The civic chief's decision of giving powers to Designated Officers (DOs) of local wards, for taking action against irregular activities, seems to have been unwise. After several complaints from activists and citizens over these DOs engaging in corrupt practices, Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner (BMC) commissioner Ajoy Mehta wants them to take due concurrence from Building Proposal department's executive engineers before issuing any stop-work notices.

For transparency
BMC had carried out various reforms in the working of several of its departments about two years back, following the road and SWD scams. The Removal of Encroachment department, too, had tightened its operations by issuing a circular and insisting that all 24 wards act on it seriously. The circular had directed that a report of DOs' performance should be submitted to City Engineer (department responsible for promotion or transfer of engineers), warning that a negative report could affect their growth in the civic body.