DNA:
Mumbai: Wednesday, 15 April 2015.
According to
a recent reply to activist Leslie Almeida's Right to Information (RTI)
application, the BMC H-West ward is still to recover 2,910 files from the 3,474
files reported missing from the Birhanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC's)
building proposals and development plan departments of the western zone which
includes H-West and H-East wards.
The missing
files were first reported in July 2013 and in order to recover these files, a
panel was set up by then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Almeida and other
activists had also demanded that Chavan file a case against the concerned BMC
officials under the Maharashtra Document act for negligence.
Bandra west
resident Almeida filed the RTI application in December 2014 and received a
reply to it in January this year. It stated that many files had not yet been
recovered. Over this, Almeida said, “Two years and on, but still there is no
recovery by the BMC. Many residents were sent back home saying that their file
was not found and many others do not know whether their building documents
are n place or not.”
Khar resident
Anil Ghadekar claimed that whenever he asked for documents of Sindhi Panchayat
in Khar West near his house, the BMC said that there was no file of that
building. He also asked for files of the Khar police station structure but the
BMC had no information regarding it either. He also alleged that the Sindhi
Panchayat is working on an illegal construction for the last 15 years and the
BMC has no document of it.
Activist
Almeida alleged corruption in the building proposals and development plan
department wherein “builders and BMC officials team up to hide files.” The
activist has demanded action against such BMC officials.
Activist
Anandini Thakoor said, “This is shocking. If a resident asks for his/her lost
file, only then the BMC will act otherwise it doesn't care to recover the
remaining files.”
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