The PWC work include maintainance of muncipal buildings, minor repairs of roads, footpaths, storm water drains, and painting and masonary works in the wards

Addressing a packed news conference, Mr Singh demanded that municipal commissioner V Ranganathan should immediately terminate the work given to these contarctors and ask for a CBI inquiry to look into the “fraud” perperated on the corporation.

Mr Raganathan told this newspaper that the administration had asked the income-tax department to verify the documents submitted by these contractors. “The department will get back to us in the next few days. We will take action if the papers are found to be bogus, he said. He observed that a mechanism would have to be worked out to ensure that those contractors who were blacklisted by the BMC didnot come again under different names. “Civic engineers and officials with the help of contractors have formed ‘A’ class companies to secure the PWC, which is worth Rs 100 crore,” he observed. Turnover figures are manipulated, forged government documents and bogus tax clearence certificate are submitted to the corporation are submitted to the corporation to get the contractor’s company registered under class ‘A’, the senior corporator said.

This newspaper had last month reported how the PWC contractors had quoted astonishingly low rates which were 47 percent to 57 percent below the official estimate for several civil works. Several corporators are also believed to be hand-in-glove with these contraxctors sources alleged.

Every year there is large scale corruption in this contract. Several contractors are known to carry out shoddy work and then submit bogus bills for unfinished work and get them passed with the help of corrupt civic officials, including those in the accounts department.