21 March,2011 06:48 AM IST | | Ketan Ranga
Sulaiman Bhimani and another resident will meet the PM with documents which prove that 25 builders were paid for their work despite failing to install basic amenities
The Oshiwara resident who unearthed the Rs 640-crore rehabilitation scam ('Taxpayers to pay Rs 640 crore for builders' lapses', MiD DAY, March 19) now plans to meet the Prime Minister in New Delhi with the RTI documents to request a CBI inquiry.
MiD DAY report on March 19
Sulaiman Bhimani will travel to the Capital with another resident affected by the lack of basic amenities in rehabilitation projects to meet PM Manmohan Singh.
"The whole bureaucratic establishment is hand-in-glove with builders and there is more to this scam than meets the eye. I will meet the PM and request him to initiate a CBI inquiry so that the guilty can be brought to book," said Bhimani.
Lapses
Between 2004 and 2008, the MMRDA had allotted 32 relief and rehabilitation projects to 25 builders. While the projects were completed on paper, residents have alleged that the builders did not fulfil contractual obligations such as installing streetlights, constructing drainage and sewer pipes and ensuring a water supply connection to the buildings.
The MMRDA has signed on the BMC to complete the work in the 32 projects and has promised to pay the civic body the cost of the same. Surveys conducted by the BMC have pegged the cost of installing these basic amenities at Rs 20 crore per project by conservative estimates, which means the entire expenditure will be a whopping Rs 640 crore.
"The agreement signed between the builders and the MMRDA (copy with MiD DAY) clearly states that the builders were supposed to install things such as streetlights and ensure proper water supply and drainage systems.
They have been allowed to walk away without completing the work despite being paid for it and now taxpayers have to shoulder the burden," an official had said.
Work on the basic amenities is yet to begin, however, as the BMC says it is awaiting money from the MMRDA and the authority, in turn, says it is waiting for the civic body to give it the estimates.
