Vote bank politics caused Mumbra collapse: Sena

The Shiv Sena has attributed the recent Mumbra collapse to vote bank politics which, it says, is being used by the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress alliance.

The Shiv Sena has attributed the recent Mumbra collapse to vote bank politics which, it says, is being used by the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress alliance.

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The editorial written by Sanjay Raut, executive editor of Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, said the collapse should be blamed on vote bank politics.

"Whether it is the Mumbai airport or any sensitive place, we see slums mushrooming across the place. Despite being the greatest security threat to the nation, our politicians do not feel the need to tackle them,” noted Raut.

The Mumbra collapse had claimed 74 lives as the illegal structure was allegedly built without any foundation and was made of inferior-quality iron and steel.

The editorial further noted that it was up to the states to provide housing. “Lakhs of people apply for MHADA flats and few get them. The rest of them buy homes in unauthorised constructions and finally end up dying there. Another section of people prefer to reside on footpaths, under flyovers and railway footovers,” he added.

"If the people do not get houses, then what is the use of housing department or a housing minister," he questioned. Raut also took on the central government sponsored schemes like Indira and Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana describing them as a waste of public money.

“These schemes provide affordable housing and incentives for the homeless. If they had been utilised properly, people wouldn’t have purchased houses in unauthorised homes and such deaths could have been avoided,” he added.

The editorial said that mill workers, the Maharashtrian poor and middle class had to bear the brunt of such housing policies.

“We have to deport outsiders living in authorized structures and rehabilitate the son of soils," he added.