These fibre flowers ‘planted’ in Thane cost ₹6,236 each

After the exorbitant cost of murals in Old Thane New Thane park hit the headlines, another overpriced project of the Thane Municipal Corporation has come to light.

After the exorbitant cost of murals in Old Thane New Thane park hit the headlines, another overpriced project of the Thane Municipal Corporation has come to light.

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The corporation has spent more than ₹15 lakh on installing around 245 fibre flowers below the Kapurbawdi flyover, claimed BJP corporator Milind Patankar on Thursday.

This means that a one-foot artificial flower costs ₹6,236.

The ruling party has also alleged that the proposal for installing the flowers along with other beautification works was tabled under the 5 (2) (2) clause of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, which only pertains to emergency works.

Patankar, in a letter to the state government, has alleged that not just this project, but the corporation has also approved the installation of four sculptures along four lakes in the city under emergency provision. Each sculpture costs around ₹7 lakh.

As per the 5 (2) (2) clause, there is no need to call tenders or quotations for any emergency work, it can be given to any agency of choice to speed up the work.

Patankar said, “The corporation gave the contract of beautification of the garden below the flyover to a private company in March. The proposal said around 245 aesthetic sculptures will be installed in the seven small lawns below the flyover in half a square feet area. No tenders for the work were floated and the work was undertaken under emergency head. The work does not qualify as emergency work. It could have being done in eight months instead of eight days by following a proper procedure.”

Patankar said the flowers, which cost ₹6,236 each, might not even cost ₹100 in the market. “The corporation has paid ₹15.28 lakh for the flowers. There should be an inquiry into who decided the cost of the flowers. I have written to the state chief secretary to initiate an inquiry into this. Also, four sculptures worth ₹7.28 lakh have been installed along four lakes. The corporation has undertaken beautification works worth ₹29 lakh under emergency projects.”

A TMC official said, “We have not yet cleared the bill of the agency which installed the flowers. We will check the sculptures and then clear the bill. In case of emergency proposals, the corporation had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with few agencies under the Mahaparivartan Scheme of the chief minister. The beautification works were carried out under the scheme, so no tenders were floated.”