“The unnecessary equipment purchased by the civic body is due to the
lack of coordination between various civic departments. The stores
department purchases the equipment for other civic departments. The
civic department, for which the equipment are to be purchased, must be
consulted by the stores department so that only those equipment are
purchased that are needed and used,” he told reporters.

Pardeshi said a large number of equipment were found gathering dust by
the flying squads at various municipal offices or properties that were
not in use due to various reasons. “A central pool of such equipment
will be created. The equipment which are in working condition and can be
used will be redistributed to the civic offices or departments that
need those, while equipment that are not in working condition will be
repaired and distributed to the civic offices or departments. However,
the equipment that have become obsolete or cannot be used will be
scrapped and auctioned,” he added.

Giving details of the
unnecessary equipment purchased, Pardeshi said, “The flying squad, led
by joint commissioner Amrut Sawant, inspected the Sangvi hospital
and found that a machine purchased in 2006 was lying unused. Another
machine of the same type was given to the hospital in 2012 and is also
lying idle. The machines were purchased for Rs 12 lakh. The doctors at
the hospital, when inquired, said they had not placed any demand for the
purchase of these machines. A borewell was dug on the premises of the
birth and death registration office and was lying unused. Directives
have been given to fill it up to avoid any mishap in future.”

He added, “The two carbon dioxide insuffulaturs purchased for Sangvi
hospital in 2005 and 2009 at a cost of Rs 6.85 lakh each are lying
unused. The two single puncture laparoscopes purchased at a total cost
of Rs 6 lakh are also lying idle as they have become obsolete. Flash
Autoclave purchased for Rs 2.16 lakh is lying unused as it is small in
size. The neo-natal baby warmer supplied to the hospital in 2008 is not
in use from the first day itself because its thermostat was not working.
Now many of its parts are missing. The health department must purchase
equipment after considering the needs of the doctors, nurses and other staff so that the purchased equipment is used.”

Pardeshi said the special squads appointed under the six assistant
commissioners have found that many water purifiers purchased for civic
schools were not in use as they were not in working condition. “A
private contractor should have been given the annual maintenance
contract for the water purifiers at the time of purchase to ensure that
those worked properly. Some fire extinguishers at various civic
properties were found to be not in use also. Some old computers were
found in the civic offices. These offices must scrap the computers that
are more than five year old according to the government policy,” he
said.