Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday demanded an Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) probe into Mumbai’s Rs 7,000 crore concrete road repair project, which has faced heavy criticism from various political parties.
The ambitious project, which aims to repair 700 km of roads to tackle Mumbai’s chronic pothole problem, was launched after Shinde became the Chief Minister and held the Urban Development portfolio.
Speaking to reporters, Thackeray demanded that Shinde and Deepak Kesarkar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who were the ministers in charge of Mumbai city and Mumbai city, respectively, be removed from the new government as road contracts were awarded during their tenure as ministers.
“Instead of forming a special investigation team, the economic crime branch of the Mumbai police should investigate the matter. Devendra Fadnavis should refrain from inducting Eknath Shinde and former ministers Deepak Kesarkar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha into his cabinet until they are removed from the investigation,” he said. Aditya. Thackeray said.
Thackeray also alleged that there were exchange contracts when Shinde was the Chief Minister and in charge of the Urban Development portfolio.
“The BJP has now demanded an SIT investigation into the contracts awarded for the construction of roads. We want an EOW investigation into this,” said Thackeray.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar also expressed concern over the issue, meeting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani on Friday and demanding the formation of an SIT. Shelar also called for a detailed study involving experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) to assess 40 percent of the randomly constructed road tracts.
CITIZENS OF COLABA PROTEST IMPLEMENTATION OF JOBS
Adding to the controversy, former BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar and residents of Colaba staged a protest on Saturday, citing delays and substandard conditions in the CC South Mumbai road projects.
Narwekar accused contractors and BMC officials of negligence, pointing out that no real work has started despite the contracts being awarded in September 2023 at a cost of 4 percent over the estimated budget.
“The new contractor has recently installed barricades on five roads in Colaba, causing endless traffic on Dumayne Road, Windy Hall Lane, Nathulal Parekh Marg, and Veer Nariman Road. No maintenance or progress is visible on the ground,” Narwekar said.
He also wrote to BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, demanding accountability from Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar and senior officials of the Roads Department for the delay.
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