About Rs 3,500 crore could have been saved had the roads of Mumbai been concretised 15 years ago, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday amid a call by the Shiv Sena (UBT) to hold a protest against “irregularities” in the BMC.
Addressing a function here, Shinde said the ruling partners of Shiv Sena and BJP have initiated a programme to make Mumbai roads not only pothole-free but also concretised in two to three years.
“This they could have done,” he said, without naming his former leader Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the undivided Shiv Sena.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, was ruled by the Shiv Sena from 1997 to 2022. The party split last year following a rebellion by Shinde, who then joined hands with the BJP to become the CM. Uddhav Thackeray now leads the other faction - Shiv Sena (UBT).
“We have taken up work on 450 km of roads in the first phase costing Rs 6,000 crore and another 450 km in the second phase. The same will be replicated in Thane too,” said Shinde.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday announced that it will on July 1 organise a morcha outside the BMC to protest “irregularities” in its functioning.
Notably, Shinde on Monday approved setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe "irregularities" worth Rs 12,024 crore in various works of the Mumbai civic body (when MVA was in power) flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
On the first anniversary of the revolt helmed by him, Shinde said they wanted a “natural alliance” but something else happened, referring to Thackeray’s decision to be a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) that also comprises the Congress and NCP.
“Our thoughts about BJP and Shiv Sena cordially working together were being broken and twisted. Hence we took the extreme step of breaking away,” he said. Shinde expressed confidence that this government will complete one year (on June 30) and move ahead.
The CM said one could not sit at home in the name of Covid and stop everything, adding that their government opened all activities.
On Thackeray’s criticism of “splurging” money in the name of organising events related to G20 and road concretisation in the financial capital, Shinde asked, “Do you want to showcase to foreign delegates the slums or the best of things in Mumbai?”
He said spending money on such events was a necessity. “Even the Sherpa of G20 Amitabh Kant and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have appreciated our presentation of the city,” he said.
Shinde listed out many ongoing projects that he said will save money and time. He said the missing link on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway between Khopoli and Sinhaghad Institute is being taken up. Once complete, it will cut travel time to Pune by half an hour, he said.
The 22-km-long Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link project between Sewree and Nhava Sheva will reduce the present travel time of 2 hours to just 15-20 minutes, he said.
The CM also referred to a proposed tunnel between Thane and Borivali and an elevated road all the way up to Fountain Hotel at the end of Ghobunder Road to reduce congestion in Thane city.
Shinde also responded to Sena (UBT)’s allegations that Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore has been spent from the BMC’s fixed deposits in an attempt to empty Mumbai’s coffers.
Before the Shiv Sena-BJP government took over, Shinde said, the BMC had FDs of Rs 77,000 crore and it has now risen to Rs 88,000.
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