One such report has concluded that a large number of the contracts were approved by top civic officials, some of them by additional municipal Commissioners. While awarding them, the clause of ‘urgency’ was invoked. In some cases, there was no adequate justification. The report, inter alia, said that in the contracts, the increase in expenditure after they were awarded was noticed. Awarding additional works by going outside the scope of the original works without proper justification violated the law and gave unfair benefit to the contractors concerned, the report observed.

Only recently, the BMC invited fresh tenders worth Rs.  6079 crore for concretisation of 400 km of Mumbai roads. This was in November last year. Officials have admitted that the cost of the works had increased substantially. The estimated cost of the works was Rs.5806 crore in August 2022. But the bids were cancelled in the first week of November owing to poor response from the contractors. According to the new tenders, Rs.1233 crore will be spent on concretising 71 km of roads in the island city, Rs.846 crore on 70 km roads in the eastern suburbs and Rs.4000 crore for concreting 275 km roads in the western suburbs, taking total expenditure to over Rs.6000 crore. For 2022-23, the BMC has decided to concretise 236 km of roads at a cost of Rs.2200 crore.

The recurrent pathetic condition of roads in Mumbai, especially during monsoons, has made the BMC inure to the continued criticism for the numerous potholes. Rather than mending them, it has floated the concretisation option. However, some of the roads already concretised are also not without craters, Mumbaikars have experienced.

To protect itself from any such lashing, the BMC has claimed that it has inserted quite stringent eligibility criteria for the bidders. Works have started in many places but those responsible for monitoring them have to be held accountable. As this has not happened in the past, people doubt if there will be any difference hereafter.

During the Covid lockdown, the BMC was expected to be wary of spending huge amounts. Accordingly, it had directed its various departments to call tenders for works only after there was a provision in the budget. According to a circular issued on November 10 last year, they were directed to plan for any projects only if funds were allocated in the budget for them. But this effort to bring in fiscal discipline has remained only on paper. In a majority of the cases, funds are not allocated for new projects due to political or other pressing causes. This affects the planned projects where work may have begun already. On account of unplanned projects, funds allocated for planned works are taken away. In the process, both types of works suffer.

Of course, BMC officials are smart to rationalise any escalation in the estimated costs. They argue that while making estimates for mega works, elements like contingency or consultancy and utility expenditure are not considered. This is the reason why charges for major projects appear more than the estimated costs. This justification is very thin, any expert will admit.

The CAG audit which has created so much political slugfest has covered a short period, between November 2019 and October 2022. The report has highlighted a string of loopholes, which includes major systemic problems, lack of planning and unbridled utilisation of civic funds. The audit said, “The records related to expenditure for management of Covid-19 were not produced for audit by BMC despite repeated requests. The non-production of records apart from impinging on the constitutional responsibilities devolved on the CAG of India also deprived BMC of crucial audit inputs, which would have been beneficial for any course correction and systemic improvements.”

In a shocking revelation, it has been recorded in the preface of the audit report that the state government was repeatedly reminded by the office of the Accountant General (Audit)-I, Maharashtra, to direct the BMC to produce the records related to Covid-19 management. However, no records were produced.

The audit said that the BMC awarded 20 works involving two departments valued at Rs 214.48 crore without inviting tenders; this  was against the conditionalities in the manual of procurement of the BMC and the established vigilance guidelines. In another finding, it has been noted that contract agreements were not executed between the contractors and the BMC in 64 works costing about Rs. 4756 crore concerning five departments. In the absence of formal agreements, BMC would not be able to take any legal recourse against the contractors, in case there is a default by the contractors. In 13 works costing over Rs.3355 crore involving three departments, third-party auditors were not appointed to ascertain the quality and quantity of the works executed by the contractors.

These and other such irregularities have been brought to the notice of the urban development department of the Maharashtra  government for necessary remedial action. The report will now be placed before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the state legislature, which is expected to suggest guidelines to eliminate malfeasance and to improve the BMC’s overall financial management. It is expected that this exercise will bring in integrity in the use of public funds. But experience so far shows that not too much can be hoped to happen as the general elections will push all such matters under the carpet.

It has been now announced that the BMC is preparing its response to the CAG findings and is confident that it will be in a position to rebut all the adverse observations in the report. People can only watch the political manoeuvres helplessly, knowing very well that what has come out is just the tip of the iceberg.