4 min readMumbaiJul 3, 2023 04:32 PM IST
First published on: Jul 2, 2023 at 09:32 PM IST
At a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s financial expenditure is under the scanner, municipal commissioner and state-appointed administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal on Sunday said there has been no irregularity in the civic body’s finances and that its financial health is currently at its peak.
Chahal’s move comes a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray alleged corruption in the civic body, while leading a protest march to the BMC headquarters in South Mumbai on Saturday.
Alongside this, several leaders across party lines including BJP have been relentlessly alleging corruption in BMC since it has gone under administrator’s rule from March 2022.
Chahal said that over the past three years, the BMC’s fixed deposit has increased along with the capital expenditures. Dispelling murmurs that the BMC’s fixed deposits (FD) had gone down greatly, Chahal said the BMC’s FD, as on June 30, 2023 stood at Rs 86,467 crore.
“When I joined the BMC on May 8, 2020, the total FD stood at Rs 79,115 crore. Later, on March 31, 2022, the FD touched its peak when the amount touched Rs 91,690 crore. This year, till June 30, the exact figure in the FD stands at Rs 86,467 crore,” Chahal told reporters on Sunday.
Chahal maintained that the FD amount is still over Rs 91,000 crore, adding that in the past three – four months, the BMC had cleared two liabilities — one of Rs 2,050 crore and other of Rs 2,567 crore, and if these figures were taken into account, the BMC’s FD coffers cumulatively accounted for Rs 91,084 crore.
Addressing the liabilities, Chahal added, “In the past three – four months, we have cleared two liabilities. First one pertained to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). We have cleared our liabilities of the past five years by giving them Rs 2,050 crore. Besides this, in the past one year, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) wanted to buy new electric buses. Moreover, the gratuity of many of the BEST employees, who have served the organisation, had been pending for the past five to six years. Therefore, in the past three-four months, we gave the BEST Rs 2,567 crore. If we add Rs 2,567 crore and Rs 2,050 crore figure to the current FD amount, the overall fixed deposit is still over Rs 91,000 crore.”
He also said that all the allegations that have been made against the current road concretisation project are entirely baseless and the civic body aims to make Mumbai pothole-free over two years.
“Mumbai’s roads are prone to potholes because firstly, Mumbai receives more rainfall annually than any other comparable city in the world. Secondly, when there is high tide and heavy rainfall, water accumulates on the roads and the chemicals from the asphalt roads as well as the heat results in contraction and expansion, resulting in the potholes. The concretisation of roads will ensure that Mumbai’s roads become pothole-free for the next 30 years,” said Chahal.
Chahal also said that his team is coordinating with ED and is making sure that all the documents and relevant data is being presented to the central agencies to ensure that smooth investigation is done.
On Sunday, the state-appointed administrator added that the civic body had taken the decision to install sanitary napkin vending machines in 5,000 out of 8,173 public toilets dotted across the city.
Alongside this, several leaders across party lines including BJP have been relentlessly alleging corruption in BMC since it has gone under administrator's rule from March 2022. (File) 
Share
