Corporators go slow in preparing for monsoon

The civic administration had tabled two proposals in the civic Standing Committee for the appointment of Pentacle consultant as a third party auditor for de-silting work at an estimated cost of Rs 98 lakh. This was to be done four times in a year,including one before and one after the monsoon. This apart from installation of 211 pumping sets at a cost of Rs 14 crore at 198 chronic spots where flooding is inevitable.

Corporators said the civic administration needed to assure transparency in both the works. “Why should we appoint a third party auditor when civic officials and corporators are already doing the monitoring work on nullah cleaning,” said Sena corporator Rajul Patel.

Other corporators supported her saying that for every other civic work,officials were getting into the habit of appointing independent consultants and auditors. “We should utilise the expertise of our own auditor and his reports instead of relying on an independent auditor,” said BJP corporator Ashish Shellar.

Standing Committee chairman Ravindra Waikar,too said the civic administration should justify the appointment of an architecture firm in carrying the audit work of nullah cleaning. “Will the auditor take the responsibility if there is flooding in the nullahs despite their third quality inspection,” he asked and deferred to take any decision until the civic administration gave a justified and reasonable answer in the next meeting.

Corporators also demanded report on the pumping sets installed during last monsoon before they could approve the new proposal. “Most of these pumps do not work during floods and even flow away in strong currents. The diesel generators are unable to function many times,” claimed Sena corporator Prabhakar Shinde. He said the civic administration should submit a report on the condition of pumps and their functionality during the 2007-08 monsoon. Decision on both the proposals is expected to be taken during next week committee meeting.