Pune Municipal Corporation Orders Probe Against 7 Officials Over Warehouse Mismanagement

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has initiated an account-wise inquiry against seven officials in connection with alleged mismanagement in its central warehouse, following significant financial losses incurred by the civic body.

The action comes after sustained follow-up by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). According to officials, materials worth crores of rupees, procured for the Solid Waste Management Department, remained unused for years, eventually becoming unusable.

In August 2023, the PMC had purchased 20,000 kg of ‘City Waste Treatment Powder’ and 4,000 litres of ‘Liquid Biocatalyst Ecochip’ at a cost of approximately ₹50 lakh. However, due to prolonged non-utilisation, the chemical components degraded, rendering the entire stock ineffective.

Additionally, uniform cloth worth ₹75 lakh and sarees worth ₹69.71 lakh, procured in 2015 for Class IV employees, were never distributed and were found lying unused at Savitribai Phule Abhyasika in Vadgaon Budruk.

The issue was first highlighted in November 2025 by MNS State General Secretary Hemant Sambhus, who alleged that departments had cleared contractor bills without ensuring proper utilisation of materials, leading to an estimated loss of around ₹2 crore. He had demanded strict action and recovery of losses from those responsible.

Taking cognisance, Municipal Commissioner Kishore Ram appointed an inquiry committee headed by Additional Commissioner Omprakash Divate. Based on the committee’s findings, show-cause notices were issued to 20 officers and employees.

After reviewing their responses, the administration found the explanations of seven officials unsatisfactory and ordered a detailed financial probe against them. Those under investigation include Ashish Kolge (then Junior Engineer, Solid Waste Department), Nitin Shinde (Deputy Engineer), Mukund Barve (Executive Engineer), Sandeep Kadam (Deputy Commissioner), Chandrakant Waghmare (then Warehouse Superintendent), Yogesh Mali (Executive Engineer), and Ganesh Sonune (then Deputy Commissioner).

Further scrutiny is expected, and the administration has indicated that action will be taken against all those found responsible.