MUMBAI: Corruption in the BMC is no secret, but a recent attempt to siphon off taxpayer funds worth Rs7.5 lakh to repair a well-laid footpath at Kherwadi in Khar (E) was thwarted after the corporation’s vigilance team carried out a random inspection. The squad submitted its report to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta earlier this month recommending action against officials involved. Mehta told TOI he has instituted a departmental inquiry against three civic engineers.The H-East ward in November last year proposed to repair a foothpath at Ganesh Mandir Road at a cost of Rs7.48 lakh. The ward’s junior engineer Bhushan Gavli and sub-engineer Kartik Gandhi stated in the proposal the footpath was in bad condition, the drain covers needed repair and some paver blocks were out.But when the vigilance team inspected the site on February 26, it found the new work had not been carried out though contract for it had been given. The team saw the footpath was in good condition with the pavers well-laid and no chamber cover broken, so there was no need to spend money on repairs. TOI on Friday saw the spot and found the footpath was indeed in good condition.On learning of the inspection, H East officials hurriedly put up a fresh proposal before the deputy civic commissioner claiming the footpath had already been repaired by the contractor under the defect liability period (3 years) and asking for cancellation of repair work. The original proposal had stated no repair work had been carried out in three years and had failed to mention that the defect liability period was not over.The vigilance team has also recommended the issuing of warning memos to assistant municipal commissioner of H East ward Alka Sasane and the executive engineer (maintainence) for simply forwarding the cancellation proposal without taking any action against the staff concerned.The vigilance team discovered the name of the road too had been wrongly given as Ganesh Mandir Road though its name is Tulsiram Babaji Sakhale Marg .The team’s report states junior engineer Gavli and subengineer Gandhi “have misguided the administration to include the above good-conditioned footpath for repairs, in connivance with the e-tendering contractor (M/s RNP Developers) for fraudulent certification of completion of work to siphon off the municipal funds.”Mehta told TOI, “This will not be tolerated and we have initiated action.” An official told TOI, “In the past, the vigilance team would decide in advance which works to inspect, so ward-level staff would know beforehand. But a few months ago, the civic chief asked for random inspections. This is when the incident came to light.”