MUMBAI: Whether a civic work gets cleared before or after it starts is back in front of the BMC's Standing Committee.
Of the 112 proposals placed before the committee for Thursday's meeting, 94 are ward-level works worth between ₹5 lakh and ₹75 lakh. They have been put up for post-facto approval, which means the sanction is being sought after work has begun.
The list runs from gym equipment and sewerage pipelines to benches in public gardens and repairs to internal pathways inside chawls.
Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi asked why the proposals were being brought back at all. At the previous meeting, he said, the committee had opposed them and directed the administration to submit a detailed report. No such report has come before members.
Azmi also asked why the ruling party had changed its position and was now willing to clear what it had resisted earlier.
MNS group leader Yashwant Killedar put the allegation more directly. Splitting large proposals into smaller contracts to avoid scrutiny has become standard practice, he said, alleging that several works from the same ward involving the same contractor were being divided to stay within the administration's approval powers. He demanded an explanation.
That is the nub of the charge. Civic bodies can clear works up to certain value limits on their own. If a large project is broken into smaller parts, it can bypass the committee stage altogether.
The administration has not responded publicly to the allegations, and has not said how many of the 94 works are already under way.
Thursday's meeting will settle whether these go through or are held back again. For residents, the practical question is smaller and more visible: whether the bench in the garden and the drain outside the building arrive, and who signed off on them.