The Times of India  15.12.2010

NAGPUR: In a major blow to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which has time and again caught flak from citizens over crumbling civic administration, CM Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday admitted that all is not well with the Shiv Sena-BJP ruled corporation.

Pointing out that Mumbai's civic governance has declined over the years, Chavan said, "The BMC lacks transparency and accountability. This is a matter of great concern. I have asked for a detailed report on the BMC's financial transactions. If civic officials do not mend their ways, we will not hesitate to take stern action."

Chavan, however, turned down the Congress-NCP MLAs' demand for a high-level judicial probe or a CBI inquiry into the civic administration.

The chief minister said the BMC was being run in an ad-hoc manner. "Contractors are calling the shots. The BMC has not maintained an exhaustive balance sheet for the last three years. I have directed the BMC to table the balance sheets for 2007-08 and 2008-09 in next two months," he said. Civic officials have also been asked to submit the balance sheet for 2009-10 by July-end.

"There are irregularities in almost every sphere of the BMC-dumping grounds, water supply, open ground policy, reservation of plots, mid-day meal scheme for school children. The BMC's behavior is penny wise and pound foolish," he added.

Chavan, replying to a marathon debate in the legislative assembly on the worsening civic administration, agreed with several Congress-NCP MLAs that there were discrepancies in the functioning of the BMC. Chavan said, "Tenders are okayed in a dubious manner. Financial transactions lack transparency."

The chief minister further said that many civic projects suffer due to "fiscal indiscipline and mismanagement". "All such cases will have to be closely scrutinized and the BMC will have to be put back in order," he added. Chavan's statement in the House is seen as a political onslaught on the saffron rule in the Mumbai city hall, especially in the view of 2012 civic polls.

The civic polls will prove to be a litmus test for Chavan's litmus test in state politics and by targeting the cash rich BMC, the chief minister has, in a manner of speaking, cleared the decks for the crucial polls, say political observers.

Interestingly, the Sena-BJP MLAs remained silent even as Chavan condemned the BMC. Several saffron legislators, Vinod Goshalkar, Yogesh Sagar, Gopal Shetty and Tara Singh to name a few, began there political innings as city corporataors. However Sena leader Subhash Desai , who participated in the speech on Monday, said Chavan was playing a "political game" by targeting the BMC. Desai accused the government of creating hurdles in the functioning of the BMC by issuing "stay orders". from Mantralay.

Earlier talking informally to media persons, Desai said the ruling DF has raked up the BMC issue to divert the attention of the people from the Adarsh housing land scam of the Congress party.