Civic chief orders inquiry against staff playing cricket in Mumbai

After an uproar over the G north ward officials playing cricket at Antanio Da Silva High School ground in Dadar (west) during office hours on Monday, civic chief Ajoy Mehta has directed deputy municipal commissioner of Zone II, Anand Waghralkar, to carry out an inquiry and submit a report by Wednesday

After an uproar over the G north ward officials playing cricket at Antanio Da Silva High School ground in Dadar (west) during office hours on Monday, civic chief Ajoy Mehta has directed deputy municipal commissioner of Zone II, Anand Waghralkar, to carry out an inquiry and submit a report by Wednesday.

While the ward officials defended this move saying that they were playing during lunch break, civic sources revealed that Mehta had slammed the act (HT File Photo)

While Mehta had set a Monday deadline for filling up of all potholes in the city, several engineers and officers from BMC’s G north ward office (that covers Dadar, Matunga and Mahim areas) were seen playing cricket. When citizens visited the ward office, they found most officers unavailable in their cabins during duty hours.

While the ward officials defended this move saying that they were playing during lunch break, civic sources revealed that Mehta had slammed the act . A senior official associated with civic chief’s office, requesting anonymity, said, “Once the inquiry report is submitted, higher level officials could be suspended if the game was played during working hours.”

Further, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporators met the civic chief on Tuesday and demanded suspension of the ward officer.

“Engineers of the ward have failed to understand the importance of their job. Being public servants, they should do their duty rather than playing cricket. We have demanded suspension of the ward officer,” said Sandeep Deshpande, group leader of MNS.