A water war erupted between the BJP and the Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday.
BJP MP Kirit Somaiya at a press conference said that between January 1 and April 10, the BMC illegally sold 38,999 litres of water to private water tankers’ mafia in Mumbai. “A total of 13,424 tankers were sold to private tanker operators by the M-east ward for the Mankhurd, Govandi and Deonar regions. This water mafia pays only one paisa per litre to the BMC and sells it for Re 1. Lakhs of litres of drinking water supplied to the city is being diverted to private players with the connivance of the Shiv Sena corporators and hydraulic department officials, who are operating the syndicate.”
Refuting the charges, leader of the house in the BMC and Sena councillor Trishna Vishwasrao told The Hindu , “Upon checking the records of the house and the standing committee, you will find that it is the Sena corporators who have been demanding action against the water tanker mafia. We are also demanding that the water being diverted to beer and aerated soft drink manufacturers be stopped.”
Mr Somaiya said the Sena is aware of the situation, but the party’s group leader, standing committee chairman, and the Mumbai Mayor were silent. “There are agents of the Sena who operate the syndicate in connivance with civic officials.” He said that he had met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis 10 days ago at Vidhan Bhavan and sought a high-level probe into the issue. He also met BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta in this regard.
Mr Vishwasrao responded, “What I cannot understand is, despite two visits to the office of the BMC commissioner, who was appointed by the BJP, nothing substantial has emerged. Ten days ago, Mr Somaiya met the CM and the civic chief. Why did he have to meet Mr Mehta again on Wednesday on the same subject?”
