Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A major scam pertaining to construction of nullahs and roadside drains has surfaced at Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). A sum of Rs 58 crore was released by State Disaster Response Force for construction of nullahs.
However, the matter was not put up at municipal council for debate and clearance. The Mayor-in-Council (MiC) passed all the tenders for construction of nullahs in the city without placing the subject in the municipal council.
Sources said BMC officials spent money on construction of nullah and drains according to their whims and fancies in the city. BJP corporator Devendra Bhargav who represents ward no 12 has pointed out the irregularities committed in construction of roadside drains in his ward. He has held the BMC official responsible.
“Different quantity of iron was used in construction of drain at different places though it should be same throughout the length of drain. It shows construction is substandard,” he said. According to Bhargav, 75 quintals of iron was used for 255- metre long drain, 16 quintals for 140-metre long drain. About 24 quintals were used for 200-metre construction.
“Corporator is directly accountable to people. When such substandard work was spotted, we informed BMC officials and engineers. But they took it otherwise instead of taking action in the matter,” he added. As for money spent, mayor Malti Rai said, “SDRF has given Rs 58 crore for nullah construction and repair in Bhopal.
This fund is neither of BMC nor of mayor’s corpus. So, municipal council has nothing to do with it. No one has right to raise the issue of Rs 58 crore given by SDFR for nullah construction. Minister Vishvas Sarang has managed the fund at his own level.”
