PUNE, April 15: Two days after his reinstatement by the Bombay High Court, senior Indian Administrative Service officer Arun Bhatia walked into the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and occupied the seat of municipal commissioner today.Slogans like, `Arun Bhatia aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain', `Bachcha bachcha kahta hai, Arun Bhatia sachcha hai' rent the air as Bhatia stepped out of a Maruti car at the PMC gate this morning where he was accorded a traditional welcome by activists of the Punekar Nagrik Kruti Samiti under the convenorship of former bureaucrat Avinash Dharmadhikari, who have been agitating for his reinstatement.Bhatia occupied the commissioner's chair in the absence of Girish Pradhan, who had replaced Bhatia after he was unceremoniously transferred on March 13 following large-scale demolitions. Pradhan is in Mumbai.In a brief statement to the large press contingent, Bhatia said, ``I have started work'' and refused to reply to further questions. Bhatia later facsimileda one-line report to Chief Minister Narayan Rane and Chief Secretary P Subhramanyam stating, ``I have started work today.''Bhatia was reinstated by the Bombay High Court which quashed the State Government's transfer orders on April 13.``I am happy and it is so reassuring that there is some place you can turn to,'' acknowledged a grateful Bhatia, who despite being in the midst of shifting house, took time off to chat with mediapersons.Bhatia, who flew in to Pune on Wednesday morning, seemed overwhelmed by the spontaneous support of Puneites and promises to live up to their expectations by setting ``high targets.''The Bombay High Court's decision has reaffirmed my faith in the judiciary and it is really heartening to note that inspite of the fact that the judiciary is overburdened, the judges managed to hear the petitions and deliver the judgements in time, Bhatia said.Asked about Chief Minister Narayan Rane's reported statement, ``Let the people know a civil servant can hire a battery of toplawyers,'' Bhatia said no money had been charged from him. In fact, lawyer Rohit Kapadia represented the case gratis, Bhatia said.``I am aware that there are high expectations from the people who have given me their unstinted support,'' Bhatia said. In a lighter vein, he said he was slightly worried, but quickly added he would set high targets for the city's development.He said he intended to lay more emphasis on the slum rehabilitation scheme and take stock of the city's sanitation.Bhatia, 56, has been transferred 26 times so far. A Cambridge graduate and an alumnus of the St Stephen's College, Bhatia shot into the limelight for the first time in 1982 when as collector of the Dhule district, he exposed a multicrore scandal in the employment gurantee scheme. As collector of Mumbai, he unearthed what came to be known as the `FSI fraud', which triggered a series of writ petitions in the Bombay High Court and culminated in orders for demolitions of illegal structures, including Arihant at Mahalaxmi,Pratibha near Warden Road and parts of Om Chambers at Kemp's Corner.
