The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Municipal Engineers Association (MEA) has written to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal alleging that officials of Enforcement Directorate and Special Investigating Team (SIT) are harassing civic officials during the ongoing investigation. Following directions of the CM, a SIT is probing expenditures up to Rs 12,000 crore incurred by the civic body during the Covid period. Simultaneously, the ED is also investigating the Covid expenditures incurred by BMC. They lamented that they don’t get time to do public work assigned to them. In a letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the association has stated that engineers, officers and directors are afraid of the current inquiry. Ramesh Bhutekar-Deshmukh, the association’s vice-president, said, “Earlier, engineers had helped the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) with the inquiry. Now they are helping the Enforcement Directorate and the SIT. The BMC has already submitted relevant documents that were sought and yet they continued to get called in at the SIT office to explain technical terms.” As per the letter, when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, BMC engineers, officers and workers ignored the danger to their own lives and families. Over 350 BMC employees, including one deputy commissioner and an assistant commissioner, lost their lives. Besides, nearly 10,000 BMC employees were infected. The officers spent their entire day at Covid centres, tracing the patients and helping to isolate them. “After putting efforts at such a level, inquiries are irritating the officers. They had done whatever was best and suitable at that time,” the letter stated.
MEA president Mahabal Shetty has said in the letter that many Central and state government officers were at home at that time and even the Prime Minister praised the BMC’s work, and yet initiated an inquiry against them, which is not a good gesture. Meanwhile, BMC officials have said that employees from several departments are regularly being called to answer queries pertaining to investigations, and are often kept waiting till late night. The agencies are investigating expenses incurred by the Central Purchase Department (CPD), Health Department, Development Plan (DP) department among several departments related to civic infrastructure.“The probe teams together have recently demanded 52 files from BMC that contain technical details pertaining to BMC’s operation, and our officials are expected to stay with them throughout the day and till late at night, explaining all minute details. This in return is affecting our productivity,” Ramesh Deshmukh, vice president from MEA told The Indian Express on Tuesday. “ These officers also behave very rudely with our staffers. Civic engineers working at the designation of executive engineers and chief engineers are being dealt with in an unprofessional manner and this is also affecting our staffers’ morale. We are not against furnishing information to them, but our officers should be treated with courtesy,” said Deshmukh. Meanwhile, in the letter, MEA members have requested immediate intervention from the CM on this matter, and a delegation is expected to meet CM Shinde along with Dy CM Fadnavis on August 3. “If the harassment of our officers does not stop, then all workers may go on a flash strike which may affect the overall function of BMC,” said the MEA in their letter. The MEA is an apex body of civic workers which has more than 50,000 members under its umbrella including retired civic workers as well.