Irfan Yattoo
Renovation of Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s office in Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has led to a controversy between contractors and councilors who blamed each other for spending 1.40 crore rupees for the renovation.
A video has gone viral on social media in which an SMC corporator Aqib Renzu is seen claiming that the contractors have generated a bill of rupees 1.40 crore illegally.
The amount has been spent in the office of Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, Deputy Mayor Sheikh Muhammad Imran and councilor hall, Renzu alleges in the viral video.
Shah alleged that the contractors have charged extra for the renovation work and termed it a ‘major scam’ in the history of SMC.
Talking to media Chairman Contractors Coordination Committee (CCC) Farooq Ahmad Dar accused the Deputy Mayor of creating hurdles in development works in the city.
Reacting to the video he said, “Shah is backed by Deputy Mayor who is allegedly creating hurdles in developmental works in Srinagar.”
“Shah and Deputy Mayor should seek apology for their comments they have made against the innocent contractors serving SMC since decades,” Dar said.
They have called for indefinite strike from Thursday against the remarks made by the corporators ‘backed’ by the Deputy Mayor.
“From the past six months there has been no development work in SMC and it has lost its credibility among people,” Dar said.
However, Deputy Mayor Srinagar Shiekh Muhammad Imran termed the allegations of contractors baseless and fabricated.
“I am not against any contractor but the corruption and malpractices. The matter should be investigated,” he said.
Responding to the Coordination Committee of Contractors of Srinagar Municipal Corporation who accused him of creating hurdles in developmental works, he said, “If there was a complaint against my councilor they should have contacted me without blaming me in public.”
He stressed that corruption will not be entertained anyway in the SMC and urged the contractors to apologize for fabricated allegations. Imran appealed the Commissioner SMC and other concerned officers to fulfill the genuine demands.
“Authorities should investigate the matter and there is no harm in it they have not anything wrong. Regarding releasing of bills for contractors many times I have forwarded complaints to higher authorities,” Imran said.
“We won’t tolerate corruption. Authorities should investigate the matter and there is no harm in that. Many times the complaints have been forwarded to the higher authorities,” Imran said.
He said he was surprised today as they were blaming me without having credible evidence. Imran said he will also seek explanation from the corporator regarding the issue as he too has blamed them without having any proof.
Deputy Mayor said these tactics will not affect the development of Srinagar city. Among the contractors, there are also black sheep who work in coordination with RSS and BJP.
“I have evidence of their meetings and they violated the Model Code of Conduct during elections. People know each and everything and everyone should provide details of their work. Malpractices won’t be entertained anymore,” he said.
Imran said he had already written letters to the Finance Department that to verify the works in every ward of Srinagar and only after that bills should be released. He said people have elected representatives and they have also a responsibility to use their power in a positive way.
He said he was surprised on Tuesday as he was ‘blamed for something without any credible evidence.’ Imran said he will seek an explanation from the corporate regarding the issue as he too has blamed us with having any proof. The Deputy Mayor said the ‘tactics’ won’t affect Srinagar’s development.
“Among the contractors, there are also some black sheep who work in coordination with RSS and BJP,” he added.
Imran said he has written to Financial Department in this regard to verify the development works in each ward of the city and release payment only bills after that. He said he would ‘expose such elements in future so that it will be a lesson to others who are involved in malpractices.’
SMC’s Works Division Junior Engineer, Muhammad Auqib, who was the concerned engineer for the renovation work said the rough estimate was Rs 1.40 crore but the actual amount is likely to be lesser.
“There are around 22 ACs, costly LED TVs, imported furnishing, soundproof UPVC window system. However, the bill has not been generated yet,” he said.
