Maharashtra Government accepts more file missing than claimed in the RTI reply
25 Jul, 2013
The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act had revealed that 5,997 files were missing from the building construction proposals department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
However, the Maharashtra government has now accepted that the actual number of missing files is almost double of that stated in the RTI reply. The state government said that 10,531 building proposal files were missing from the BMC including files related to important buildings like the controversial Patliputra Cooperative Housing Society at Versova, Taj Hotel in Colaba, Tata Institute of Science research centre, and the offices of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and BEST (Brihanmmbai Electric Supply & Transport).
The Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, while accepting the lapse, stated that almost 90% of the missing files were related to projects prior to 1991-92 i.e. much before the development control rules were amended. The CM has now ordered a two-member committee of senior bureaucrats to look into the case. The committee will investigate the case of missing files and present a fact sheet before the government. If the file of any particular building is missing from all the four departments it was routed through, it would be assumed that some foul play has taken place and actions will be taken accordingly.