Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar has been accused of unilaterally passing the rooftop policy without holding a discussion at the general body meeting of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday evening.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written to the Municipal Commissioner, Mayor and other leaders to register their protest against the manner in which the proposal was approved. BJP leader Manoj Kotak said, “After the Mayor presented the proposal, we sought a discussion on the rooftop policy. But the Mayor quickly declared the proposal passed and started singing the national anthem to wrap up the general body meeting.”
Mr. Mahadeshwar, however, said that the corporation had approved the policy proposed by the Municipal Commissioner. He said, “The rooftop policy allows restaurants to operate on the roofs of malls and commercial buildings, but it should not involve cooking and use of cylinders. Proper access to staircases and emergency exits should be provided.”
The BJP is opposed to the rooftop policy, which is a pet project of Shiv Sena’s youth leader Aaditya Thackeray. The policy has come under scrutiny following the Kamala Mills fire tragedy that claimed the lives of 14 patrons at the 1Above pub. However, the BMC refused to roll back the policy and Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta called for unanimous backing of the proposal.
The Congress demanded why a policy rejected by the improvements committee had been presented in the House and passed within 90 days of being proposed without any discussion. Congress leader Ravi Raja said, “The Mayor literally bulldozed everyone else and got the proposal cleared.”
