Writes to CM after 10,000 litres of water was allegedly wasted for Union agriculture minister Radhemohan Singh's visit to Bhiwandi
Water continues to be the domineering theme in the lives of Thanekars who are reeling under 60-hour weekly water cuts. In such a scenario, an activist and a BJP party worker wrote to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to ban VVIP helicopter visits enabled through make-shift helipads.
He has alleged that on Monday, huge quantities of water was wasted to set-up a helipad for the visit of Union agriculture minister Radhemohan Singh to Bhiwandi the next day.
On April 18, a gram sabha took place at Velhe village in Bhiwandi. The event was attended by Singh who came in a chopper. However, Thane activist Dayanand Nene alleged that more than 10,000 litres of water was used to build a make-shift helipad for the minister's arrival.
"I am too a BJP worker and a social activist. I had gone there a day earlier i.e. on April 17 and what I saw was terribly disturbing. Gallons of water through water tankers was being poured on a huge piece of land, which later I understood was a make-shift helipad being put in place for the helicopter to land," Nene wrote in his letter to Fadnavis on April 18. "It is estimated that over 10,000 litres of water was used for the same," the letter reads.
He further wrote that though the state government has taken a good decision to supply water to Latur via train, nobody pays attention to such colossal waste of water during official visits by VIPs by helicopters. He has also attached pictures of the spot along with his email to the CM.
Nene has urged the chief minister to issue a directive or a code of conduct to all as to not to use helicopters to visit places where there are no proper helipads. He suggests, "The minister could have flown in to Thane – where there is a proper helipad – and driven down to Bhiwandi, which is just 20 minutes away. That way we could have saved 10,000 litres of water, which is precious as the entire area is reeling under a 60% water cut."
While the district collectorate office denied having any information about the water wastage, BJP MP Kapil Patil denied any wastage. "The minister's chopper landed on a cricket ground in the area which is 3km away from where the sabha was held. The ground is in good condition and we did not use any water to set-up a helipad. Your information is wrong," Patil said,
A repeat of Khadse incident
Last week, Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse stirred a hornet's nest when he went to drought-afflicted Latur in a helicopter
It was reported that 10,000 litres of water was used to set-up a make-shift helipad for the chopper to land at a time when lakhs of litres of water is sent to Latur by train from Mumbai
This act of the minister drew lots of media criticism making chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to travel by road to Beed and Jalna from Aurangabad.
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