Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has refuted the allegation of the “missing Rs 6,000 crore” in fixed deposits of the corporation.
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Varsha Gaikwad had on Wednesday targeted the state government for allowing the BMC to spend its fixed deposit.
She wanted to know how the fixed deposits had declined from Rs 92,000 crore to Rs 86,000 crore and asked, “Who has pocketed Rs 6,000 crore.”
Allegation has no basis: Chahal
Chahal told The Free Press Journal that the allegation had no basis. He explained that the civic body was obliged to share a portion of the premium collected from builders with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and, accordingly, Rs 2,500 crore was given to the corporation and thus the arrears were cleared totally.
Apart from that a grant of Rs 2,5000 crore was given to BEST Undertaking to buy buses, pay bonus to staff, etc, he said.
The BMC chief said that when he took over in May 2020 Rs 77,000 crore was in FD and since then it had increased substantially.
Several infrastructure projects report cost overruns, alleges Gaikwad
Meanwhile, Gaikwad alleged that many infrastructure projects in Mumbai had been reporting cost overruns. The cost of the Goregaon-Mulund road project had reached Rs 12,000 crore from Rs 6,000 crore, she said.
Apart from this, the estimated cost of the Vikhroli railway flyover, estimated at Rs 45.77 crore, had more than doubled to Rs 97.37 crore, Gaikwad claimed.
Most of the work on this bridge was still not completed. The proposed cost of the Dahisar-Bhayandar elevated road from the municipal treasury was Rs 1,998 crore, she said, adding that it had increased and now reached Rs 3,000 crore.
