THANE: The ongoing project of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to beautify the Masunda Lake has come under fire from several quarters for alleged corruption in the process. The civic administration has, however, played down the allegations claiming that the project is being executed as per proper bureaucratic norms and there is no chance of any corrupt practice in it.
As per the allegations, the TMC Public Works Department (PWD) has undertaken the mega project at a cost of around Rs 4 crore which is much more the actual cost of the work. The project envisages the repair of public footpaths around the beautiful lake with seating arrangements. Planters are also being provided around the footpath to plant trees and flower plants. The cost of this task alone is around Rs 1 crore.
The civic contractor is also providing certain types of marine plants inside the lake for the purification of lake waters to contain water pollution. The step is being taken to provide better chances of survival of marine life in the lake. The plantation will also ensure the survival of the restored lake for years to come.
The proposal involves the reshaping of the existing ghat on the north side of the lake. The lone ghat is used for immersion of small sized idols of the lord on the occasion of festive seasons of Ganapati as well as Navratri. The statue of Chatrapti Shivaji Maharaj erected on the ghat is also being renovated under the lake beautification project.
The corporation has also decided to erect the stone wall on both sides of the ghat from the lake bed for better flow of lake waters. The walls are being replaced with the old ones that were worn out due to lack of proper maintenance and repairs over the last several years. Better angle is being to the new walls to ensure its long lasting.
Members of several political parties have alleged that the cost of the project is highly disproportionate to the cost of the actual work. There are also allegations that the short listed contractor is using the stones of the previous wall that is being demolished, to erect a new one in place of purchasing new stones for the task. The allegations have been brought on record with the corporation.
KD Lala, the City Engineer (CE), has, however, denied the allegations of huge cost exaggerations and use of inferior quality of material as _unfounded'. "The cost of the work has been estimated as per the existing District Survey Rates (DSR) of the state government which is a normal practice for estimation of cost of every project," he said.
Lala added that the use of old stones in the erection of new walls is also not unfair. "It is a normal procedure to use good material of old projects for new ones. In the case of this project, we will exclude the cost of purchase of stones from the cost of the project and pay only the labour charges to the contractor for the erection of the walls," the City Engineer further said.
A TMC engineer in charge of supervising the project has claimed that the stones released from the old walls were found in good condition due to which decision was taken to reuse the stones. He informed that for the building of the walls would affect the use of old stones would bring down the project cost by around Rs 7.5 lakh only.
courtesy:www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
