The Hindu: Mumbai: Tuesday, January 02, 2018.
Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Ajoy Mehta has decided to name and
shame professional complainants who form a nexus with corrupt civic officers to
extort money from illegal establishments.
On Monday,
Mr. Mehta asked Mumbai’s seven zonal deputy commissioners to investigate and
report names of professional complainants who collude with corrupt officers
from the Fire, Health, Building and Factory departments of the civic body.
A BMC
official said, “The civic chief has taken a strong policy decision. He will
officially name and shame such people. The deputy municipal commissioners have
also been asked to investigate if our own officials also are involved in the
racket. The message has already gone out that the BMC will not spare anyone.”
Rahebar Khan,
former corporator from Bandra (W), said professional complainants were a law
unto themselves. They alert civic officials to illegal buildings in their
locality and seek financial gain to withhold the information. Mr. Khan said,
“On being tipped off, the civic officer immediately contacts the owner of the
illegal establishment and informs him about the complaint. The officer then
asks him if he willing to strike a deal to avoid prosecution.”
Mr. Khan said
such deals presented a win-win opportunity for the complainants, the owners and
the officials. He said, “When the complainant agrees to the deal forged by the
officer and the owner, he withdraws his complaint. Mr. Mehta should make
complainants give a written undertaking that they will not withdraw
complaints.”
Jyoti Khan,
NCP corporator and member of the BMC’s Improvements Committee, said, “The
number of professional complainants have increased after the Right to
Information (RTI) Act came into being. The complainants first file a complaint
against illegal structures and then withdraw it on receiving money from the
offenders.”
Ms. Khan said
municipal officials were complicit in the racket. She said, “When we complain
about illegal structures, senior officials refuse to act on our complaints and
we are reduced to being helpless onlookers. When professional complainants
raise the alarm, officials take personal interest in them.”
Mangesh
Satamkar, a three-time Shiv Sena corporator, said professional complainants
existed because of widespread illegal construction in the city. Mr. Satamkar
said, “If there is no illegal activity, there will be no space for such people.
BMC officials use them to threaten owners of illegal structures and bargain for
a higher settlement figure.”
Mr. Satamkar
said only people directly affected by an illegal structure should be allowed to
file a complaint against it under the RTI Act.
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