The high-level probe ordered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) into the alleged Rs.150-crore desilting scam, after its claim of being rain-ready was washed away in June 19 deluge, has confirmed shoddy work by its contractors.The civic body has concluded that not only did the contractors indulge in sub-standard work, but also openly cheated the BMC by making inflated claims on desilting which never took place. With the probe report exposing glaring irregularities, the BMC is likely to book all 32 contractors involved.According to officials, almost all the contractors duped the BMC and delivered shoddy and sub-standard work. The final report, which took over three months to be completed, will be submitted to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta on Wednesday.<!– Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>The probe panel led by additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh applied 9-10 parameters to check if work was done properly by contractors. Almost all contractors failed this scrutiny. Contractors now face criminal action and possible blacklisting.“There were supposed to be 56,000 trips by trucks, from various drains in the city to the designated dumping grounds, over a period of 45 days. This means there should have been at least 1,244 trips per day. These many trips were never carried out by any contractor,” said a senior civic official.“There were irregularities in over 60% of the works. We have suggested action against all contractors,” he said. The civic body had spent Rs.150 crore on the preparations; but not just the low-lying areas, several other localities also got flooded in the dowpour, following which Mehta ordered a probe into the desilting works.The BMC then suspended 14 officials and registered FIRs against three contractors in connection with the scam. While 10 engineers from the Storm Water Drain (SWD) department were suspended, the civic body also suspended chief engineer (Vigilance) Uday Murudkar, six sub-engineers, four assistant engineers and three supervisors from the SWD department.“The same modus operandi has been employed by all the contractors. They forged the number of trips and submitted bogus vouchers too. We have gone by the work orders given to them and found that almost all, except one or two contractors had tried to hoodwink the BMC,” the official added.When contacted, Deshmukh said the probe has been completed but refused to divulge details.FIRs were filed against desilting contractors Ms Aakash Engineering, Ms RE Infra and Ms Naresh Traders, weigh bridge operators Ms Lucky Weigh Bridge, Ms Sairaj Weigh Bridge and Ms Deonar Weigh Bridge and vehicle tracking system operator Ms Plexitech Pvt. Ltd. Of these, the three contractors were also blacklisted.“More than 2,500 trucks would have been required daily to transport silt out of the city and dump them outside city limits. This wasn’t the case in reality. All aspects have been examined and several loopholes have been found. So action will have to be taken against all contractors,” the official added.
Original link:
BMC probe into Rs 150-crore desilting scam indicts all 32 contractors
