How Maharashtra election results could impact future of key civic projects

Projects similar concretisation of Mumbai’s roads, the Gargai Pinjal Plant and instauration of an unfastened parkland astatine Mahalaxmi Race Course person been mooted and endorsed by the ruling government. However, projects similar the desalination plant, conceived during the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime, were enactment connected the back-burner during the contiguous government’s tenure.

These incidents person led to aggregate governmental slugfests betwixt the state’s ruling and opposing alliances successful the past 2 years. While MVA has announced they volition scrap these projects erstwhile voted to power, Mahayuti has emphasised the value of these projects for Mumbai’s holistic development.

The Mahalaxmi Race Course

This task has sparked overmuch governmental slugfest for much than a twelvemonth now. The BMC successful January this twelvemonth had projected taking implicit a large chunk of the contention people onshore and processing it into a nationalist park. CM Eknath Shinde endorsed the move, saying it would adhd an further 120-acre of open-green abstraction to the city.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) person and MLA Aaditya Thackeray openly labelled it arsenic a land-grabbing determination by Mahayuti authorities successful a means to commercialise the full plot. Aaditya besides said the connection would beryllium scrapped if MVA comes to power. He had said helium stands against immoderate effort to drawback the 226-acre unfastened abstraction successful Mahalaxmi. “We are saddled with utmost contamination with nary authorities authoritative adjacent bothering to respond oregon enactment to resoluteness it. We can’t fto spell of our unfastened spaces connected the whims of a BJP sponsored–CM who wants to physique structures connected it,” Aaditya had said successful a societal media post.

“The unfastened parkland astatine Mahalaxmi Race Course is going to beryllium a acquisition to Mumbaikars. 120 of the 226 acres volition beryllium developed into an unfastened abstraction arsenic an oxygen park. No operation volition beryllium carried retired there. Our imaginativeness is to alteration Mumbai successful the champion involvement of the city,” helium had said.

Gargai-Pinjal h2o proviso task and desalination plant:

To cater to increasing request for water, BMC successful 2016 had mooted the connection of gathering a web of dams astatine Gargai-Pinjal and Damanganga-Pinjal stream links successful Palghar district. It was mooted by past CM Devendra Fadnavis and BMC had earmarked a budget of Rs 3,100 crore.

Work connected this task was successful afloat plaything but erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray led-Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came to powerfulness successful 2019, this task was halted citing biology concerns arsenic the task would necessitate cutting of 4.5 lakh trees. As an alternative, the MVA authorities floated the connection of constructing a Rs 1,600 crore desalination works equipped to proviso 440 cardinal litres of h2o per time (MLD).

BMC had floated tenders for the desalination works past year, and scrapped them successful September this twelvemonth citing mediocre effect from bidders.

When successful 2022, the Shinde–Fadnavis led Mahayuti authorities came to power, the Gargai Pinjal task was rekindled. BMC had besides acquired onshore successful Chandrapur for carrying retired compensatory afforestation for the project.

Recently, portion Mumbai suffered a prolonged play of h2o shortage, BJP MLA and Mumbai president of enactment Ashish Shelar took a excavation astatine the MVA authorities for scrapping the project.

“Desalinating of seawater has aggregate antagonistic biology impacts, too being precise costly. We had pointed this retired but the MVA authorities inactive pushed for it, portion besides cancelling the Gargai-Pinjal task citing trivial issues to payment their contractor friends,” Shelar had said.

However, Aaditya maintained his basal of rekindling the desalination works implicit the Gargai Pinjal project. “Even if 1 constructs a dam, wherever volition you get the h2o from if determination is nary rain? We request to displacement from rainfall dependency to different sources. A decennary ago, producing 1 litre of h2o done desalination outgo Rs 27, today, it is down to Rs 11.50. The outgo of h2o supplied by dams is akin to that of desalination,” Aaditya had said successful 1 of his campaigning events.

Road concretisation

After forming authorities successful 2022, the Shinde-Fadnavis authorities announced concretisation of 397 km of Mumbai roads astatine a outgo of Rs 6,000 crore successful a bid to marque them pothole-free. However, Sena–UBT’s Aaditya Thackeray openly opposed this task labelling it to beryllium a scam. He had besides alleged that the valuation of this task was inflated galore folds and had written to the municipal commissioner, urging him to scrap this project.

The Sena–UBT person besides alleged inflation of the outgo of this project.

Meanwhile, CM Shinde successful his speeches has maintained that the task volition alteration Mumbai roads.