95 CR FRAUD: BMC MAY SLAP CRIMINAL CHARGES
Erring contractors face trouble
Erring contractors face trouble
Mumbai: Following a series of reports in the TOI highlighting the Rs 95-crore fraud in the civic sewerage operations department,the BMC has sought the opinion of the legal department to initiate immediate criminal proceedings against 10 contractors who tried to dupe it with bogus bills for work they had never done.
I have asked the additional municipal commissioner in charge to look into the matter and retain appropriate documentary evidence to proceed further in the matter, said municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar.
The scam of the corporations financial mismanagement had invited widespread criticism from all quarters.This is a brazen act of corruption and we will definitely take it up in the assembly session to prove that the Sena-BJP combine has emptied civic coffers, said Congress MLA Amin Patel.
Another Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh met the civic chief on Tuesday to discuss the issue and demanded immediate action against the guilty.Shaikh said Financial mismanagement in the corporation has been going on for long.Its about time that the new commissioner cracks the whip to prove that the civic body means business.
TOI has been reporting how a cartel of contractors unsuccessfully tried to siphon off funds from the BMC by claiming expenses for work never done.They were helped by civic officials who manipulated the BMCs books to accommodate the fraudulent claims and made an outstanding budgetary provision of Rs 50 crore in the 2010-11 budget.
According to a source,the 10 contractors named in the vigilance report (Ch.C (V) 267/ A/ June 16,2010) are likely to be immediately blacklisted.However,he hinted that the civic officials,if found guilty,could get away as there was no documentary evidence against them,adding that the BMC was now seeking legal opinion on how the blacklisting could affect the ongoing projects.