Transparent and responsive e-governance seems to be merely a slogan for the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC). This became evident after yet another scam tumbled out of the closets of the water supply department in which hundreds of water connections have allegedly been issued on the virtue of fake identities and fabricated documents.
The startling revelations were made by none other than the former head of the water supply committee and Leader of House -Prashant Dalvi who represents the BJP- which single handedly governs the civic body on the virtue of their majority in the 94-member house.
The charges came close on the heels of the recent allegations in context to massive anomalies in the water distribution system by private transporters hired by the MBMC. After a span of six years, the MBMC on the virtue of its new water supply scheme had lifted the ban on issuance of new water lines from 1, May, 2017.
To balance the enhanced supply with the huge demand and to ensure distribution in a disciplined manner, former MBMC chief- Dr. Naresh Gite, apart from creating an online platform for accepting applications, had inked certain guidelines including submission of pre-2010 documents for disbursal of new water lines.
However, it came to light that some middlemen were minting money by facilitating water lines to applicants by fabricating documents like- domicile certificates, voter ID cards and birth certificates. “It is a serious issue. After receiving several complaints and gathering evidence, I have requested the civic chief to conduct a probe and take action against those who are involved in the act.”
“A probe was already on and responsibilities will be fixed, for lapses if any,” confirmed civic chief - Dr. Vijay Rathod. While local political leaders in a bid to play vote bank politics have been piggybacking on new water lines, a section of civic personnel are also under the scanner for approving the applications sans mandated scrutiny and verifications of the submitted documents.
This despite the fact that, right from securing forms to uploading supporting documents and options of online payments, the MBMC has launched a software for the water connection assignment process.
