ACB chief says once this menace is tackled, prices will go down
Mumbai : Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Pravin Dixit kicked up a storm on Saturday after he said that if corruption in the BMC is reduced, property prices in Mumbai would go down by Rs 500 per sq foot. Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte retaliated by saying that BMC is not the only body involved in granting permissions for building construction and that the BMC is serious about weeding out corruption.
Dixit, who was speaking at a public function in Pandharpur, said that a Member of Parliament (MP) had alerted him about corruption in the BMC, which is so great that it leads to a hike in property prices. The hike is as steep as Rs 500 per sq foot. But he did not reveal who the MP was or from what party. “This is not my revelation, but it is what the trusted MP told me. Even citizens have been experiencing corruption on a massive level in the civic body. Keeping this in mind, a builders’ and developers’ organisation called Practicing Engineers, Architects and Town planners Association (PEATA) had submitted a number of suggestions to the BMC to improve the process of getting sanctions. But the BMC hasn’t incorporated them yet,” Dixit said while talking to FPJ on Saturday.
However, municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte responded saying that in Mumbai, the BMC is not the only authority who is responsible for giving sanctions to building proposals. “The process involves multiple agencies like Coastal Regulatory Authority, Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Forest department etc. Only after the necessary permissions are acquired commencement certificates are given. Then how can all the corruption be attributed to us?” Kunte asked. He went on to add how he had taken action against nine tainted engineers in the Rs 100 crore e-tendering scam.
But Dixit laughed off his response by saying, “So what if there are multiple agencies involved? Does that absolve the BMC of corruption?”
Congress leader in the BMC Devendra Amberkar also agreed that BMC is enmeshed in corruption. “But I doubt if it is directly linked to property prices in the city since a number of factors decide those, including the Ready Reckoner.”
Dixit now wants the BMC to work in tandem with the ACB to weed-out corruption. When asked if the BMC has the willingness for the same, he laughed before saying, “The top leadership does.”
Tanvi Deshpande
