In only 25 minutes, 300 BMC projects worth Rs 2,500 crore were approved

On the last day of the standing committee meeting, just hours before the Shiv Sena-led BMC's term ended on Monday, it passed more than 300 projects worth Rs 2,500 crore in less than 25 minutes. According to reports, the ideas included the building and restoration of hospitals, water tunnels, sewage lines, tiny internal roads, the construction of a wall surrounding the Deonar dumping field, and the beauty of grounds and gardens.

 

There was some political drama at the meeting. Before the meeting began, BJP corporators voiced their displeasure with the proceedings, raising a point of order. However, Yashwant Jadhav, the chairman of the standing committee, instructed them to raise the point of order later. Members of the BJP then began shouting anti-Jadhav slogans and throwing meeting agenda sheets into the audience. Members of the Shiv Sena began shouting anti-BJP chants in response to the demonstration. Shiv Sena members objected to a video taken by BJP Corporator Makarand Narvekar of the incident.

 

"As per procedure, we should have received these recommendations three days ago," said Prabhakar Shinde, BJP group leader in the BMC. "However, they were delivered at the eleventh hour." He claimed that the volume of proposals was so large that passing them in such a short period was impossible. "If each suggestion requires a one-minute debate, the meeting will take at least 370 minutes to complete."

 

BJP councillors also staged rallies in front of BMC Chairman Iqbal Singh Chahal's office and wrote letters to the administration urging that the measures be withdrawn. Jadhav, on the other hand, defended the passage of suggestions. "The standing committee is a constitutional body, and the chairman has the authority to choose when a point of order may be raised," he stated. We had business to attend to today, and numerous public-interest initiatives needed to be approved during the meeting."