The Indian Express                          05.04.2013

Rs 24 lakh spent on road construction, but PCMC yet to acquire land

First-time woman corporator exposes civic panel's 'wrongdoings'

A first-time woman corporator has exposed what Shiv Sena claims to be a Rs 24-lakh 'land scam' in Charholi area of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

When Sena corporator Asha Shendge at a standing committee meeting held on Wednesday sought the details of a "sketchy" item — construction of the Rs 24 lakh road in Charholi area — on the committee agenda, she was startled to find out that PCMC had spent money on a road that did not belong to the civic body.

"The civic body has spent Rs 24 lakh on construction of the road. When I asked civic officials whether the land on which the road was constructed was in possession of the civic body, the officials said it was yet to be acquired. If the land is not in possession of the civic body, why did PCMC construct a road on it?" Shendge asked.

She was told that the road was constructed on the request of a local corporator.

Alleging that it was a land scam and many more scams would tumble out of PCMC closet, the Shiv Sena has urged the Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi to inquire into the matter. "I have written to the commissioner to inquire how a land that was not in possession of the civic body has seen development of a road," she said.

A teacher by profession, Shendge who was elected from Kasarwadi ward in the last election, also exposed the way proposals are placed on the standing committee agenda and sanctioned. "I noticed an item on the agenda where Rs 14 lakh had been sanctioned for setting up a stage for committee functions. When I sought details, the officials had no answer. I have decided to write to the commissioner and seek probe into the matter," he said.

The Indian Express                        03.04.2013

Pre-monsoon patchwork to cost BMC Rs 40 crore

With concretisation and asphalting of roads beset by inordinate delays, BMC has now decided to spend an additional Rs 40 crore on resurfacing uneven and pothole-ridden roads before this monsoon.

The civic body had begun the mammoth task of concretisation and asphalting roads entailing an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore, but the process has been delayed due to issues of blacklisted contractors and red tape. The task was scheduled to begin in January with at least half of the work expected to be complete before monsoon. However, work has not even begun in south Bombay and the eastern suburbs.

"We will resurface and repair uneven roads to avoid potholes during monsoon. After monsoon, the project to concretise and asphalting of these roads will be completed," said a senior civic road official.

"We are spending funds before monsoon, but this will ensure there are less potholes during rains. Additional funds can be made available if needed during monsoon," said Rahul Shewale, Standing Committee chairman and Shiv Sena corporator.

BMC has set aside additional funds over and above the Rs 40 crore for pothole repair for this financial year. "We can spend an additional Rs 60 crore during monsoon for road repair work," said Shewale.

Last year, BMC had allotted Rs 40 crore for road repair, to be spent in three phases during monsoon. But the funds were exhausted in the first phase before the rainy season. The civic administration spent an additional Rs 17.38 crore on filling pothole during monsoon.

Though BMC had awarded road contracts last year, the work is way behind deadline, admit officials. Civic officials said they now have less than two months to undertake road construction work; concretisation and asphalting of roads will stop during monsoon (from June until November this year).

In the western suburbs, only 30 per cent of road construction work has been completed.

Work on south Mumbai roads was delayed following a directive from the Chief Minister to cancel contracts of blacklisted firms. The contracts for eastern suburbs have been delayed due to technical reasons, said officials.

Major road repairs in south Mumbai were put on hold for over a month by BMC, which was deliberating whether to award a contract to a firm that was under the scanner. Though the contract was awarded to the same firm, work on these roads was yet to begin, said officials.

The contract was part of a Rs 530-crore bouquet of road repair and construction projects in south Mumbai.

In the eastern suburbs, the process to appoint contractors for concretisation of 24 roads at a cost of around Rs 85 crore and asphalting of 106 roads at cost of Rs 168 crore is yet to be completed.