Mumbai : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray came to BMC head office on Thursday, to greet newly appointed civic chief Ajoy Mehta, at the same time he came down heavily on former civic chief Sitaram Kunte, saying he was unhelpful.
After meeting the commissioner, he interacted with the media on various civic issues including Kunte’s behaviour during his tenure. He said he was distraught with the former municipal commissioner’s unyielding and unhelpful behaviour. “Many a time he didn’t respond to our queries and didn’t pick phones, I personally spoke to Uddhav Thackeray seeking his intervention in the local government’s proceedings,” he said. He stated that he called upon Kunte 3-4 times over the issue of hawkers illegally lining up the Ghatkopar highway, but the BMC chief did not respond.
He said, “Since the saffron alliance is in power in the BMC, I wanted to point out to him what the administration is up to, but even that yielded no result.”
Commenting on the attitude of the bureaucrats and administrators associated with the BMC, Raj said they have no fear of anything, which reflects in their non-committal work. This he said is the root of all problems faced by the city, be it bad roads, encroachments on footpaths, hawkers and illegal construction.
Besides, among other issues he discussed with Mehta, were those of the DP, monsoon preparedness in terms of rainwater harvesting and problem of traffic and congestion on city roads.
Regarding the DP, Raj has stuck to the stand MNS has perviously taken. It will go from door to door, creating awareness about the problems in the DP, collecting suggestions from citizens and submitting them to the BMC.
Praising the BMC chief he said “We need somebody strong and level-headed like him to head the BMC. I have full faith in him.”