PATAKHA NEWS: Ulhasnagar civic employees pocket firecracker stalls rent, alert citizen blows lid off scam

Suraj Mourya

IT HAPPENS ONLY IN ULHASNAGAR: Three Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) employees may face action in the coming days for pocketing the rent from firecrackers stalls instead of depositing it in the corporation account.

The three were identified as Vishakha Sawant, Rajesh Ghanghav and Prakash Jawale. Vishakha Sawant is a head of department (HOD) and Rajesh and Ghanghav are clerks. All are attached with the Estate Department in Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation. They are believed to have siphoned off Rs 1, 38,182.

Before Diwali, in September this year, the corporation allotted 11 stalls for the sale of firecrackers in Goal Maidan, Ulhasnagar-1, a prominent place in the city. Ulhasnagar resident and journalist Pravin Pandey noticed that a wall of Goal Maidan was damaged. When he enquired about the broken wall, someone said that firecracker stall owners had done the damage for their convenience, so that they could bring the firecracker vehicles directly into the ground. To know more, Pandey filed an RTI application demanding information in detail on applications, permissions, fees deposited and so on. Pandey was shocked when he was informed that stall owners had applied but the collected amount of Rs 1,38,182 had not been deposited in the department account. It seemed that Sawant, Ghanghav and Jawale had divided it all up among themselves. One of the stall owners said that the three municipal employees had also taken away firecrackers free of cost.

Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Nimbalkar heard about the incident and issued a show-cause notice, ordering that the siphoned off amount should be deposited in the corporation account immediately or else the accused would be suspended. Then and only then did the three deposit the collected amount in the corporation account.

Asked to comment on the matter, Rajendra Nimbalkar said, “I am in a meeting.” Additional commissioner Dr Vijaya Kanthe said, “Come to my office. Cannot talk on phone.”

Pravin Pandey demanded immediate action against the three employees. “This is not enough. Accused should deposit amount with interest. Also they should be suspended. Vishakha Sawant is mastermind of the scam. They should be punished,” said Pandey.