The man who saved lakhsJ B Nagar resident Ashok Pai asked to see the tender for sewage connection in LACC meet; residents were unaware that they were not liable to pay the Rs 20,000 per society that corporator and BMC official demanded for the work I knew that under Section 231 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, soci- eties are not responsi- ble to pay for the first time — it is the BMC’s duty to pay”
When a J B Nagar resident asked to see a tender copy during a Local Area Citizen Committee (LACC) meeting, he didn’t realise he was saving his society and 15 others from shelling out at least Rs 20,000 each, to connect their sewage drains to the main municipal sewage lines.
In November 2006, the BMC laid sewage lines on Kanti Nagar Road, J B Nagar, to connect the septic tanks of 16 cooperative societies, and the project cost was Rs 1.13 crore, which also included two similar projects at Wireless Road and Valenkanni Road.
However, while the ninemonth project inched forward, an LACC meeting was called recently to appeal to all cooperative societies to pay Rs 20,000 per society, to benefit from the newly-laid sewage line.
Corporator Subhash Sawant, in the presence of BMC Sub-en gineer Vishwas Kale, almost convinced society members to pay the sum for connecting the lines. However, 42-year-old Ashok Pai of Riddhi-Siddhi Ratna cooperative housing society was not convinced, and asked, “Can you show the tender copy for the 1.3 crore project to me?” The meeting was halted and Pai promised that the tender copy would be provided to him in the next meeting.
The next day itself, the civic body started connecting the sewage lines, without any money being paid by the societies.
“In the meeting held with the BMC officials and corporator, we asked why the sewage line was not connected to building. The BMC official said that for this, each society had to pay Rs 20,000 as “road opening charges”. “But I asked for a copy of the tender, because I knew that under Section 231 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, societies are not responsible to pay for the first time — it is the BMC’s duty to pay it. Then onwards, if any work is carried out, the society has to bear all expenses. The next day, the work started and one asked us to pay the expenses,” remembered Pai. “I was happy that one question saved lakhs of rupees, which might have gone to the BMC officials and the corporator.” When contacted, a BMC official said on condition of anonymity, “It was our mistake that we demanded the amount from the societies. I was unaware about the Act.” When a J B Nagar resident asked to see a tender copy dur- ing a Local Area Citizen Com- mittee (LACC) meeting, he did- n’t realise he was saving his so- ciety and 15 others from shelling out at least Rs 20,000 each, to connect their sewage drains to the main municipal sewage lines. In November 2006, the BMC laid sewage lines on Kanti Na- gar Road, J B Nagar, to connect the septic tanks of 16 coopera- tive societies, and the project cost was Rs 1.13 crore, which also included two similar proj- ects at Wireless Road and Valenkanni Road. However, while the nine- month project inched forward, an LACC meeting was called re- cently to appeal to all coopera- tive societies to pay Rs 20,000 per society, to benefit from the newly-laid sewage line. Corporator Subhash Sawant, in the presence of BMC Sub-en- gineer Vishwas Kale, almost convinced society members to pay the sum for connecting the lines. However, 42-year-old Ashok Pai of Riddhi-Siddhi Rat- na cooperative housing society was not convinced, and asked, “Can you show the tender copy for the 1.3 crore project to me?” The meeting was halted and Pai promised that the tender copy would be provided to him in the next meeting. The next day itself, the civic body started connecting the sewage lines, without any mon- ey being paid by the societies. “In the meeting held with the BMC officials and corporator, we asked why the sewage line was not connected to building. The BMC official said that for this, each society had to pay Rs 20,000 as “road opening charges”. “But I asked for a copy of the tender, because I knew that under Section 231 of the Mumbai Municipal Corpora- tion Act, societies are not re- sponsible to pay for the first time — it is the BMC’s duty to pay it. Then onwards, if any work is carried out, the society has to bear all expenses. The next day, the work started and one asked us to pay the ex- penses,” remembered Pai. “I was happy that one question saved lakhs of rupees, which might have gone to the BMC of- ficials and the corporator.” When contacted, a BMC offi- cial said on condition of anonymity, “It was our mistake that we demanded the amount from the societies. I was un- aware about the Act.”
