Straight Answers

K C Srivastava, Municipal Commissioner. On Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chandrashekhar Rokade’s transfer and other civic issues.
Why was Rokade transferred? Were there any complaints against him?
He met me about 10 days ago, and asked to be considered for a transfer. It’s routine, and he’s not unhappy about it. By the way, there isn’t a single officer in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against whom complaints have not been registered.
Rokade’s transfer has been compared to that of G R Khairnar’s.Was he transferred because he took tough action against illegal structures, refusing to succumb to political pressure?
I don’t think comparisons do justice to the individuals occupying these positions. Even Khairnar would be unhappy with the comparison.
The May 31 deadline for completion of civic works before the monsoon is now behind us, but the work hasn’t been completed. There are several unfilled digs in the city. Can you explain this?
The new potholes are unavoidable as we don’t want to inconvenience the citizens. I assure you that 95 per cent of the works have been completed. Every day, I get a dozen applications for fault repair work, telephone lines, electricity connections and sewerage operations. We have given the contracts to foreign firms who will strictly have to abide to our tight deadlines.
Friday’s Dharavi fire occurred because BMC rules were flouted by the plastic manufacturers. Why didn’t you take action against them?
This has been going on for many years. Time to time, efforts are made to control this problem. Also, the Dharavi units are prone to fire because of inflammable materials used there. Chemicals, plastic, packaging materials, cardboard and wood are all potential fire hazards. Also, there’s lack of space to relocate these manufacturing units. Only when we relocate them will it be possible to enforce regulations properly. We had a meeting with Chief Fire Officer A D Jhandwal to work out a plan to provide a fire precautionary system to every unit that has been relocated.
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