The Shinde-Fadnavis government on Wednesday, in a bid to fast-track the execution of ongoing and new infrastructure projects without time/cost escalation, has appointed Radheshyam Mopalwar, an IAS officer of 1995 batch who had retired in February 2018 as the Director General (War Room-Infrastructure Projects) in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in Mantralaya.
Mopalwar will keep an eye on a number of infrastructure projects of over Rs 10 lakh crore being launched or proposed by urban and public work departments and various agencies, including the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, the City and Industrial Development Corporation and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). Some of these projects include the Mumbai Coastal Road, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, metro corridors in Mumbai and other cities, expansion of Mumbai Pune expressway, the Mumbai Nagpur Samruddhi Marg, Pune ring road, Thane and Konkan coastal roads and elevated roads.
The Free Press Journal on Monday broke the story that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will personally review the project development and appoint a bureaucrat to pursue their completion in a time bound manner.
The order clearly says that his tenure as DG (War Room-Infrastructure Projects) will start from the day he takes over till further orders. The CMO will make available the necessary staff and meeting space to Mopalwar.
Mopalwar, who had earlier held key posts since his retirement, has got 7 extensions from the BJP led government and later from the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, as the vice chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). His last extension expires on August 31. He is expected to hold the charge of MSRDC VC & MD till further arrangement.
Incidentally, MSRDC was headed by Eknath Shinde during the BJP rule and also in the MVA government. Now as Chief Minister, Shinde is expected to continue to hold MSRDC and urban development, in addition to general administration departments.
