Congress demands action against contractor involved in garbage scam

The civic administration has taken note of complaints and recently recovered ₹70 lakh from the contractor

The Congress leaders in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have demanded municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar take strict action against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) related contractor involved in the garbage scam. They also warned about filing a case in court regarding the same.

Though it was decided that the contractor would repair and maintain his vehicles outside, it was found that PMC vehicle depot used their accessories to repair contractor’s vehicle, says Congress leader. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Congress leaders Ramesh Bagwe, Mohan Joshi, Aba Bagul and Datta Bahirat meet Kumar on Wednesday and demanded to initiate strict action.

By filing a series of applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Bahirat and his colleagues exposed corruption in the garbage transportation system. The civic administration has taken note of their complaints and recently recovered ₹70 lakh from the contractor.

Recently, the municipal commissioner also initiated an inquiry into the matter after the media highlighted the corruption in the case.

Bahirat said, “On January 19, the administration informed us that they recovered ₹70 lakh from the contractor and inquiry is underway for various complaints filed by them. Though it was decided that the contractor would repair and maintain his vehicles outside, it was found that PMC vehicle depot used their accessories to repair contractor’s vehicle.”

“The RTI documents show fake bills submitted by the contractor and the PMC have paid bills for garbage transportation without any inspection.”

“The same garbage vehicles were used at two different wards and staff names also match. How is it, that a vehicle can run at the same time with the same staff at two different locations? We had requested for GPS location, entry time of vehicle, and got answers only after constant follow up,” he said.