Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has expressed his anguish over the controversy that emerged from his request to the prime minister to head a committee for clearing city projects. On Tuesday, the CM said that his only idea was to expedite infrastructure projects of Mumbai on a fast rack basis and those who are criticizing his statement, were acting against the development of Mumbai.
Fadnavis' statement at New Delhi had evoked criticism from the Opposition parties, while Shiv Sena gave a guarded reaction by insisting that BMC be the supreme authority when it comes to city projects. Speaking to the media at Nagpur, the CM maintained that there was no need for questioning his statement since he had never talked of the idea of a chief executive officer. He said that being an elected representative and someone who believed in democracy, he would never suggest a CEO, which would take away the powers of institutions of elected representatives.
The CM also pointed out that 50% of the city projects are pending for a long time with the Centre. He gave the instance of the trans-harbour link project which was proposed almost 30 years ago, and is still pending. Recalling the appointment of Sanjay Ubale as special officer for Mumbai projects in 2005 during the then chief minister, late Vilasrao Deshmukh's tenure, Fadnavis stressed on the importance of the coordination of multiple agencies while following up projects at the central level.
He said that there are projects related to SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority), Mhada as well as a few projects pertaining to the housing sector, which need clearances from the environment ministry or another union ministry. He reiterated his statement that he had merely suggested to the PM that the latter head a committee to review pending city projects, for speedy clearance. Advocating his statement, Fadnavis said that in the past, whenever the PM had decided to look into any of the projects, 90% of them were cleared either before the meeting, or during the preparation of the meeting.
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