NCP MLA has a close shave as roof of MLA hostel collapses

In a shocking incident, a part of a roof in one of the rooms of Manora, the MLAs hostel at Nariman Point in Mumbai collapsed leading to an issue of serious concern in the Maharashtra legislature on Monday.

The part of the ceiling of one of the rooms, occupied by NCP MLA Satish Patil of Erandol of Jalgaon district, apparently came off on Sunday when he was not present. However, on his return, he noticed it and informed the authorities.

"In fact, I am shocked....had I been there when it collapsed, the legislators would have been offering condolences today," he said.

The leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Congress) and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of NCP raised the issue - prompting a reply from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"We have taken the issue seriously," Fadnavis said, adding that a meeting has already been convened to discuss the issue. "We would look at various options including repairs and also if we can shift MLAs elsewhere," he said, adding that the government may also consider providing MLAs monthly rent allowance if they don’t want government accommodation.

"The construction quality is poor at the MLA hostel. The safety of public representatives are important," Pawar said, adding that the government must go ahead and take action against the people who were responsible for the poor quality of construction.

Maharashtra has 288 MLAs and 78 MLCs - of them 158 of them have rooms allotted in Manora that face the Arabian Sea. Time and again, political parties and legislators individually raised issues vis-a-vis Manora. Incidentally, Fadnavis, before he became the Chief Minister, used to occupy one of the rooms at Manora.

It may be recalled, the NBCC (India) Limited, a Navratna enterprise under the Union Ministry of Urban Development, had been entrusted to redevelop the Manora MLA hostel. The hostel rooms which currently measure 332 sq ft will be redeveloped to a sprawling 1,000 sq ft.

The hostel at present has four towers each with 84 rooms admeasuring 332 sq feet. The four towers will be razed down and a new building will be built in the next two years by the NBCC.