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9 Jun 2009, 0202 hrs IST, Nauzer Bharucha, TNN
MUMBAI: A committee of experts recently appointed by the state government has raised doubts about Dharavi redevelopment project consultant Mukesh
Mehta (M M Consultants). In a strongly worded letter to chief minister Ashok Chavan last week, the committee is believed to have called for his removal and said "further continuance of the present consultants will be detrimental to the interests of the project and the city''. The project is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore.
When contacted, Mehta, who was appointed Dharavi consultant six years ago, told TOI, "I am not aware of this letter. If they have indeed made these `allegations,' they are irresponsible and without merit. Once I find out more about it, I will discuss the matter at length with the concerned authorities and respond.''
Senior IAS officer Gautam Chaterjee, who is in charge of the project, admitted that he was marked a copy of the committee's letter to the chief minister. "It is a matter between the state government and the committee. I have nothing to say,'' he said.
With the Dharavi blueprint ready and expected to be put up to the government for approval soon, the letter could embroil the project in yet another controversy. In the past, a section of the slum dwellers have protested, terming the project as a `builder-driven' scheme.
The expert committee was appointed by Chavan about six months ago to ensure that the project is undertaken in a proper manner and to take care of the technical aspects. The committee's formation had been pending for some time before the then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. It has prominent members like former state chief secretary D M Sukthankar, MMRDA's former chief town planner Vidyadhar Phatak and structural engineer Shirish Patel, among others.
"There are certain inadequacies in the project and especially the manner in which a consultant was appointed without calling for competitive bids,'' said a member on condition of anonymity. "It is important to bring these issues to the notice of the government,'' he added.
"The consultants do not appear to have either the qualifications or the experience necessary for handling such a complex and vast project. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that, for the bidders of this project, rigorous pre-qualifications have been prescribed. No wonder, therefore, that the master plan which the consultants had prepared was lacking in vital aspects, such as approach, quality, content and relevance to the physical and socio-economic structure of Dharavi,'' said the letter.
The committee expressed reservations about the consultant's understanding of vital issues such as infrastructure, transport and environmental requirements and said this understanding has been "grossly inadequate''. Moreover, it also raised serious questions about the consultant's objectivity and impartiality during deliberations with the bidders. Sources told TOI that some of the bidders had also raised some "disturbing issues''.
The letter objected to the manner in which the consultant was appointed for the Dharavi project. "The standard procedure of good governance requires a transparent process of selection, which includes an invitation of expression of interest by agencies which fulfil certain basic pre-qualifications and experience, a rigorous process of scrutiny and objective evaluation. We were however, shocked to find that no such procedures had been followed and the present consultants were arbitrarily and hastily appointed on a colossal fee to be paid from the public exchequer,'' it said. Mehta stands to earn Rs 150 crore as his professional fee (1% of the project cost). Government sources said he has already received around Rs 9 crore.
The expert committee says it has noticed serious lacunae and deficiencies in the bid document which subsequently had to be rectified. "The urban design guidelines and housing typologies which were given by the consultants were also found to be hopelessly inadequate and detrimental to the proper redevelopment of Dharavi and to the legitimate interests of its inhabitants as well as the people at large,'' said the letter.
