Sena, BJP begin blame game over potholes
Sena takes to streets to protest against govt’s inaction; BJP passes buck on to BMC; Congress and NCP launch their antipothole campaigns
MUMBAI: As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) struggled to meet its self-imposed 48-hour deadline to free the city’s streets of potholes by Saturday, political parties and state agencies continued to pass the buck.
On Saturday morning, the Shiv Sena staged a protest at Daulat Nagar Link Road, Santacruz, blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the prevalence of potholes. They also protested against state bodies, such as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which are responsible for maintenance of other roads across the city. Ironically, MSRDC is headed by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde.
As part of the protest, the Sena invited participation from school students, who made drawings of the potholes. The Sena now intends to send these drawings to the state government.
Shiv Sena leader Jitendra Jawale, who led Saturday’s protest, said, “Link Road comes under the jurisdiction of BJP MLA Ashish Shelarandmppoonammahajan. They should have been alert and done their job. All Shiv Sena leaders are on the field, either repairing potholes or intimating BMC officials about them.”
Lashing back at the Sena, Shelar held Yashwant Jadhav, the civic body’s standing committee chairman, responsible. “The standing committee has delayed appointing a contractor for the repair of roads in Zone 3 where my ward falls. It has done this deliberately, as the ward is dominated by BJP leaders.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Nirupam, president of Congress’s Mumbai unit, took to Bandra’s streets to repair the potholes himself on Saturday. Two days ago, Congress launched the ‘aao pothole geene’ (let’s count potholes) campaign in the city.
Nationalist Congress Party launched another anti-pothole campaign called ‘name pothole’, urging citizens to come forward and name potholes after prominent BJP and Sena leaders in Mumbai.