Activist files additional plea in parking lots case
Even as the Bombay high court is set to hear activist Pravin Wategaonkar’s PIL alleging corruption in allotment of public parking lots in the city, he has filed an additional affidavit in the matter.
In his affidavit, the social activist has questioned as to why the government has not passed or rejected the 16 proposals seeking allotment of parking lots. According to the affidavit, in 2012, the state government had earned a revenue of `200 crore through the allotment of five parking lots. “If this is the case, then why does the government, which is cash-strapped, not deciding on the 16 pending proposals?” said Mr Wategaonkar.
In his PIL, Mr Wategaonkar has alleged that “someone” close to the state chief minister and the minister of state for urban development was charging exorbitant amounts for clearing proposals of allotment of public parking lots. The petition wanted an investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
He also sought direction to be issued to the Maharashtra government to submit details of proposals sanctioned so far
since the present urban development minister and chief minister assumed office.
Mr Wategaonkar claimed that through the RTI he had filed, he had discovered that the government had cleared three proposals for parking lots on June 20 last year, a day before three floors of Mantralaya were gutted in a fire. As per the urban development department, between November 2010 to January 2013, 21
proposals were submitted, but only five were sanctioned while 16 are pending. The department said it could not give more details because the files were destroyed in the fire.
However, the affidavit points out that another proposal was cleared on July 6, 2012, two weeks after the Mantralaya fire. “If the UDD said that all the records and files are burnt, then the question arises as to how the ND Developers’ file was not damaged. Or was it reconstructed within a fortnight of the fire and approved?” asked Mr Wategaonkar.
In the previous hearing, the petition was adjourned to May 2 for further hearing.
Post new comment