AFTER THE drain de-silting and road scams, the civic body is facing allegations pertaining to awarding of contracts without following due tendering procedures. As per allegations levelled by MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande, the BMC allegedly awarded contracts worth Rs 1600 crore in the past four years without tendering. Deshpande alleged the largest such contracts are from the medical and stormwater drains departments and for appointment of consultants, while the lowest amount has been spent on education department contracts. [related-post] He claimed that in 2012-13, contracts worth Rs 163 crore, in 2013-14 contracts worth Rs 310 crores, in 2014-15 contracts worth Rs 311 crore and the highest contracts worth Rs 810 crore in 2015-16, were awarded without a tendering process. Among some entries in the list of contracts in documents reportedly acquired from the Municipal Secretary’s office, a contract of around Rs 1.07 crore was granted to upload the development plan on the BMC website. “In one of the entries, a consultant has been awarded contracts worth Rs 350 crore to create justification reports for defaulters,” claimed Deshpande. The MNS leader is planning to submit these documents to the CAG of India, he said. Senior civic officials said the allegations were baseless. “As per section 72K of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the BMC is permitted to issue contracts without a tendering process for certain proprietary items and in cases of emergencies,” said a civic official. Despite several attempts, civic chief Ajoy Mehta was unavailable for comment.
