Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Ajoy Mehta has decided to name and shame professional complainants who form a nexus with corrupt civic officers to extort money from illegal establishments.
On Monday, Mr. Mehta asked Mumbai’s seven zonal deputy commissioners to investigate and report names of professional complainants who collude with corrupt officers from the Fire, Health, Building and Factory departments of the civic body.
A BMC official said, “The civic chief has taken a strong policy decision. He will officially name and shame such people. The deputy municipal commissioners have also been asked to investigate if our own officials also are involved in the racket. The message has already gone out that the BMC will not spare anyone.”
Rahebar Khan, former corporator from Bandra (W), said professional complainants were a law unto themselves. They alert civic officials to illegal buildings in their locality and seek financial gain to withhold the information. Mr. Khan said, “On being tipped off, the civic officer immediately contacts the owner of the illegal establishment and informs him about the complaint. The officer then asks him if he willing to strike a deal to avoid prosecution.”
Mr. Khan said such deals presented a win-win opportunity for the complainants, the owners and the officials. He said, “When the complainant agrees to the deal forged by the officer and the owner, he withdraws his complaint. Mr. Mehta should make complainants give a written undertaking that they will not withdraw complaints.”
Jyoti Khan, NCP corporator and member of the BMC’s Improvements Committee, said, “The number of professional complainants have increased after the Right to Information (RTI) Act came into being. The complainants first file a complaint against illegal structures and then withdraw it on receiving money from the offenders.”
Ms. Khan said municipal officials were complicit in the racket. She said, “When we complain about illegal structures, senior officials refuse to act on our complaints and we are reduced to being helpless onlookers. When professional complainants raise the alarm, officials take personal interest in them.”
Mangesh Satamkar, a three-time Shiv Sena corporator, said professional complainants existed because of widespread illegal construction in the city. Mr. Satamkar said, “If there is no illegal activity, there will be no space for such people. BMC officials use them to threaten owners of illegal structures and bargain for a higher settlement figure.”
Mr. Satamkar said only people directly affected by an illegal structure should be allowed to file a complaint against it under the RTI Act.
