BMC audit & probe: Target is Thackerays
The breakaway Shiv Sena and BJP government in Maharashtra is all set to tighten the noose around Thackerays- Uddhav and Aaditya, by announcing a slew of inquiries of some crucial decisions by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), ruled by the Sena for over 25 years- between 1997 to 2017. The party was in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) till 2017 and later controlled the richest civic body of India all alone from 2017 to 2022.
In the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an inquiry by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to probe the reorganization of electoral wards from 227 to 236, and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a special audit by the comptroller and accountant general (CAG) of awarding some projects to contractors and the bidding processes by the BMC.
The scope of the ACB inquiry- whether it will cover the administrative side or the involvement of the then ruling Shiv Sena members or both- will be clear only after the relevant orders are issued. The process of reorganization is finalized by the civic administration under the guidance of the State election commission (SEC) and the political class is involved during the process of suggestions and objections.
Part two of the audit and inquiry pertains to political decision-making that includes awarding huge contracts to run jumbo Covid centers, a housing project for the BMC workers engaged in sanitation work, manipulation of the bidding process for multi-crore works, and allegations made against certain municipal officers who secured some projects during the Corona pandemic through firms registered in the name of their close relatives.
Chahal on radar
Of late, the BMC commissioner I. S. Chahal too has come on the radar of the BJP. Party MLA Amit Satam and North Central Mumbai MP Rahul Shewale of the Shinde-led faction, have leveled some serious allegations. Chahal becoming the target of the BJP is something unusual as he was known as close to the BJP-led government between 2014 to 2019 while heading the water resources department as its principal secretary.
Shewale demanded action against Chahal over missing pictures of CM and Dy CM on BMC’s hoardings and banners during the har ghar tiranga campaign. The list of BJP leaders targeting Chahal is just increasing and it should not come as a surprise if he is transferred, it is said. Surprisingly, no banner or hoarding displayed by Thane or Pune civic body had pictures of CM & Dy CM.
Many inquiries but no result
Coming back to the point, the inquiries over certain allegations, scams, or mishaps is not a new phenomenon but rather a treatment given to the inquiry reports- and the action taken on it. During the last two decades, inquiries into the workings of civic bodies such as Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Akola, Nagpur, and a few others were conducted when the Congress-led government comprising Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was in power. It is an open secret that such inquiries are politically aiming to nail political parties or leaders.
In many cases, minimum or no action was taken on the inquiry reports. Most of the inquiry reports are left to gather dust in Mantralaya cupboards. A recent example is that of the report submitted by retd Justice K. U. Chandiwal who probed allegations by ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh for the alleged target of collecting Rs 100 Cr from bars and hotels in Mumbai. The one-member inquiry commission submitted its report in April, which is still to be made open. Ironically, no demand to make it public has been made either by the BJP, which aggressively attacked the Mahavikas Aghadi government or by the NCP which claimed a clean chit was given to its leader. The same was the fate of another crucial inquiry conducted by retd Justice Zoting over the allegations made against former minister Eknath Khadse about the Bhosari (Pune) land purchase deal.
Such inquiries entail huge costs and manpower. Therefore, such reports should at least be given publicity. For that, public pressure is needed.
Retired IAS officer Nandlal conducted inquiries into the working of some of the civic corporations such as Thane, Ulhasnagar, and Nagpur, and Sunil Soni, another senior IAS, was asked to submit a report on Akola municipal corporation. Sadashivarao Tinaikar, the ex-commissioner conducted an inquiry of the BMC. Nobody can claim such inquiries introduced much-needed qualitative changes in civic administration. Nothing happened in a positive direction to control the menace of illegal constructions, neither the quality of roads nor the delivery of services has seen significant improvement.
Shinde wants to put Thackerays in the spot
The breakaway Shiv Sena and BJP government led by Eknath Shinde wants to decimate Thackeray’s Shiv Sena further. Considering it as a political move, the question is about what is delivered for the benefit of the people. With a whopping annual budget- bigger than 5-6 small states in the country, citizens of this metropolis expect that the BMC should work professionally- along the lines of big cities across the world. The corporation boasts of huge reserves, and a mammoth workforce and still invites criticism about the quality of service.
Inquiry of just five years rule?
To be clearer about this, if the government’s purpose is genuine to cure the malady the probe should not be limited to just five years- from 2017 to 2022 when Shiv Sena was running the civic body singlehandedly. With just two seats short of Shiv Sena’s tally, BJP had declared that it wanted to play the role of watchdog. But before 2017, BJP was in power with Shiv Sena and one may not claim everything was fine when BJP was a partner and things deteriorated thereafter.
The BJP was heading the BMC’s Improvement Committee for many years while sharing power with Shiv Sena. A lot of developments took place especially during the early decade of 2000 when the construction sector saw huge growth paving the way for many shopping malls and multiplexes. Reservations of several plots were changed thanks to the lenient view from the civic body.
Except for the election time, relations between the political groups in BMC have largely remained cordial and friendly. It may be due to the formation of the civic committees where each party gets representation, based on their strength. Most of the decisions were taken unanimously without any stormy debate. Citizens of Mumbai may have several grievances about the quality of pavements, roads, and bridges but it is rarely reflected in the civic debates, leave alone the issues of other scams.
An example of political understanding should be sufficient to throw light on it. It was sometime in the early years of 2000, a state BJP leader leveled some serious allegations over certain modifications, and deletions in reservations in the development plan of the areas around Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. His target was the department of town planning, an important wing of the urban development department which was with the then Congress Chief Minister. The accusation created turmoil in the political circle. But instead of the Congress-NCP government, the BJP man had to bear the brunt of it when he was removed from an important post in the state BJP. He was shifted to Mumbai BJP for the next 14 years.
BMC facing severe criticism
One thing is for sure the BMC is coming under sharp criticism in various forums besides legal scrutiny by the courts of law. Recently the Bombay High Court raised some uncomfortable questions about the civic body’s stand over regularizing illegal changes made at the residence of Union Minister Narayan Rane in Juhu. BMC’s supervisory powers came into question over the construction of film studios in the Madh-Marve area. The Supreme Court gave an earful to BMC on the issue of the tendering process of much-delayed sewage projects. It also received flak over the construction of a cycle track in Powai.
BMC officers were suspended over the dereliction of duty and turning a blind eye towards unauthorized changes, absence of a firefighting system in the ill-fated restaurants in Kamala Mills compound and a hospital in Bhandup were reinstated. The move was surprising even as several innocent lives were lost in the horrific fire incidents. Furthermore, hardly any senior officers faced heat over the collapse of the pedestrian bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a few years ago.
Senior officers routinely refuse permission to file charge sheets against civic officials even as tragic incidents such as building collapse happens. No serious discussion was witnessed on important decisions, leave aside raising questions over giving a huge plot in Marol- allotted by the then CM Sudhakarrao Naik to BMC for setting up a cancer hospital, to a Hyderabad-based firm for the construction of plush Seven Hills Hospital, and how the experiment fell through and who was responsible for it.
Yashwant Jadhav, who is now with CM Eknath Shinde group should be the best person to speak on the issue of BMC’s audit department. The department comes under the direct control of the standing committee, where Jadhav was at the helm for four years from 2017. Not a single report has been submitted to the standing committee in the last several years, leave alone making it public. Interestingly, the issue figured prominently during the campaigning for BMC elections in 2017. The BJP targeted Shiv Sena over its failure to conduct the audit for four years. It means no audit report has been submitted in the last 10 years. For political parties, management of city affairs has remained a game of power- winning it to rule to come back to power again. This is the mantra of today’s politics. As a result, the life of commoners in Mumbai is left to their destiny.