Hyderabad diesel scam hits GHMC fogging wing
HYDERABAD: A diesel diversion scam in mosquito fogging operations has surfaced within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, following a dispute among field staff over money sharing.
The state government spends ₹32 crore annually on mosquito control. Senior civic officials allocated 84 litres of diesel daily to the Malkajgiri circle for fogging operations. However, entomology staff allegedly used only 24 litres for fogging and diverted the remaining fuel.
They reportedly paid a commission of ₹10 per litre to a petrol bunk and pocketed the remaining amount.
Fogging workers were paid ₹5,000 per month, while the balance was allegedly shared by the supervisor, Assistant Engineer and Section Engineer. The supervisor transferred payments to workers through PhonePe.
After the matter came to light, senior officials removed the supervisor from duty. A fogging worker who exposed discrepancies in the sharing of funds was allegedly threatened by other staff and entomology officials.
Malathion mixed to prevent diversion
After officials found that diesel was being diverted, they began mixing malathion chemical with the fuel over the past three months.
With no scope to sell the contaminated diesel, staff allegedly dumped the malathion-mixed fuel into drains to avoid carrying out fogging work.
Despite ₹32 crore being spent annually, large-scale diversion of funds has left residents continuing to face mosquito menace.
