Development works to foot bonus bill

The PMT already owes the PMC a whopping Rs 25 crore! There could be a further reduction in the budgetary allocation for the development works, now fixed at Rs 152 crore. Since the PMC faces a Rs 34 crore deficit as it could not generate the anticipated income in the current financial year, the commissioner had proposed a 25 per cent cut in the allocations for development works.

While the proposal for the 25 per cent cut has been pending before the standing committee, if the civic administration’s move is approved, coupled with the 5 per cent cut, this would mean at least a 30 per cent cut in the financial provisions for the development works. The standing committee meeting witnessed a heated debate over the PMT administration succumbing to pressure by corporators and PMT members for getting stalls at the PMT bus terminus at Deccan Gymkhana. Arvind Shinde, Congress corporator, told media persons that Prithviraj Bayas, PMT general manager, had allegedly made an agreement with a corporator’s protegee to allot a stall without inviting tenders.

The issue was brought up in a discussion on PMT’s refusal to allot space to the collector for setting up a jhunka-bhakar stall at its land at J.N. Petit estate. Instead, resolutions had been moved to allow stalls for some corporators. At the PMT bus terminus at Deccan Gymkhana, Shinde said tenders were not invited while initiating the process of allotment of 13 stalls. He charged that PMT members too had started demanding stalls for their relatives.

While pointing out that nominal rents were charged for the stalls, Shinde disclosed that the PMT administration was allegedly adjusting the rental charges from the deposit money of Rs. 96 lakh paid by the Pune Stock Exchange. Municipal Commissioner Rajiv Agarwal had agreed to inquire into the matter, Bodke said.