The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has given Shailesh Kulkarni additional charge as city engineer, triggering questions from civic circles over whether the seniority criteria used for the key infrastructure post were followed.
Kulkarni took charge after Anita Pardeshi, who held the post, was transferred to the Gram Sadak Yojana in Nashik. Surendra Tengale, executive engineer in KDMC’s Town Planning department, was also considered for the position. Tengale is ranked fourth in the civic body’s seniority list, while Kulkarni is ranked seventh, with six officers placed ahead of him.
The civil engineering department has 12 sanctioned posts for executive engineers. The officers senior to Kulkarni include Tengale, Sandeep Tambe, Shashim Kedar, Shailesh Malekar and Prasad Sakhdev. Tengale and Kulkarni belong to the open category, according to the report.
Tengale has handled town planning and Smart City projects and has about three years of service remaining. The decision to assign the additional charge to Kulkarni has therefore led to allegations that the seniority list was overlooked and that other eligible officers were bypassed.
KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goel told The Times of India that the city engineer’s post is intended to be filled by an officer appointed by the state government. Until the state government issues an order appointing a city engineer, Kulkarni has been given additional charge, Goel said.
Goel also said there was no mandatory requirement for the senior-most officer to receive the post. According to the commissioner, appointments could be made on the basis of an officer’s capabilities and suitability. He added that some officers senior to Kulkarni were nearing retirement, while others were already holding similar posts.
The dispute has also drawn attention to a reported precedent in Navi Mumbai, where a city engineer from the electrical department has held the position. If a similar criterion were applied at KDMC, civic circles have questioned whether Prashant Bhagwat, currently an additional city engineer in the Electricity department and senior to several officers in the hierarchy, could also be considered.
The city engineer’s office is central to KDMC’s infrastructure administration. The officer prepares proposals for major civic infrastructure and development works before they are submitted to the commissioner for approval. The appointment therefore affects not only the internal hierarchy of the municipal corporation but also the administrative route through which key civic works are processed.
Kulkarni’s arrangement is currently an additional-charge appointment. The next formal step is the state government’s order appointing an officer to the city engineer’s post.
