Mumbai: The multi-crore ‘pressure cooker scam’ in the ‘L’ Ward has left the residents of Chandivali feel betrayed as they alleged that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has sponsored the cookers for member of legislative assembly Dilip Lande to woo voters during the upcoming assembly elections. Some of the recipients of these cookers also alleged that the cookers are of "sub-standard" quality and can prove life threatening. The BMC's `L' ward includes Kurla, Chandivali, Saki Naka and Powai.
On August 13, 2024 , The Free Press Journal had highlighted a pressure cooker scam in the ‘L’ Ward, where the pressure cookers procured by the BMC at an inflated price were distributed by the local MLA Lande under his party’s name. The BMC had purchased as many as 50,000 cookers at Rs. 2,498 each, which is four times higher than the retail market price.
The cookers were to be distributed among the poor citizens of ‘L’ Ward under a municipal social welfare scheme but they were ultimately distributed by the MLA through a series of events in his constituency.
What is more shocking is that the assistant muncipal commissioner Dhanaji Hirlekar defended his decision to handover the 50,000 cookers to Lande. Hirlekar said Lande is a public representative and there was nothing wrong in the distribution being done by him.
Lande, a two-terms corporator from the `L'ward and presently a Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLA from Chandivali constituency, has been posting on his social media accounts about multiple events organised under his party banner to distribute free cookers to the residents.
While the state is set to go for Vidhan Sabha elections later this year, these freebies being distributed under the name of ‘Ladki Bahin Sanman Sohla’ and ‘Muslim Mahilancha Sanman Sohla’ at different locations in his constituency, raising alarms among the citizens.
The residents of Chandivali expressed resentment over their MLA distributing freebies to the people and have also alleged a scam of Rs. 10 crores in this initiative. The Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA) took the issue to the micro-blogging platform X and raised concerns about the disparity in the price of procurement by the BMC. The residents said that they feel cheated as the MLA is misusing the cookers procured by BMC to garner votes before the elections.
Mandeep Singh Makkar, president of CCWA, said, “The BMC is distributing cookers to women thinking it will bring women empowerment, but in reality it is empowering the MLA. He is explicitly trying to appease one religion by putting up hoardings about felicitating Muslim women with free cookers. It feels like he is buying votes from our hard-earned money and the BMC has sponsored Shiv Sena’s election campaign through public’s money. I think the election commission should take note of this scam.”
Residents claimed that the MRP printed on the cookers is Rs. 1,545 while the BMC has procured 50,000 pieces at the price of Rs. 2,498 per piece and alleged corruption by the BMC officials. He also claimed that contrary to BMC’s scheme of distributing the cookers to poor people, Lande is distributing them to his party workers and people from his vote bank, which have his name engraved on the cookers.
Anil Sonkar, a member of CCWA, said, “We as taxpayers are shocked to see such a scam happening in our locality while we yearn for better utilities. The underprivileged are being fooled by free cookers and the middle class tax-payers are being fooled by using their money in such corrupt practices. It is painful to know about the scam but the laugh is on us.”
A resident of Chandivali, Kaushalya (name changed) , a house-maker who was one of the recipients, said, “Cookers are not of very good quality as some people have received cookers without the whistle. Even the safety valve in my cooker was very loose and I had to get it fixed by spending money. Such defects in the cookers can lead to fatal mishaps."
