Guess what the BMC's Standing Committee has been doing all this while.
Rather than focusing on civic issues concerning citizens, BMC’s Standing Committee, that takes financial decisions, chairman Rahul Shewale has been busy concentrating on frivolous administrative issues for the last few months, issues such as seeking strict action against erring members of the municipal secretary staff, stalling the pension of a retired chief accountant and handling the work of the BMC engineers union.
The Standing Committee is an important statutory panel in the BMC. Major infrastructure contracts of all departments are taken up by this committee. The 26-member committee includes senior representatives from all parties according to their party strength in the BMC.
The chairman of the Standing Committee has the powers to get work done by the civic administration. On Monday, when Uddhav Thackeray apologised to the city for the condition of the city’s roads, Shewale offered to resign out of sheer embarrassment.
However, Uddhav rejected his offer.
Ever since the monsoons set in this year, the city has faced several rain-related problems such as water-logging, bad roads, garbage piling up besides health related issues like gastroenteritis, cholera, dengue and malaria. Shewale chose to ignore most of these problems in spite of the fact that his party ruled the BM.
But last month, after media reported that the BMC had footed the bill for the cremation of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at Shivaji Park, Sena leaders in the BMC faced a lot of criticism. However, the blame was put on the deputy municipal secretary for tabling such a proposal in the standing committee. Interestingly, the standing committee chairman is briefed on all proposals before they are tabled. But, shirking responsibility, Shewale wrote to the municipal commissioner and demanded strict action against deputy municipal secretary Vidya Godbole for putting the party in an embarrassing position.
In July, Shewale targeted another civic staff. He demanded that all pension benefits of chief accountant (Treasury) NandKumar Rane should be stalled. He alleged that Rane disbursed Rs4.30crore to family pensioners without proper verification. Rane was to retire on July 31.
Q&A
Rahul Shewale, BMC Standing Committee chairman
In the last few months, it has been observed that you have been busy addressing administrative issues while ignoring civic problems.
No. That’s not true. The Standing Committee has been taking up issues like laying of new roads, trenches, water and piling garbage. We have also forced the civic administration to adjourn several meetings if officials do not reply satisfactorily.
How do you bring about change?
We have introduced modern and sophisticated road building technology. The plans for the new roads will be in accordance to norms stipulated by the Indian Road Congress. I am the president of the engineers union, so I try to work in tandem with the system. However, engineers will be given a last chance to pull up their socks and work efficiently, so that the city gets better roads in the next two years, as the Sena president wants.
They will be taken to task if they do not perform. A circular has been issued to all road engineers which says that if there are accidents due to potholes, as it happened in Kurar (Malad), FIR will be lodged against road engineer concerned and the contractor as both will be held responsible.
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