Developers’ body calls for removal of ‘corrupt’ BMC official Vinayak Vispute

Over 100 developers accused Vinayak Vispute, BMC assistant commissioner, of demanding bribes and delaying projects. They seek his removal

Mumbai: More than 100 developers have written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) making serious allegations of corruption and malpractice against Vinayak Vispute, who holds dual charge as the assistant commissioner of the civic body’s estate department and the H West ward (Bandra-Khar and Santacruz West).

Developers’ body calls for removal of ‘corrupt’ BMC official Vinayak Vispute

The Mumbai Developers Forum raised concerns regarding Vispute’s conduct in an August 20 letter to civic chief and administrator Bhushan Gagrani, detailing a pattern of behaviour that questioned his commitment to his role as a public servant.

The letter, a copy of which is with HT, alleged that Vispute blatantly demanded bribes and unnecessarily delayed development proposals “for unreasonably long periods”. Apart from Gagrani, the organisation sent the letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra director general of police Rashmi Shukla, who is also in charge of the anti-corruption bureau, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to HT, M Meckkony, chairman of the Mumbai Developers Forum, said, “Vispute sits on the redevelopment proposal files and demands money. Unless the developer meets and fixes an amount, he doesn’t pass the file. More than 100 developers from Sion to the island city are a part of this forum. We have no personal grievance against any civic official. But he is a cheater and doesn’t deserve to be in that post. This has been going on for the last three months. We want him to be ousted.”

According to the letter, it’s an “open secret” that unless developers or concerned parties personally approach Vispute and negotiate a bribe, he “refuses to even glance at the proposals”. Such conduct is “not only a dereliction of duty but also a flagrant abuse of power, where public service has been reduced to an opportunity for personal gain,” stated the letter.

The letter added that Vispute’s tendency to delay development proposals unnecessarily “seems designed to induce panic among developers, forcing them to personally approach him, often in a state of desperation, to beg for their proposals to be cleared. This deliberate procrastination is nothing short of extortion.”

The developers further alleged that Vispute cites trivial or non-existent issues as reasons for the delays. “It is well-known within the estate department that by the time a proposal reaches his desk, it has already undergone thorough vetting by the engineer, assistant engineer, and executive engineer, leaving very little, if anything, for Vispute to scrutinise. Despite this, he consistently takes an abnormal amount of time to clear proposals, further stalling progress without valid reasons,” the letter stated.

The forum called for Vispute’s ouster from the additional charge of the BMC’s estate department, saying that his “incompetence, coupled with his corrupt practices, has caused significant harm” to developers, landowners and the public at large. “It is a known fact that BMC (estate department) is a majority property owner in the city of Mumbai, and if a person like Vispute, who is irresponsible, incapable, inefficient and a corrupt officer, is allowed to continue in such a sensitive post, the entire development of the city of Mumbai will be seriously affected. Also, the BMC loses significant revenue due to the delays caused by Vispute,” the letter said.

The developers recommended former assistant commissioners in the estate department, such as Prasant Gaikwad or Vasant Prabhu, be appointed in Vispute’s place.

When contacted, Vispute denied the allegations and said that the Mumbai Developers Forum is not a registered organisation. “I have given my clarification, and I got know that the Mumbai developers association is nowhere in existence. It is an irrelevant kind of nuisance and being mischievous against the administration,” he said.

In response, Meckkony said that the forum was formed four months ago and its registration is “under process”.