Seema Shivalkar (MNS), Santosh Balkrishna Dhuri (MNS), Hemlata Wange (MNS), Hemangi Waralikar (Shivsena), Manasi Dalvi (Shivsena), Kishori Pedanekar (Shivsena), Ratna R Mahale (INC) and Sunil Mohan Ahir (NCP) were among those corporators who kept the officers under house (office) arrest.
If civic engineers from the road department thought that they could get away with the shoddy road work and nobody will question them, then Friday's incident will force the department to re-think. Eight corporators from the G-South ward locked two engineers from the Roads Department of the BMC in Prabhag Samiti office, G – South ward office building, for giving vague and non-committal answers to the corporators.
On Friday, Seema Shivalkar from MNS, also the chairperson of Prabhag Samiti of G – South ward called for a joint meeting of the assistant engineer of the ward, Sunil Jain and deputy chief engineer of the Roads Department, Sanjay Darade, along with all the corporators of the ward who had several grievances regarding the quality of road work handled by the BMC. However, when the engineers could not give the expected replies, the corporators locked the engineers along with themselves in a committee room.
Seema Shivalkar (MNS), Santosh Balkrishna Dhuri (MNS), Hemlata Wange (MNS), Hemangi Waralikar (Shivsena), Manasi Dalvi (Shivsena), Kishori Pedanekar (Shivsena), Ratna R Mahale (INC) and Sunil Mohan Ahir (NCP) were among those corporators who kept the officers under house (office) arrest.
"We expected the engineers to hear us out, accommodate our complaints and assure us that the work will be taken up soon. However, none of our grievances were heard. In fact they tried to deflect each of the complaints which angered the corporators. It was then that the chairperson decided to make them sit in the committee room until we got assurance. We had no choice", said Kishori Pednekar.
The engineers reportedly kept giving reasons like, files are pending with accounts department or tenders are in process or the files are lying on the table of additional municipal commissioner, reasons which could not be digested by the corporators.
The drama went on from 11.00 am till to 2.00 pm. However, when the S V R Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner himself called up Seema Shivalkar at 2.30 pm and assured her of resolving all the grievances, the corporators allowed the officers to go.
Shivalkar said that the engineer kept repeating 'we will see' without any commitment about what they were going to improve upon. "Whatever assurance are given by the AMC, should be fulfilled within the stipulated time. If we can take such a step against two engineers, we will not spare AMC Srinivas too. This was the trial. We can take aggressive action against senior officers. We need answers," said Shivalkar, adding that the officials knew about the meeting and yet took the matter lightly and tried to deflect all their complaints.
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