Patna municipality ex-boss in the dock for waterlogging says Nitish Kumar also to blame

Former commissioner of Patna Municipal Corporation, Anupam Kumar Suman said politicians including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are also responsible for the city’s waterlogging mess.

Former commissioner of Patna Municipal Corporation, Anupam Kumar Suman, on Tuesday ridiculed the state government’s show cause slapped on him for disciplinary action for last year’s water logging in Bihar’s capital city and said chief minister Nitish Kumar should also be held to account for the mess.

Suman, a 2004-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, said he took to the media to reply to the state government’s charge, which he received a couple of days ago, because the letter did not have any significance as he had taken voluntary retirement.

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“I would have definitely given a befitting reply had I been in service,” said Suman, adding that he came to know about the state government’s action against him only through the media.

Blaming the acute shortage of resources and lack of political will for perennial waterlogging in Patna, Suman said he was a victim of a witch-hunt.

“If head of the institution is held accountable for fault at the subordinate level, how the PMC mayor, departmental minister and the chief minister shall escape the responsibility. They also review every bit of PMC’s preparations for the monsoon,” he said.

Dismissing the charge levelled by the state government against him, Suman said flimsy grounds such as lack of leadership quality, inaccessibility, absence of proper cleaning of drainage, etc, were cited as reasons for his suspension, which never came into effect. “Why did the government not fix responsibility on the officers who waste public exchequer and time to sanction projects under Smart City mission and then cancel them without any substantial reasons?” asked the former PMC head.

Bihar’s urban development department minister Suresh Sharma said that action against Suman, then Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation MD AP Singh, an IAS officer, and other officers was taken on the recommendations of a high-level committee headed by the development commissioner.

“Action was justified as all executive powers of the PMC are vested with the commissioner and not with the mayor or other elected representatives. Mayor or minister does not have any role in implementation of the scheme. Water logging was caused as the PMC couldn’t take appropriate steps, as assured during the review meetings, to deal with the situation,” Sharma said.

Almost a month before Patna was caught in deluge due to heavy showers for four days (September 27-30) last year, Suman had stepped down as the PMC chief and sought voluntary retirement from his parent department, the ministry of revenue. Suman claimed his voluntary retirement was accepted recently.