Who runs this city?

Is it the BMC? Contractors? Or politicians? DNA examines the plight of Mumbai, that is creaking under its own weight.

A “cartel” of contractors is in control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, says a senior BMC official. “When they apply for a contract, they have an understanding with the other contractors as to who will quote the lowest price,” he explains. “The difference is shared with the losing parties.” This nexus of contractors, corporators and civic officials is slowly strangling the BMC. “There is no foolproof mechanism in place to blacklist contractors carrying out shoddy work, and officials entrusted with allocating funds are not being held accountable,” he adds.

Projects related to heritage maintenance, road repairs (petty works) and providing infrastructure for new villages attract a swarm of contractors, who carry out work without submitting work orders or receipts, says Ashish Shelar, a BJP corporator. “Funds for these projects are completely utilised,” he says. “But funds for major infrastructure works, undertaken by the BMC central agency, are barely (10 to 30 per cent) utilised.”

How does the BMC spend your tax money?
Roads: BMC receives a share of the Rs1,500 crore collected by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) as wheel tax to fund road projects. Each contractor is given the task of keeping the roads free from potholes for three years. “Yet when the potholes appear within six months, no one is held responsible,” says Ravindra Pawar, an NCP corporator. Another senior BMC official, on condition of anonymity, says that civic officials with BMC’s road department are working “hand-in-glove” with contractors.

“Under municipal guidelines, a contractor is authorised to buy macadam (mixture of tar, stone and sand) for making an asphalt road from a municipal plant,” he explains. “After purchasing asphalt, he has to get it tested from a municipal lab by paying Rs300. The contractor, in connivance with civic officials, pays double the fee to get substandard materials approved.”

Water supply:  Mumbai continues to struggle for fresh drinking water. Even as the BMC is expected to collect Rs791crore in water charges for 2006-2007, the city receives only 2,900 million litres daily (mld) out of 4,000 mld needed.

According to the 1995 Chitale Committee report, the city can get 355 mld from the Bhatsa dam, but it has yet to receive a drop. The project, which is expected to be completed by December this year, will cost a whopping Rs850 crore, Rs200 crore more than its original estimate. Another water project, Middle Vaitarna, which promises to bring 455 mld, has been pending for the past five years.

The project, which was cleared by the Centre in April 2005, is expected to cost Rs1,600 crore from its original Rs1,200 crore. Pawar says that BMC’s water projects lack responsible personnel. “Mumbai is suffering because of administrative lapses,” he says. “They had money and time on hand, yet they failed to start these projects. A criminal case should be filed against officials responsible for the delay.”

Sewage: Though BMC is expected to collect Rs505 crore in sewage charges and tax for 2006-07, it is unable to treat all the waste in its treatment plants.

Three out of seven zones in the city have treatment plants where sewage is treated and then released into the sea. Another three zones use aerated lagoons to treat the waste, but one zone in Malad releases raw sewage into the sea. To improve its disposal system and provide sanitation to slums, BMC initiated the Mumbai Sewerage Disposal Project MSDP2, for Rs2,200 crore. The project, which awaits Central funds, fails to meet its target. “Its focus was to provide basic sanitation to slums, but we are struggling to reach slums where 60 per cent of the city lives,” says a senior official with the sewage projects department, on condition of anonymity.