Mumbai: 'Nonsensical' deep cleaning drive robbing BMC money for tanker lobby kickbacks, says Aaditya Thackeray

Aaditya Thackeray. File Photo

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said the "nonsensical" deep cleaning drive of the Eknath Shinde government had cost the BMC Rs 790 crore, reported news agency PTI.

The drive was robbing taxpayer's money and was meant to give kickbacks to the tanker lobby, he further alleged in a post on X.

"BJP-sponsored Khoke Govt has siphoned off Rs 790 crores from @mybmc coffers for an unconstitutional Chief Minister's mindless idea. This taxpayer money will be wasted like thief, while tanker lobby is paid and kickbacks taken by the khoke sarkar," he said in the post.

On February 27, Thackeray had targeted the Shinde government by sharing a video of a tanker deployed for road washing at Worli seaface, which falls in his constituency.

"Today Mumbai faces a water cut. And this is going on near Worli Sea Face, courtesy- the great nonsensical idea of "deep cleaning" by the most incapable cm of the khoke regime. @mybmc what is the cost per tanker for this nonsense? What is he exactly doing?," Thackeray had written in the post on X.

However, at the time, Milind Deora, who recently joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena from the Congress, had defended the state government saying recycled non-potable water was being used for deep cleaning drive.

He also called Thackeray's claim as a "desperate political stunt".

"Deep cleaning uses recycled, non-drinking water - and has nothing to do with Mumbai's water cuts. Connecting the two is nothing but a desperate political stunt," Deora had written in his post.

The deep cleaning drive delivers cleaner streets and clean air for Mumbaikars, Deora had said.

Earlier this week, the BMC announced 15 per cent water cut in the city till March 5, after a power transformer caught fire and left some pumps non functional at Pise pumping station in Thane, some 60 kilometres from Mumbai.

Earlier, Aaditya Thackeray criticised the Maharashtra government for inaugurating the Mumbai coastal road project while stressing the project's inadequate status and claiming that the administration was seeking undue credit.

Thackeray's comments came on Monday, echoing worries made by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who emphasised the government's disregard for numerous finished projects, reported ANI.

Former Maharashtra minister, Thackeray said, "The work of Mumbai coastal road isn't completed yet but the government is inaugurating it just to get credit. On the flip side there are so many projects that are completed but the 'illegal CM' has no time to inaugurate them. The way farmers' front is there in Delhi, similar fronts will rise here in Maharashtra. The government should think about these issues; instead, they put labels like urban naxals."

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)