The Sai Siddhi Building collapse in Ghatkopar which claimed 17 lives on Tuesday has once again brought to the fore the level of corruption and negligence prevailing in the civic body. The role of the civic body is under scrutiny following the tragedy as they are responsible for structural audit of buildings, granting necessary NOCs, various licenses for commercial activities, and ensuring no illegal repairs in the buildings.

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The Municipal Corporations in the state has been among the top five corrupt departments, reveals the statistics of Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Statistics provided by the ACB shows that as many as 45 cases were registered against 55 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials in the city since 2015 till July 2017 under graft charges. Shockingly, of these 55 BMC officials, eight were not suspended, while two BMC staffers despite having been convicted by the court have not been dismissed from service till date.

As per the ACB, in 2015, 72 graft cases were registered against civic officials in Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, of which 24 cases were registered against 27 BMC officials.  “We send reminders to the state government and competent authorities to initiate action against the corrupt officials. We are very aggressive to curb corruption in the state. Our motive is to make the system very transparent and citizen-friendly. We urge people to come forward and complain to us regarding government employees if they are being asked for bribes,” said Additional Director General of Police, ACB, Bipin Kumar Singh.

5 CORRUPT DEPTS

  • Revenue  
  • Police  
  • Panchayat Samiti  
  • Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd  
  • Municipal Corporations

STATISTICS FROM 2015 TO JULY 2017

2015

Cases registered on civic officials in state         72Cases on BMC officials       272 DPA cases against 2 BMC officials

2016             

Cases registered on civic officials        52Cases registered on BMC officials         194 DPA cases against 5 BMC officials

2017

Cases registered on civic officials         41Cases registered against BMC officials     9One DPA case against One BMC official