Shiv Sena to snub CM, start sewage plant work
Plant's bhoomipujan had been deferred once, but will now be carried out by Sena chief.
Mumbai: Tired with the chief minister’s non-availability, the Shiv Sena has decided to carry out the bhoomipujan of the Colaba Sewage Treatment Plant in his absence on Monday, November 21.
Under the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP), the sewage treatment plant will be set up at the Colaba pumping station premises near Afghan Church. The bhoomipujan will be carried out by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in the presence of mayor Snehal Ambekar.
While other dignitaries like minister for industries Subhash Desai, minister for environment Ramdas Kadam, and civic chief Ajoy Mehta will be present for the bhoomipujan, CM Devendra Fadnavis will be conspicuous by his absence.
According to sources, the event was to be organised on October 9, for which the chief minister was also invited. But it was postponed as Mr Fadnavis cited his unavailability for the event. It was later decided to hold the event on November 21. However, the CM would not be able to attend it too, said civic officials.
“For how long can we wait? We made every possible effort to bring the chief minister for the bhoomipujan ceremony. The mayor had even sent him a letter asking for his time. But citing his unavailability, the state government has been asking us to postpone the event. We have now decided to carry out the event as per the schedule,” said a senior Sena leader.
“Shiv Sena should understand that Fadanvisji is the chief minister of the state and he has a very busy schedule. If they had waited for his availability, it would have been fine for us. If not, what can we say?” said BJP group leader Manoj Kotak.
This is not the first time there has been sparks between Sena and BJP over the inauguration of development works. Despite being in power both in the state government and the BMC, Sena and BJP are at loggerheads on several issues. The civic BJP leaders have already started distancing themselves from their alliance partners by skipping BMC’s functions. The party leaders last month had boycotted the inauguration ceremony of new building of the fire brigade at Dadar.
In the month of June too, BJP leaders were absent in the inauguration ceremony of Britannia pumping station at Reay Road. Just a couple of days earlier, Sena had stayed away from the Smart City programme, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Pune.