Creating single authority for Mumbai a top priority: Aaditya

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said creating a single authority for the financial capital is the top priority for the state government which will help "settle better accountability".

Sixteen agencies, including the city civic body, agencies under the state government like MMRDA and Mhada for housing, and also some under the Central government like Airports Authority of India and Ports, run the financial capital at present, he said. Explaining the rationale behind such proposition, Aaditya Thackeray, who is son of Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said a single authority will help set better accountability by fixing responsibility on a single entity for all of the city''s requirements.

"What we are looking at now is to have a single authority in Mumbai, a single parent body that will run Mumbai," Aaditya Thackeray said during a session with industry body CII, when asked about what is the top priority for the state government at present.

In the remarks, which come amid reports that Shiv Sena''s alliance partners in the state government are unhappy with such a move, Aaditya Thackeray said having such an authority is the "first thing" of focus. The NCP and the Congress are ruling constituents in the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.