Potholes on Mumbai roads: Shinde blames...

June 21, 2023 13:35

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 in Thane, 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.

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