Mumbai: The BMC has proposed replacing the official vehicles used by the Mayor Ritu Tawde and five other key elected office-bearers with brand-new multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) The civic administration says the move is intended to offer improved comfort during official travel for the dignitaries.
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Months after providing Toyota Innova Hycross hybrid vehicles to the Mayor and additional municipal commissioners, the BMC is now set to spend Rs. 1.5 crore to replace the official Mahindra Scorpio-N vehicles of Deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi, leader of the House Ganesh Khankar from BJP, leader of the opposition Kishori Pednekar from Shiv Sena (UBT), standing committee chairperson Prabhakar Shinde from BJP, education committee head Rajashree Shirwadkar from BJP, and improvement committee chairman Sandhya Doshi from Shiv Sena.
A Toyota Innova Crysta is priced between Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 35 lakh, while a Mahindra Scorpio-N costs up to Rs. 30 lakh, depending on the variant. Tawde defended the proposal, saying several committee chairpersons commute from distant suburbs such as Dahisar, Kandivli and Borivali for official work. "No fresh tender is being floated. The chairpersons have only sought a different vehicle instead of the one currently allotted," she said. While Pednekar denied requesting a replacement, Khankar said the proposal would be sent to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide for approval.
The BMC maintained that the vehicle replacement would not result in additional expenditure. According to a senior official, the existing Mahindra Scorpio-N will be shifted to ward offices, where many officials are still using older vehicles. Currently, Bhide is the only senior civic official using an electric vehicle.
Earlier this month, Ghadi sought allotment of a vacant BMC bungalow in Byculla, citing the long commute from his residence in Dahisar to the civic headquarters in south Mumbai amid heavy traffic. His request, however, is yet to be approved.
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