Nana Patole slams Maharashtra CM Fadnavis for municipal garbage decisions at center’s behest.

The fourth day of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly commenced here today with the Opposition targeting the Fadnavis led Mahayuti government for alleged irregularities in municipal waste management. Former state Congress president and MLA Nana Patole lashed out against the Fadnavis government, alleging that even decisions about municipal waste management are taken at the behest of “Modi-Shah”.

“During the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s government, crores of rupees were approved by the municipality to remove the garbage from the Deonar Dumping Ground. The contract to remove this garbage was given to people close to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. But this decision was revoked based on orders from Narendra Modi & Amit Shah“, Nana Patole alleged.

“A tender worth more than Rs 2500 crore was floated for garbage removal. Three phases of this tender were scrapped. However, not even one phase of this was given to Eknath Shinde. Due to this, a war has started between Chief Minister Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Shinde. This government is the one who is eating the garbage money. The entire Mumbai is being given to the ‘A’ gang. All the work is being given to the ‘A’ gang. The central government and the Chief Minister of the state are also behind the ‘A’ gang“, Nana Patole alleged.

Patole’s reference was to how acres of Deonar Dumping Ground land were given to Adani Enterprises for Dharavi redevelopment, supposedly to rehabilitate 50,000 of Dharavi slum’s ineligible residents who will not be given residences in Dharavi. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had floated a tender worth Rs 2368 crore for 3 years to lift 185 lakh metric tonnes of waste from the dumping ground.  As per this plan, 23,000 metric tonnes of waste were to be lifted daily and it was the biggest tender in solid waste management so far. Nana Patole alleged that the cost of cleaning up the Deonar land given to Adani has been passed on to tax-paying Mumbaikars.

The government had taken this decision at that time to clean the garbage from the Deonar Ground with the municipality’s money. Crores of rupees were spent from the municipality’s treasury for this purpose, but the garbage was never cleaned. This decision was taken at that time only to give the state’s money to Modi-Shah and so that Shinde could give the contract to his own people”, Nana Patole alleged.

“In 2024, Eknath Shinde was the Chief Minister. He used to head the Urban Development Department. Through the Urban Development Department, he prepared a proposal to vacate the Deonar Dumping Ground through the Municipal Corporation. A tender of more than Rs 2500 crores was floated to vacate the Deonar Dumping Ground. Some specific conditions were imposed while issuing this tender. Provisions were made to ensure that the tender would go to people of his choice. However, after the 2024 assembly elections, Eknath Shinde did not become the Chief Minister. Therefore, the companies close to Shinde did not get anything from this tender. Three phases of the tender were scrapped and not even one phase was given to Eknath Shinde, due to which a war has now started between the Chief Minister and his Deputy“, Nana Patole alleged.

Nana Patole also said that the Congress will not allow the hard-earned tax money of Mumbaikars to be

wasted. “This is the biggest example of squandering the hard-earned money of Mumbaikars. Mumbai is being sold to the ‘A’ gang. The government is giving them free rein to loot Mumbai and the people of Maharashtra are being forced to commit suicide. The Congress will never tolerate this. The government is also involved in the ‘A’ gang. The Congress will work to expose them“, Nana Patole lambasted.

“Women’s safety is an issue in the state and 9 girls escaped from a juvenile correctional home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The girls alleged that CCTV cameras are being installed in their rooms due to which their privacy has been taken away”, Nana Patole alleged. Answering to Patole, Women & Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that “The juvenile correctional home matter will be investigated”.

Team Maverick