MMRDA hired only 14 cars in 2005-06 and pumped up the figures to 121 from 2010 to August this year.
The next time an official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) tries to draw you into a discussion of what lengths it has gone to for developing world-class transport infrastructure in the city and the rest of the metropolitan region, call his bluff.
How else does one explain that while on the one hand, the premier infrastructure development agency talks of providing superior public transport, on the other, its officials threw away crores of rupees of funds just to rent cars in the last half-decade?
According to findings through a Right to Information (RTI) application, filed by activist Anil Galgali, the MMRDA, which hired only 14 cars in 2005-06, pumped up the figures to 121 from 2010 to August this year. Interestingly, it currently owns only 32 cars, a marginal rise from the 25 it had in 2005-06.
And how much have the car rentals cost the exchequer? A whopping Rs9.22 crore from 2005 till this August. Now, contrast it with the Rs1.22-crore spent on fuel and maintenance of its own vehicles.
Public transport expert Sudhir Badami said, “I know that many junior-level officials, such as deputy engineers and transport planners, have been given cars, which is justified since they have to study the alignment of proposed projects. Moreover, the engineers have to go to sites that may be out of the way and may not have good transport facilities. They need hired vehicles. But, officials who don’t often visit sites do not need rented vehicles. Many MMRDA officials either stay in a colony in Andheri (West) or just behind the authority headquarters. They can always carpool or keep fewer vehicles to use when required.”
Galgali alleged that the rented cabs result in chaos at the Bandra Kurla Complex. “None of these vehicles is parked inside the authority headquarters, which has ample space for parking. They clog up the outer roads, often leading to traffic jams.”
MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar, however, justified the expenditure on car rentals. “We have a number of projects which are under construction and the expenditure on vehicles is not exorbitant.” He claimed that it was better to hire cars, as it saved the cost of maintenance.
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