Mumbai . After the death of six people in the collapse of a house in Mankhurd area of Mumbai, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi expressed deep grief over the incident and called it a result of administrative failure. In an exclusive conversation with , he raised serious questions on illegal construction, alleged corruption and the functioning of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and demanded strict action against the officials responsible. Abu Azmi said that the government may feel bad if this incident is called a failure of the government, but the whole country knows that in the year 1995, during the then Manohar Joshi government, it was decided that the slums built till January 1, 1995 would be regularized and housing would be provided to the eligible people. At that time it was also decided that if any new illegal slums are built after this, action will be taken against the concerned ward officer and police beat officer. He alleged that despite this, new slums continued to be built in the last several decades. Poor people get construction done by paying bribes and if the law was strictly followed then no one would have dared to do illegal construction. Additional floors are allegedly erected one after another after taking money, while the strength, foundation and engineering standards of the building are ignored. The risk of such accidents increases when multi-storey construction is carried out without any technical inspection.
Accusing BMC of corruption, Abu Azmi said that this entire system has become an example of corruption. The law is not being implemented effectively and people are building as per their own wish. Raising the issue of waterlogging and sanitation in Mumbai, he said that in many areas of the city, severe waterlogging occurs during every rain, whereas in some parts of South Mumbai, such problem is relatively less visible. The infrastructure in the older parts of the city was well-planned, but questions have been raised over the quality of development work in other areas. Referring to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s old statement regarding corruption, he said that even today corruption remains a big challenge in development work. He appealed to the Chief Minister to take effective action against corruption, suspend guilty officers and send them to jail if necessary.
Commenting on BMC, Abu Azmi said that for years, power in the Municipal Corporation has been with the same political parties through various alliances. Earlier too there was a coalition government and even now they are in power, but the expected improvement in the system is not visible. If a change is being claimed in the administrative functioning, then its effect should be visible at the ground level also.
The SP MLA also raised questions on incidents of landslides in the recently inaugurated Missing Link Project area. He alleged that there were serious irregularities in the road construction works also. In many projects, roads remain dug up for months, people have to face a lot of trouble during rains and despite complaints, there is no timely solution.
Abu Azmi further said that the authorities only talk about imposing fines, but this does not provide a permanent solution to the problem. He alleged that despite complaints and investigation procedures, corruption is not being effectively curbed. He demanded that an independent and impartial investigation should be conducted into the construction works and strict legal action should be taken against the officials and contractors whose negligence or role is found, so that recurrence of such accidents can be prevented in future.
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