BMC standing committee clears 91 proposals worth Rs 1,100 crore in 90 minutes

In a tearing hurry with hardly a week left for the model code of conduct to kick in, the standing committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cleared a whopping 91 proposals involving expenditure of Rs 1,100 crore in just 90 minutes. This is the second consecutive week in which committee members cleared proposals of Rs1,000 crore or more without having much discussion.

A few members of the committee raised concerns over proposals being cleared without discussion, and others echoed that if proposals were being cleared in this manner, there was no need for them to attend the meeting.

The civic body's administrative wing had initially put forth 63 proposals before the standing committee for approval. However, 28 more proposals were included during the proceedings.

After the code of conduct is announced, probably in the first week of January, the standing committee cannot take financial decisions, and that is why members of the committee are in a tearing hurry to clear proposals.

Even last week, the standing committee members had, within 46 minutes, approved 71 proposals out of 74 proposals worth Rs1,000 crore put forth before the standing committee.

Among the proposals cleared was a contract for de-silting work to MS Vidhi Enterprises. An FIR has been lodged against Lokesh Jain, the owner of MS Vidhi Enterprises, for reportedly submitting fake documents to the people works department. Apart from this, there were a few proposals of Rs100 crore or more cleared during the meeting.

"Fat projects were cleared last week, and now only small projects were cleared in today's meeting. And that is why the number of proposals reached 90," said a member on the sidelines of the meeting.

With BMC elections scheduled to be held in February, politicians are in hurry to clear development projects to garner votes.

In standing committee meeting last week, members of the committee did not even discuss most of the proposals cleared, including an over-bridge on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road worth Rs 455 crore.

Normally, on an average, around 30 proposals are tabled in the standing committee meeting, which is held every week.