AMC withheld resolution on water company’

Times of India: Aurangabad: Tuesday, January 15, 2019.

Activist and petitioner Rajendra Datey Patil has stated that the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has concealed the copy of a resolution passed on September 4 last year to bring back Aurangabad City Water Utility Co Ltd (ACWUCL) for city’s water supply.

Patil said he has obtained a copy of the resolution following directives of the state information commissioner, but wants the AMC to be penalised for hiding the document.

The general body (GB) of the municipal corporation has terminated the contract with the ACWUCL in 2016 over several issues. However, in July 2018 municipal commissioner Nipun Vinayak presented a proposal before the GB to revive the contract with the company to lay parallel pipeline from Jayakwadi dam to the city.

Overruling its own decision, the GB on September 4 approved the resolution to hire the water company for the project.

According to Patil, who is the petitioner against the contract in the high court, he had submitted a Right to Information (RTI) application to the city secretary demanding a copy of the resolution to be kept before the general body.

“City secretary did not issue me a copy and on September 18, the department in a written statement said that the required information will be produced once it is available,” the activist said.

Following the non-provision of the required document from the AMC, Patil approached the state information commissioner who issued directives to the civic body to provide the information sought.

The activist stated that the city secretary provided him the document on January 11 after a delay of 137 days. “The resolution was also withheld from the press and the corporators,” he said.

Now, Datey Patil says that he wants penalty of Rs 25,000 to be imposed on the municipal corporation for keeping the document away from him.

“As per the section 20 (1) of the RTI Act 2005, I am going to approach the state information commissioner to take action against the civic body and impose penalty on the civic body,” Patil said.

Dilip Suryawanshi, city secretary, said he provided the document to the applicant as soon as he received it. “I did not see the document even when it was sent to the state government,” he added.