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Journalism of Courage
A REPORT by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), tabled in the state legislature on Friday, slammed the Shiv Sena-controlled BMC’s markets department. It alleged that while 92 markets have been constructed by BMC, only 62 were occupied. The remaining 30 were being re-developed.
According to the report, a new market at Andheri (East) – comprising 11 floors – was lying unutilised since it was constructed in July 2014. While the BMC’s market department had invited tenders five times (between May 2016 and September 2018) for renting the building, four tenders had received no response. The fifth tender received bids far less than the rental estimated in the tenders, the report added.
During an inspection last January, the CAG observed that ground to fifth floor of the building was being utilised as a Covid-19 quarantine centre and sixth to ninth floor was occupied by the civic body’s building proposal department. The report observed that the building was not being utilised to set up markets for more than six years.
In its reply to the CAG, the the markets department had said in December 2021 that since June 2018, floor-wise tenders had been invited for the building and in March 2020, ground to fifth floor and the 1oth floor were allotted to two parties.
The report further said that a survey by CAG has revealed that while 23 of 30 markets had been taken up for redevelopment, only five were redeveloped.
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