Serious irregularities have come to light in the Stores Department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), prompting the administration to initiate disciplinary action against 20 officials, including officers of Deputy Commissioner rank. The action follows the submission of a report by a five-member inquiry committee appointed by Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram.
The inquiry revealed that materials worth crores have been lying unused in municipal warehouses for years, resulting in an estimated loss of nearly ₹2 crore to the civic body.
According to officials, in 2015, the Stores Department purchased uniform cloth worth ₹75 lakh and sarees worth ₹69.71 lakh for Class IV employees. Payments were made to the contractor; however, the materials were never distributed and remained stored for nearly nine years at a municipal facility in Vadgaon Budruk.
In another instance, based on a requisition from the Solid Waste Management Department, 20,000 kilograms of city waste treatment powder and 4,000 litres of liquid biocatalyst (Ecochip) were procured in August 2023 at a cost of approximately ₹50 lakh. Due to prolonged non-use, the chemical properties of these materials deteriorated, rendering them ineffective and unusable.
The issue was first raised in November 2025 by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) State General Secretary Hemant Sambhus, who alleged that the Stores, Solid Waste, and Accounts and Finance Departments had cleared payments to contractors without ensuring proper distribution and utilisation of materials. He demanded a thorough probe, strict action against responsible officials, and recovery of the financial loss.
Following these allegations, the Municipal Commissioner constituted a five-member inquiry committee headed by Additional Commissioner Omprakash Divate. Based on the committee’s findings, the General Administration Department has issued show-cause notices to 20 officials.
Those served notices include the then Deputy Commissioner of the Stores Department, Superintendent Engineer, Deputy Superintendent, Executive Engineer, Stores Head, Senior Clerk, Deputy Commissioner of the Vigilance Department, the then Deputy Commissioner of the Solid Waste Department, Executive Engineer, Deputy Engineer, Junior Engineer, as well as officials from the Electricity Department.
Of the 20 officials, four have retired. While 12 have submitted their explanations, eight are yet to respond. With the deadline for submitting explanations now over, further disciplinary action is expected in the coming days.
