The cleaning of the Mithi River has run into controversy once again as senior Congress leader Sachin Sawant has demanded the scrapping of the fresh tender issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
According to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee senior spokesperson Sawant, the statement given by the BMC to the media regarding the allegations on the tender process for Mithi River cleaning is, in fact, an admission that irregularities have taken place in the process, and that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines have been violated.
In the tender for Mithi River cleaning, the turnover requirement for a pump manufacturing company was initially fixed at ₹50 crore. However, after the pre-bid meeting, this requirement was arbitrarily changed to ₹210 crore. Since the pump manufacturer’s role is only to supply pumps to the contractor company, this change was deliberately made to prevent competition, he said.
According to the CVC guidelines, after a tender has been published, the eligibility criteria must not be made stricter in order to avoid reducing competition. Based on this clear guideline, Sachin Sawant had written a letter to the Municipal Commissioner alleging irregularities in the tender process with documentary evidence. In response, municipal officials told the media (on condition of anonymity) that since the pump supply portion of the tender is worth ₹700 crore, they could not specify technical standards for the pumps, and therefore they felt that the pump manufacturing company should have a turnover equivalent to 30% of the value – and that this change was made in good faith.
Rejecting the Corporation’s explanation outright, Sachin Sawant once again lashed out, claiming it was the third time the tender had been issued. It was first issued in March 2023 but later cancelled, reissued on 14 February 2025 and cancelled again, before finally being reissued in September 2025.
In all three tenders, the turnover requirement for the pump manufacturing company was fixed at ₹50 crore. So, was the BMC’s intent wrong for the past three years? Was the engineering department or the consultant asleep all this while? If the project value was equally large earlier, why did the 30% turnover requirement not come to their mind then? Sawant asked a barrage of such questions.
Previously, in the cancelled tenders only four pump manufacturers were qualified. After the recent changes in the tender conditions, how many and which manufacturers now qualify? Make this public, challenged Sawant. He further alleged that this misdeed was committed to award the contract to a BJP-friendly industrialist contractor, and that this clause was the key to the manipulation.
Sawant demanded that this tender be immediately scrapped and that an inquiry be conducted against the municipal officials involved. |
