penguins

Byculla zoo

BMC

Shiv Sena

Uddhav Thackeray

Probe recommends Ms Highway Construction Company’s contract be suspended.Nearly five months after Mumbai Mirror revealed that theenclosure at thewas constructed by a company that had lied about its ability to set up aquatic systems, a probe has found Ms Highway Construction Company guilty of taking thefor a ride by producing fake work experience certificates and even fabricating a joint-venture partnership with an American aquatic specialist.The inquiry was ordered by BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta after a series of damning Mirror reports exposed Highway Construction Company’s lies about having a joint venture with US-based Sivat Services, which specialises in setting up aquatic systems, and about its involvement in projects at Discovery World Science and Technology Center, Milwaukee; Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; and California Science Center, Los Angeles.Independent inquiries carried out by this newspaper had revealed that Sivat had nothing to do with the Byculla project, while Discovery World Science and Technology Center, Woodland Park Zoo, and California Science Center had never heard of Highway Construction Company. In short, Mumbai’s first penguins enclosure was built and is currently being maintained by a firm that only knows how to build roads.The inquiry has recommended that Highway Construction Company’s contract be suspended immediately and hunt be launched to replace it with a new contractor with expertise in taking care of penguins.While the BMC was supposed to terminate the contract way back in November when it became clear that the contractor had failed to get into a JV with US-based Sivat Services, officials told the probe panel then that sacking the contractor could endanger the wellbeing of penguins.The probe report prepared by Deputy Municipal Commissioner Kiran Achrekar has also recommended that an FIR be filed against blacklisted contractor Dr Tanmay Rai, who played a “pivotal role” in creating and presenting false, fabricated work experience documents on behalf of Highway Construction Company.Rai, whose firm Ms Universal Organics Ltd was blacklisted by the BMC for trying to pass off Chinesemade medical equipment as British products, served as a project coordinator for bringing eight penguins from Seoul to the Byculla zoo.The penguins exhibit is the pet project of theand was inaugurated last month by Sena chief. So far close to 4 lakh people have visited the penguin enclosure.Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta in his remarks on the probe report described the Rs 150-crore penguin scam as a “clear case of not being prudent in public expenditure, where neither thought nor effort appears to have gone into this at the planning stage.”While the report has hinted that officials from the BMC’s Building Maintenance Department did not perform their duty in screening documents submitted by Highway Construction Company, it has pinned the blame on project consultant Ms HKS Designers & Consultants International Ltd. “The dubious role of Dr Tanmay Rai and submission of fraudulent documents from non-existing companies could have been unearthed if the consultants had taken proactive steps to verify the credentials of all concerned as they have the core competence in the subject and specifically appointed for their expertise in this field. Hence stringent action against Ms HKS Designers & Consultants International Company Ltd, Thailand shall be taken,” the report reads.The officials from the Building Maintenance Department who are under the scanner are Deputy Chief Engineer Rajendra Sharma, Executive Engineer Vishwanath Salve, Assistant Engineer Mahendrakumar Tiwari and Sub-Engineer Uday Kachre.Former Congress corporator Pravin Chedha who had filed a complaint with Maharashtra Lokayukta ML Tahaliyani about the penguin scam claimed that the Achrekar’s report was diluted.“The BMC wanted to kill time and that’s why the report was delayed. They wanted to get the penguin exhibit inaugurated first. DMC Achrekar’s report is very stern and it has been diluted by the second report. The BMC must terminate Highway Construction Company’s contract at once. How can they risk the lives of seven penguins? They must file an FIR against Rai, the contractor and consultant,” Chedha said.Following Achrekar’s findings, the BMC appointed a two-member panel to submit a detailed report.Mehta has now asked DMC Sudhir Naik who is in charge of the penguin project to take action against erring BMC officials.