Newly-appointed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi has monsoon preparedness, opposition to the coastal road project, and cracking the whip on corrupt officials on his list of priorities.
Mr. Pardeshi, who took charge from Ajoy Mehta (who is now State Chief Secretary), on Monday held meetings with officers of various departments, politicians, visitors and media persons. Formal orders of Mr. Pardeshi and Mr. Mehta’s appointments came late on Friday night, and both officers took charge of their respective positions on Monday morning.
Asked about monsoon preparedness and the poor progress of drain desilting across the city, the commissioner said, “My first priority is to ensure the rain does not disrupt the lives of Mumbaikars. The desilting of storm water drains needs to be completed on priority. I have also been told that spots in the city which get repeatedly waterlogged have been identified.”
Mr. Pardeshi said he would be reviewing the progress of works. “Our disaster management system is connected to CCTV cameras, and I intend to use this network to ensure Mumbai has a safe monsoon. People’s suggestions for a safer monsoon will be included in our action plan,” he said.
Mr. Pardeshi said a holistic approach needs to be adopted to prevent the recurrence of potholes. This, he said, could be done by improving the storm water lines around them and ensuring roads are not dug up repeatedly for laying of utility cables. Mr. Pardeshi hinted that he may revive the mobile application, through which people could directly report potholes.
Mr. Pardeshi has taken charge at a time when the BMC’s coastal road project is facing opposition from fishermen, activists, environmentalists, and south Mumbai residents. “Fisherfolk are concerned about their fishing area, routes, and catch. We have done a biodiversity survey, and an environment impact assessment. We already have provisions to protect their interests, we will explain these to them,” he said. “We will ensure their routes are not shut. We will implement the biodiversity survey. The fears of residents need to be resolved scientifically after understanding their perspective.”
In the context of his predecessor running the BMC with an iron fist and taking action against corrupt engineers and officers, he said, “If anyone is guilty within the BMC, they have to be punished. We cannot overlook such things. But at the same time, unjust action will not be taken against anyone.”
The new commissioner also has Development Plan implementation on his list of priorities, along with job creation and affordable housing. Asked if he would bail out the cash-strapped Brihanamumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking, Mr. Pardeshi said he wants to study the issue thoroughly. The new commissioner also said he wanted to focus on the city’s massive solid waste management problem, sewage management issue, improving BMC’s dwindling revenues, preventing the backdoor entry of tainted contractors, the issue of fire compliances etc.
On the ongoing engineers’ stir, Mr. Pardeshi said he was hopeful of reaching a solution with them on Tuesday. Engineers across departments have threatened to protest at Azad Maidan from May 15 in protest against action taken against a former co-worker in the CSMT bridge collapse case.
