The Shiv Sena on Wednesday threatened to throw garbage in front of the Municipal Commissioner’s office if the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stops collecting garbage from large housing societies.
The civic administration and the ruling party are at loggerheads over the BMC making it compulsory for housing societies to compost the wet waste they generate. The Sena has received support from corporators across the board. Currently, the proposal has been stayed till January 2, but corporators, including the BJP’s Manoj Kotak, have demanded that the stay be extended by another six months.
The immediate provocation for the Shiv Sena was the alleged non-collection of garbage from the Central Government Colony at Pratiksha Nagar over its failure to commit to build a compost pit. Sena corporator Mangesh Satamkar said the residents of CGS colony should not be punished because the “decision-makers sit either in Churchgate or New Delhi delaying handing over of such commitments”.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijay Balamwar, however, said that while the BMC was insisting that societies set up compost pits, it has not stopped collecting garbage from anywhere. “At CGS Colony, there must be some issue with their local officials,” he said.
Sena corporator Rajul Patel, who raised the issue in the standing committee meeting, later admitted that waste collection had not been stopped in her ward.
Meanwhile, the BMC sanctioned purchase of 1,550 stainless steel garbage bins worth ₹1.39 crore.