Pre-rain work: BJP, Sena in same boat?

Like every year, the BMC has been carrying out de-silting of drains and aims to finish 70% of the work before the monsoon.

After four years of bickering and criticising each other, allies Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now seem to be singing in the same tune, albeit with a little hesitation. Leaders from both parties have demanded that civic officials deployed on poll duty be brought back to complete the pre-monsoon works.

After four years of bickering and criticising each other, allies Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now seem to be singing in the same tune, albeit with a little hesitation (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

Like every year, the BMC has been carrying out de-silting of drains and aims to finish 70% of the work before the monsoon.

Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar on Friday said according to information he has got from the administration, only 35% of the de-silting work has been done so far. “To reach the 70% target before monsoon, I will personally visit the drains and get the work done.” Earlier on Thursday, he had said the model code of conduct (MCC) should be relaxed so that “11,000 BMC officials are reinstated” to finish the works in time. Hours later, BJP’s Mumbai unit president, Ashish Shelar, visited drains in the suburban areas and raised concerns over incomplete de-silting work.

On Friday, Shelar, in a statement, said he supports the mayor’s thoughts on relaxation of MCC. Interestingly, during the waterlogging last year, Shelar had slammed Sena’s civic poll campaign slogan, ‘Karun Dhakhavala (We did it)’, saying they ran away from responsibilities. In the past few years, both parties have blamed each other for the flooding in Mumbai.

However, during his inspection of pre-monsoon works, Shelar found fault with the civic administration. He said it looked like the de-silting work was only “30% complete” and while “officials were delaying work under the garb of poll duty, contractors shouldn’t benefit from it”. “Gazdharbandh pumping station work should be finished soon. Areas from Bandra to Andheri will benefit from this,” he said.

Replying to this, Sena’s Vishaka Raut, leader of the House in BMC, said, “With due respect to Mr Shelar, the inspection he has done is visual, not physical. You need officials and ground staff to carry out an accurate inspection of these drains. However, these officials are on poll duty.”