Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray blames Pune floods on riverfront different project

Aaditya Thackeray. File Pic/Ashish Raje

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has claimed that the recent flash floods in Pune are due to the riverfront development project. In a post on X, Thackeray wrote that as a minister, he halted the project and instructed builders to replan it. Thackeray referred to the riverside construction project as a "blind destruction program" for Pune and its rivers, reported PTI.

Aaditya Thackeray, in his social media post, said, "The flash floods in Pune weren't because of anything else than the unplanned destruction of Pune at the hands of the regime- builder nexus, along with the riverfront development/ destruction program put into effect by an architect from Gujarat, wanting to copy paste the Sabarmati riverfront development model, without understanding the flow of Pune's rivers."

"As the then Minister for Environment, I had stopped this destruction project and had asked them to re-plan the entire project," according to him.

He further stated that since their administration was overthrown, the authorities have been pushing the idea for the past two years. "The Pune Municipal Corporation and the current regime, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, have advocated for this project. Multiple urban planners and architects from Pune, including myself, have spoken out against it. This project is causing problems for Pune, as evidenced by the recent flooding. This riverfront destruction must be stopped," Thackeray stated.

He also emphasised the importance of cleaning up rivers rather than turning them into concrete buckets.

"I will be visiting Pune this week, not only to visit some flood-hit areas but also to highlight the damage caused by this riverfront project and illegal construction," he told reporters according to the PTI report.

Previously, NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule chastised Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for the government's mishandling. "The government's inefficiency is causing problems for Pune taxpayers. They must deliver a clear relief package, clean the region, and assure the availability of food and water. People's paperwork and children's books have gone lost, and the government must compensate for the damages," Sule stated.