BMC officials indicted in grease scam

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has indicted 21 former and present civic officials in the synthetic grease procurement scam, which caused a loss of Rs 3 crore. The officials have been found guilty of procuring grease at rates as many as 39 times higher than its earlier price.

The scam was revealed during the audit of purchases made by chief engineer (common services) department. As per the recommendations of departmental inquiry, the BMC has decided to recover the lost amount from these officials. According to civic officials, 10,755 kg of four types of synthetic grease was bought from the M/s Monarch Corporation between 2001 to 2003. For this, the BMC paid Rs 2,778 per kilo as against the earlier rate of Rs 71 per kilo.

The BMC, till the year 2001, used to procure synthetic grease from Bharat Petroleum at the rate of Rs 71. However, during the period 2001 to 2003, grease was procured from Monarch Corporation without inviting tenders or taking approval from the municipal commissioner and standing committee.

The scam was unearthed in 2004 by the chief auditor, who said that the loss of Rs 3 crore could have been avoided as grease was procured at exorbitant rates. “As no objections were raised on this, the scam continued unabated causing a huge loss to the BMC exchequer,” said the chief auditor in this report. He also called for fixing accountability in the issue.

Accordingly, a departmental inquiry was conducted, in which 21 officials were found guilty after a gap of 12 years. Of them, seven are retired officials.