Probe how department’s machines were procured: CM Devendra Fadnavis

In yet another jolt to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed an inquiry into the procurement of machinery for the civic body’s sewage department.

The machinery, bought at a cost Rs 40 crore, is allegedly sub-standard and is expected to be useless in the future.

According to sources, the sewage treatment plant at Lovegrove, Worli, which is 25 years old, is in need of restoration, as many of the machines there are dysfunctional. The Mumbai sewage projects department had recommended that the Lovegrove sewage treatment plant be rebuilt from scratch. However, overlooking this suggestion, sewage operations department officials issued tenders for buying new machines to replace the old ones. While issuing tenders worth Rs 25 crore in a very short span of time, officials have also got approval for another Rs 15-crore tenders.

“To replace 50 per cent of the machinery, civic officials from the sewage department are going to spend Rs 40 crore. Some of the tender conditions have been twisted to ensure the purchase of substandard machines.

“In addition to this, the provision of another Rs 40 crore has been done to buy the remaining 50 per cent of the machinery,” said an official.

When this was brought to the chief minister’s notice, he directed civic chief Ajoy Mehta to probe the matter.

According to municipal corporation officials, all of Mumbai’s sewage is disposed into the sea via marine outfalls at Colaba, Worli and Bandra and into the creek after they are treated in the lagoons of Versova, Bhandup and Ghatkopar. The sewage system in the city covers only 91.5 per cent of developed area and the BMC proposes to cover 100 per cent by the end of 2020.