Kadam was answering a point of order raised by Congress corporator and former mayor R T Kadam, seeking confirmation of reports that the MiC was going to dip into the Provident Fund collection of nearly 1.40 lakh employees and sinking funds to finance various projects. Dipping into Provident funds is an old practice, as the corporation is the trustee for these funds and is legally empowered to use them when in need, stated Kadam.

However, several members objected, saying although various amounts have been withdrawn in the past, Rs 350 crore is the largest ever loan sought by a corporation that has a whopping deficit of Rs 614 crore. ``It is not true that we have already withdrawn the money. Although the Mayor-in-Council has passed the proposal, it will have to be approved by theHouse and assented to by the state government,'' said Kadam.

Committee members later debated the contentious issue of leasing out of open spaces to put up hoardings. In the committee's last meeting, the Samajwadi Party's Sunil Ganacharya had questioned the leasing out of spaces despite the corporation receiving no money in return. Today, Ganacharya read out a letter he claimed was written by an advertising agency Anurag Advertisers.

The letter detailed a threat reportedly made by a rival firm, P C Mittal Advertisers, which had put up an illegal hoarding at Haji Ali. Yet, the Licence Department gave the agency a 10 year contract to put up its advertisements. Anurag Advertisers then moved the Bombay High Court, for which they were threatened by Mittal, claimed the letter.

The civic official who was to give details on the issue of hoardings was absent as his mother reportedly had to undergo an eye operation. This infuriated former mayor Vishakha Raut and corporator Neeta Naik, who asked that details on theissue be tabled in the next meeting on March 12.

Questions were also raised over the last-minute postponement of the auction of Bharat Diamond Bourse. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ajay Mehta clarified that the auction hasd been postponed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner, who sent out a letter to stop the auction as the property involved was worth Rs 400 crores, while the BMC had to to recover just Rs four crore. The bourse has been given a month to explore other avenues of re-paying the amount, failing which the auction will be held, Mehta said.