Will Mumbai drown again? Advocate alleges multi-crore desilting fraud in BMC ahead of rains

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has been hit by allegations of a multicrore ldquofake desilting scamrdquo in its P North ward ahead of the monsoon seasonAdvocate Rafiq Gori has filed a complaint with Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide alleging a massive nexus involving contractors civic officials private builders and transport operators have been siphoning off public money by falsely showing construction debris and road excavation waste as ldquonullah desilting materialrdquoAccording to the complaint instead of carrying out actual desilting operations debris from private construction sites in Goregaon West and Lokhandwala Andheri West was allegedly loaded into dumpers transported to weighbridges and falsely recorded as sludge removed from drainsA truck loaded with debris on a weighbridge According to the complainant at this stage entries are manipulated by those involved in the alleged nexusGori has alleged that two major developers one based in Goregaon West and another in Lokhandwala supplied the debris He further claimed that debris generated from roadside strip excavation and underconstruction roadwork near Mindspace was also shown as drain sludgemidday contacted the joint municipal commissioner vigilance the chief engineer of the stormwater drains department and the ward officer of P North and messages were sent seeking their response However no reply had been received by press timelsquoWe tracked dumpersrsquoGori told midday that he personally verified the alleged fraud after receiving information from local sources ldquoI tracked nearly eight dumpers that were allegedly part of the contractorrsquos desilting fleetrdquo Gori said ldquoSeveral vehicles arrived near the back road behind Ijmima Complex backroad where drain waste was supposedly being loadedrdquoA truck that exited a private construction site loaded with construction debris instead of nullah sludge PICSBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTAccording to him each dumper is linked to a log sheet and GPS tracking system ldquoAs soon as a vehicle reaches the designated spot its GPS is activated After loading the vehicle is weighed and a BMC employee signs a log sheet carrying the official civic body sealrdquo he statedGori claimed the system was allegedly manipulated to create fake records of desilting activity ldquoAt the Ijmima Complex site empty dumpers were photographed as proof of arrival An excavator was then used only to create the appearance of loading drain sludge for photographs while no actual silt was put into the vehiclerdquo he allegedSting operationGori claimed to possess video and photographic evidence allegedly documenting the entire operation ldquoAfter leaving the site empty one dumper travelled to a private builderrsquos project in Lokhandwala The vehicle entered empty and later exited loaded with construction debris We recorded videos of the dumper entering the construction site and later came out filled with debrisrdquo he claimedThe area in Goregaon West where trucks are allegedly loadedAccording to Gori the debrisloaded vehicle then travelled through Link Road towards a weighbridge in Dahisar where the material was allegedly weighed as nullah sludge ldquoA BMC staffer entered details into the log sheet signed it and handed it to the driver The vehicle then left for an unknown dumping locationrdquo he allegedGori claimed that one vehicle was observed moving from a builderrsquos site in Goregaon to the weighbridge while other dumpers were reportedly seen loading roadside excavation debris before following the same procedureAlleged nexusThe complaint points towards what Gori describes as a ldquosystemic nexusrdquo between contractors and civic officials He alleged that supervising officers responsible for physical inspection and verification deliberately ignored the alleged fraud allowing fake desilting records manipulated weighbridge entries GPS logs and inflated bills to pass unchecked Gori added that due to such fake desilting citizens have to face waterlogging and other issues during the monsoonSIT probe demandedThe advocate said he has already sought details through RTI applications He has also submitted complaints to senior BMC officials demanding immediate actionldquoMore than two weeks have passed but no reply has been received If no action is taken I will move the court by filing a writ petitionrdquo Gori saidldquoI will request the court to order the formation of a Special Investigation Team SIT under judicial supervision to investigate the scamrdquo he addedComplainant has called forgtgt An immediate independent inquiry into desilting tendergtgt Suspension of contractor paymentsgtgt Audit of GPS data weighbridge records and billing documentsgtgt Blacklisting of the contractor