When a J B Nagar resident asked to see a tender copy during a Local Area Citizen Committee (LACC) meeting, he didn’t realise he was saving his society and 15 others from shelling out at least Rs 20,000 each, to connect their sewage drains to the main municipal sewage lines.
In November 2006, the BMC laid sewage lines on Kanti Nagar Road, J B Nagar, to connect the septic tanks of 16 cooperative societies, and the project cost was Rs 1.13 crore, which also included two similar projects at Wireless Road and Valenkanni Road.
However, while the ninemonth project inched forward, an LACC meeting was called recently to appeal to all cooperative societies to pay Rs 20,000 per society, to benefit from the newly-laid sewage line.
Corporator Subhash Sawant, in the presence of BMC Sub-en gineer Vishwas Kale, almost convinced society members to pay the sum for connecting the lines. However, 42-year-old Ashok Pai of Riddhi-Siddhi Ratna cooperative housing society was not convinced, and asked, “Can you show the tender copy for the 1.3 crore project to me?” The meeting was halted and Pai promised that the tender copy would be provided to him in the next meeting.
The next day itself, the civic body started connecting the sewage lines, without any money being paid by the societies.
“In the meeting held with the BMC officials and corporator, we asked why the sewage line was not connected to building. The BMC official said that for this, each society had to pay Rs 20,000 as “road opening charges”. “But I asked for a copy of the tender, because I knew that under Section 231 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, societies are not responsible to pay for the first time — it is the BMC’s duty to pay it. Then onwards, if any work is carried out, the society has to bear all expenses. The next day, the work started and one asked us to pay the expenses,” remembered Pai. “I was happy that one question saved lakhs of rupees, which might have gone to the BMC officials and the corporator.” When contacted, a BMC official said on condition of anonymity, “It was our mistake that we demanded the amount from the societies. I was unaware about the Act.” When a J B Nagar resident asked to see a tender copy dur- ing a Local Area Citizen Com- mittee (LACC) meeting, he did- n’t realise he was saving his so- ciety and 15 others from shelling out at least Rs 20,000 each, to connect their sewage drains to the main municipal sewage lines. In November 2006, the BMC laid sewage lines on Kanti Na- gar Road, J B Nagar, to connect the septic tanks of 16 coopera- tive societies, and the project cost was Rs 1.13 crore, which also included two similar proj- ects at Wireless Road and Valenkanni Road. However, while the nine- month project inched forward, an LACC meeting was called re- cently to appeal to all coopera- tive societies to pay Rs 20,000 per society, to benefit from the newly-laid sewage line. Corporator Subhash Sawant, in the presence of BMC Sub-en- gineer Vishwas Kale, almost convinced society members to pay the sum for connecting the lines. However, 42-year-old Ashok Pai of Riddhi-Siddhi Rat- na cooperative housing society was not convinced, and asked, “Can you show the tender copy for the 1.3 crore project to me?” The meeting was halted and Pai promised that the tender copy would be provided to him in the next meeting. The next day itself, the civic body started connecting the sewage lines, without any mon- ey being paid by the societies. “In the meeting held with the BMC officials and corporator, we asked why the sewage line was not connected to building. The BMC official said that for this, each society had to pay Rs 20,000 as “road opening charges”. “But I asked for a copy of the tender, because I knew that under Section 231 of the Mumbai Municipal Corpora- tion Act, societies are not re- sponsible to pay for the first time — it is the BMC’s duty to pay it. Then onwards, if any work is carried out, the society has to bear all expenses. The next day, the work started and one asked us to pay the ex- penses,” remembered Pai. “I was happy that one question saved lakhs of rupees, which might have gone to the BMC of- ficials and the corporator.” When contacted, a BMC offi- cial said on condition of anonymity, “It was our mistake that we demanded the amount from the societies. I was un- aware about the Act.”
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