Former environment minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday hit out at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to install air purifier towers in the city to deal with rising pollution levels.
Aaditya Thackeray, taking to Twitter, said he read about CM Shinde's orders in newspapers about the air purifier towers, while terming it "absolute waste of public money".
๐๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป "๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต", ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐
"I read in the newspapers that the illegal CMโs response to pollution is an order to @mybmc to put up โair purifier towersโ. As a fmr environment minister who worked on pollution mitigation, I can vouch that these towers are an absolute a waste of public money, at large," Aaditya Thackeray wrote.
"What govt must focus on, rather than air purifier towers, is to actually identify sources of pollution and to organise them better, stagger their work and ensure they follow pollution control rules.
This Govt is supported by these vested interests, therefore no guts to stop them," he said.
"These towers are simply an eyewash and a superficial response to a problem that cannot be solved superficially. The @mybmc has already a climate action plan made in our tenure, shelved now, which identifies these problem spots and has solutions for it," Thackeray went on to add.
๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal (Administrator) to prioritise pollution control, strengthening of the health system, administration transparency, and city's beautification while making the municipal corporation's budget.
Shinde's direction came as BMC is to present the budget of the richest corporation in the country tomorrow. Committed to providing clean air to the city, the CM said, "to control pollution and air quality in Mumbai, air purifier towers should be installed in the city like they are installed in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Lucknow."
At the same time, Shinde said that measures will be taken to increase urban forestry.
(With inputs from ANI)
