Pimpri Chinchwad: In an incident at Ravet Pradhikaran, Pimpri-Chinchwad, two municipal engineers have been transferred to the water supply department and face a departmental inquiry for allegedly transferring Development Rights Certificates (DRC) without the Municipal Commissioner’s approval.
The property at Ravet Sector No. 29, Plot No. 33+33+34A, was assigned a TDR linked to a property at Moshi, Gat No. 444/1/1/1 Paie. However, this TDR expenditure was processed without the authorization of Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh, who had explicitly instructed not to allocate the DRC. Despite this, Junior Engineer Sambhaji Balasaheb Gaikwad and Deputy Engineer Dinesh Dnyaneshwar Phatak went ahead and approved the TDR utilization on June 10 and July 22, 2024. Following this serious breach and misleading action toward the administration, the Commissioner ordered their transfer and a full departmental inquiry.
Both engineers had been responsible for technical and administrative tasks related to approvals and development permissions for buildings up to 22 floors in rapidly developing Ravet. However, they violated orders, bypassing necessary permissions for TDR allocation, which raises serious suspicion of improper dealings. Show-cause notices were issued to them, and their responses were found unsatisfactory, clearly indicating dereliction of duty under the Maharashtra Civil Service Rules, 1979.
As a result, the Commissioner invoked Section 56 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act and Rule 8 of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1979, to initiate departmental inquiries. Both engineers have been transferred to the water supply department and instructed to report within 15 days, and this action will be noted in their service books. Given the severity of the offense, there is also the possibility of their suspension.
TDR cannot be granted without the Municipal Commissioner’s consent. However, these two engineers violated the order in this case, allowing the TDR and issuing building permissions. Following this discovery, they were promptly transferred to the water supply department pending a departmental inquiry. If found guilty, further action, including suspension, could follow. The incident has raised concerns of financial impropriety in TDR allocation.
