Data collected by RTI activist: Ministers’ bungalows in Mumbai default on water bills; total dues Rs 88 lakh

The civic body’s records show that the two government bungalows — Varsha and Nandanvan, which are used by Shinde — have an outstanding bill of Rs 18.48 lakh in water charges since January and March 2022. Besides, Meghdoot and Sagar bungalows, which are currently used by Fadnavis, have an outstanding bill of Rs 2.73 lakh since April 2022. Devgiri bungalow, which houses Pawar, owes Rs 4.38 lakh since April 2023 in water charges.

Sahyadri guest house, which serves as the official guesthouse for delegates and visitors, has an outstanding bill of Rs 35.99 lakh since April 2021.

Parnkuthi bungalow, which currently houses state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, owes Rs 6.52 lakh since April 2021, while Sevasadan Bungalow, which houses minister Girish Mahajan, owes Rs 1.56 lakh in water charges since April 2023. Ramtek Bungalow, which is being used by Deepak Kesarkar, guardian minister of Mumbai (city), owes Rs 11.3 lakh since December 2021, while Muktagiri bungalow, which houses minister Uday Samant, has an outstanding bill of Rs 6.83 lakh since January 2022. State Minister of Tribal Affairs Dr Vijaykumar Gavit’s official residence, Chitrakoot, has an outstanding bill of Rs 5.19 lakh since March 2022, while Gulabrao Patil’s Jetvan bungalow owes Rs 1.18 lakh since March 2022, while Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil’s Royalstone bungalow owes Rs 92,423 since March 2022.

The data was pulled out by Mumbai based RTI activist Shakeel Ahmed. “If a common Mumbaikar delays paying his water charges by a few days then he/she gets reminder letters from the civic authorities or in many cases the water connections also get disconnected,” Ahmed said.

When Express reached out to the CM and DCM’s office, the spokespersons from their offices said that the responsibility of paying maintenance bills are with PWD.

Manisha Mhaiskar, additional chief secretary of PWD, told Express that the outstanding will be cleared immediately. “After funds are released for the government departments our top priority is to pay all the government bills that are pending. For the current financial year, funds were released on April 1, and I have instructed my department that all the dues need to be paid immediately,” Mhaiskar said on Thursday.

A PWD official said, “All the allotments of funds for paying the outstanding has been made and the amount will be disbursed by April 5.”