₹1.82 crore spent on Malabar Hill ‘high maintenance’ dividers

Hindustan Times is in possession of 11 work orders for ceramic tiles on central median dividers in D ward. Apart from the ₹1.82 crore spent on this, an additional cost of over ₹21 lakh has been incurred on hiring labourers to clean the tiles.

Mumbai: Of the ₹30 crore reserved for every ward in the BMC’s ambitious city beautification project, ₹1.82 crore has been utilised for affixing black-and-white ceramic tiles on the central median dividers in the upscale Malabar Hill’s D ward. While the BMC called it a “pilot project” to save on the maintenance cost of repainting dividers dirtied by spitters, activists opined that such ad hoc policy decisions should not be taken on an experimental basis at taxpayers’ expense.

A civic official from D ward, when contacted, said that the tiles had not been prohibited by the vigilance department. “We will take a decision later,” he said. “So far this has been successful and is aesthetically appealing. To keep the tiles looking good, we just have to send labourers to clean them, which is done in a jiffy. Repainting soiled dividers is, in fact, much more expensive. Also, we have not yet encountered sites of tiles breaking as they are properly laid and cemented.” (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Hindustan Times is in possession of 11 work orders for ceramic tiles on central median dividers in D ward. Apart from the ₹1.82 crore spent on this, an additional cost of over ₹21 lakh has been incurred on hiring labourers to clean the tiles.

The BMC’s vigilance department on February 17 took cognisance of the issue and advised all 24 wards to discourage the practice, as the tiles were high-maintenance and getting damaged already. In its letter to the wards – also in possession of HT – the chief engineer, vigilance, stated, “…It is observed that the work of fixing 6mm-thick black-and-white ceramic tiles over the central median is getting damaged by light impact. There is a high possibility that over a period of time, most of the tile work will get damaged due to heavy flow of traffic and continuous vibrations. This may look shabby in the long run. Also, this may incur high recurring maintenance cost to the BMC. It is felt that fixing these tiles is not advisable and the practice needs to be discouraged.”

RTI activist and D ward resident Santosh Daundkar said that fixing tiles on dividers was a policy matter decision which had been arbitrarily taken by the ward, and the feasibility of this should have been considered. “Public money has been wasted in experimentation despite the observation of the vigilance department,” he said. “Such ad hoc decision-makers need to be made accountable. Wasted public money should be recovered from the salaries of civic officials to send out a strong message that public money should be used only for public welfare, not experimentation.”

A civic official from D ward, when contacted, said that the tiles had not been prohibited by the vigilance department. “We will take a decision later,” he said. “So far this has been successful and is aesthetically appealing. To keep the tiles looking good, we just have to send labourers to clean them, which is done in a jiffy. Repainting soiled dividers is, in fact, much more expensive. Also, we have not yet encountered sites of tiles breaking as they are properly laid and cemented.”

Indrani Malkani, Malabar Hill resident and chairperson, V Citizens’ Action Network, sided with the tile brigade. “A portion of Khareghat Colony on Hughes Road has these tiles, and there is a huge difference,” she said. “Where there are no tiles, the paint has faded and there are paan stains everywhere. Stains on tiles are more easily cleaned. So, in terms of functionality, it might be cost-effective and a good long-term solution.”