of police, ACB, confirmed that such an inquiry was in progress. “Once we received complaints about these structures, we decided to look into the matter.“
Khar activist Aftab Siddiqui, who has lodged several complaints against seven illegal structures in Khar and Bandra, said: “I had made the first complaint in 2006. Action is being taken after nearly five years.“
“For years now, the civic body has tried to avoid taking any action against errant officials,“ he said, adding, “The first thing that the BMC should do is to ensure that the officials’ pension and promotions are withheld.“
Despite repeated attempts, municipal chief Subodh Kumar and additional municipal chief (western suburbs) Manisha Mhaiskar were not available for comment.
* CHIEF MINISTER HAD A MAJOR ROLE TO PLAY IN ENSURING THAT AN INQUIRY AGAINST THESE ERRANT OFFICIALS WAS LODGED, SOURCES SAID