BJP attacks Sena over Mumbai mayor's monsoon remarks

A day after Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar of Shiv Sena reportedly said the BMC will not be answerable if the city floods this monsoon, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar said the civic body and the Sena cannot shirk their responsibility.

"Those who said 'we did it' are now saying 'we ran away from it'," Shelar said while taking a dig at the Sena over its tagline--"We did it"--for the last year's BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) polls.

Interacting with reporters at the state BJP headquarters here, Shelar alleged Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray called on BMC commissioner to argue the case of hoteliers and the problems they might face during monsoon and not for advocating the cause of common Mumbaikars.

"We thought that the Yuva Sena leader had come to meet the BMC Commissioner to discuss about removing silt from the storm water drains and pre-monsoon works.

"However, when we made inquiries, we were informed that the meeting between Yuva Sena chief and BMC municipal commissioner was over rooftop hotels and how the hoteliers would get licenses for night parties and monsoon sheds for these hotels," Shelar claimed.

Mahadeshwar yesterday said that ongoing work for metro lines, not the BMC, will be responsible if Mumbai floods in the coming monsoon.

Shelar said the BMC and the Sena cannot run away from their responsibility to ensure that the city does not flood again during monsoon.

"The cleaning up of the storm water drains is an important issue for Mumbaikars," he said, adding that the BJP has already held two joint meetings between the Railways and the BMC.

Taking a dig at the mayor, Shelar said there is no clarity in the storm water drain cleaning work.

The BJP MLA alleged that contractors black-listed earlier are being awarded contracts to remove silt from drains in the city.

"No accounts of the quantity of silt removed so far are maintained. Nobody has the idea whether the desilting work was videographed or not. Names of the contractors are not being displayed on the notice board at the site of the storm water drains," he alleged.

Shelar said civic administration is "tight-lipped" about the dumping of silt on private dumping grounds.