Cartel of contractors duping BMC, says BJP; alleges scam in selling of scrap

The allegations were made by the BJP in the BMC standing committee meeting on Wednesday over a proposal of selling the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) scrap worth over ₹2.18 crore

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday alleged that a cartel of contractors was duping the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for over three decades into selling the scrap materials.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday alleged that a cartel of contractors was duping the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for over three decades into selling the scrap materials. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The allegations were made by the BJP in the standing committee meeting on Wednesday over a proposal of selling the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) scrap worth over ₹2.18 crore. The BJP was supported by the Shiv Sena and the Samajwadi Party on the issue. The matter was discussed after MFB proposed to sell unused vehicles in the scrap.

Bhalchandra Shirsat, BJP corporator and standing committee chairman in the BMC said, “The bids for selling the scrap are by the same contractor, from the same address, but with different company names. The auctioning of scrap from 2017-18 has come up after a span of three years. The cars like the Ambassador and jeep are being sold at ₹25,000. The overall value of scrap is over ₹2 crore, but it is being undervalued. A cartel of contractors has been duping the BMC for over 25 years.”

Supporting the BJP, Yashwant Jadhav, a Shiv Sena corporator and standing committee chairman said, “The BJP claims there is a cartel of contractors duping the BMC for 25 years, but this has been happening for over 40 years now. Members of ‘one family’ are bidding with different company names and getting contracts. They are not allowing any outsiders. This same in case of contracts of demolition and parking lots.”

After the opposition, the standing committee has put the proposal of selling fire vehicles in scrap on hold.