Elections are around the corner and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is in a hurry to clear proposals for road work. Such was their alacrity that plans worth a whopping Rs 520 crore were cleared in 15 minutes by the Standing Committee. Moreover, these items were not even supposed to be on the agenda.

In the meeting that was held yesterday, around 16 items had crept into the agenda a night before, whereas the rules state that all agenda items need to be finalised 72 hours prior to the meeting. The agenda is decided by the Municipal Secretary department, which reports to the Mayor - Shiv Sena’s Sunil Prabhu. The proposals concerned several road projects to be undertaken in the city.