In a repeat, opposition leaders at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) slammed the administration for sending road proposals worth more than Rs 500 crore just a day prior to the standing committee meeting of the civic body. Corporators alleged that the Rs 221-crore proposal for re-surfacing roads in western suburbs and Rs 350-crore proposal for trenches was not included in the agenda earlier. The proposals were deferred by the committee in the meeting on Wednesday. “The administration is supposed to send the agenda 72 hours or three days before the meeting is scheduled, but such an important proposal was sent only a day before, which left us with no time to study the proposal. We don’t understand the urgency in passing these proposals without a discussion or a proper study,” said Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Sandeep Deshpande. He also alleged that the administration was handing over work to a contractor who had already been blacklisted by the corporation in Kolhapur. “While the administration states that the contractor has sought a stay from the court, the company still stands blacklisted since the order has not been revoked. How can the project be handed over to such a company?” asked another Opposition leader. Earlier in December, the BMC had passed a Rs 95-crore proposal for the upkeep of gardens and restoration without discussion. The proposal for the gardens was also sent to the corporators only a day prior to the meeting, corporators said. Even before the Assembly elections, proposals worth more than Rs 850 crore were passed in the standing committee without discussion. The BMC had similarly approved its annual budget of Rs 31,178.2 crore for the current fiscal in the general body meeting without any discussion, leading to a walkout by the members of the Opposition. Standing committee chairman said, “The proposals have to be passed for the benefit of citizens, so that we can provide them better quality roads before monsoon.”
