The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been hit by allegations of a multi-crore “fake desilting scam” in its P North ward ahead of the monsoon season.

Advocate Rafiq Gori has filed a complaint with Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, alleging a massive nexus involving contractors, civic officials, private builders, and transport operators have been siphoning off public money by falsely showing construction debris and road excavation waste as “nullah desilting material”.

According to the complaint, instead of carrying out actual desilting operations, debris from private construction sites in Goregaon West and Lokhandwala, Andheri West, was allegedly loaded into dumpers, transported to weighbridges, and falsely recorded as sludge removed from drains.


A truck loaded with debris on a weighbridge. According to the complainant, at this stage, entries are manipulated by those involved in the alleged nexus

Gori has alleged that two major developers, one based in Goregaon West and another in Lokhandwala, supplied the debris. He further claimed that debris generated from roadside strip excavation and under-construction roadwork near Mindspace was also shown as drain sludge.

mid-day contacted the joint municipal commissioner (vigilance), the chief engineer of the stormwater drains department, and the ward officer of P North, and messages were sent, seeking their response. However, no reply had been received by press time.

‘We tracked dumpers’

Gori told mid-day that he personally verified the alleged fraud after receiving information from local sources. “I tracked nearly eight dumpers that were allegedly part of the contractor’s desilting fleet,” Gori said. “Several vehicles arrived near the back road behind Ijmima Complex [backroad], where drain waste was supposedly being loaded.”


A truck that exited a private construction site loaded with construction debris instead of nullah sludge. PICS/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

According to him, each dumper is linked to a log sheet and GPS tracking system. “As soon as a vehicle reaches the designated spot, its GPS is activated. After loading, the vehicle is weighed, and a BMC employee signs a log sheet carrying the official civic body seal,” he stated.

Gori claimed the system was allegedly manipulated to create fake records of desilting activity. “At the Ijmima Complex site, empty dumpers were photographed as proof of arrival. An excavator was then used only to create the appearance of loading drain sludge for photographs, while no actual silt was put into the vehicle,” he alleged.

Sting operation

Gori claimed to possess video and photographic evidence allegedly documenting the entire operation. “After leaving the site empty, one dumper travelled to a private builder’s project in Lokhandwala. The vehicle entered empty and later exited loaded with construction debris. We recorded videos of the dumper entering the construction site and later came out filled with debris,” he claimed.


The area in Goregaon West, where trucks are allegedly loaded

According to Gori, the debris-loaded vehicle then travelled through Link Road towards a weighbridge in Dahisar, where the material was allegedly weighed as nullah sludge. “A BMC staffer entered details into the log sheet, signed it, and handed it to the driver. The vehicle then left for an unknown dumping location,” he alleged.

Gori claimed that one vehicle was observed moving from a builder’s site in Goregaon to the weighbridge, while other dumpers were reportedly seen loading roadside excavation debris before following the same procedure.

Alleged nexus

The complaint points towards what Gori describes as a “systemic nexus” between contractors and civic officials. He alleged that supervising officers responsible for physical inspection and verification deliberately ignored the alleged fraud, allowing fake desilting records, manipulated weighbridge entries, GPS logs, and inflated bills to pass unchecked. Gori added that due to such fake desilting, citizens have to face waterlogging and other issues during the monsoon.

SIT probe demanded

The advocate said he has already sought details through RTI applications. He has also submitted complaints to senior BMC officials, demanding immediate action.

“More than two weeks have passed, but no reply has been received. If no action is taken, I will move the court by filing a writ petition,” Gori said.

“I will request the court to order the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under judicial supervision to investigate the scam,” he added.

Complainant has called for...

>> An immediate independent inquiry into desilting tender
>> Suspension of contractor payments
>> Audit of GPS data, weighbridge records, and billing documents
>> Blacklisting of the contractor