‘Decisions on garbage taken at Modi-Shah’s behest’: Nana Patole’s dig on Fadnavis

The fourth day of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly commenced here on Thursday with the Opposition targeting the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government for alleged irregularities in municipal waste management.

Former state Congress president and MLA Nana Patole lashed out at the Fadnavis government alleging that even decisions pertaining to municipal waste management are taken at the behest of “Modi-Shah”.

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“During the then chief minister Eknath Shinde’s government, crores of rupees were approved by the municipality to remove the garbage from the Deonar Dumping Ground. The contract to remove this garbage was given to people close to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. But this decision was taken based on orders from Modi-Shah,” he alleged.

“A tender worth more than Rs 2,500 crore was floated for garbage removal. Three phases of this tender were scrapped. However, not even one phase of this was given to Eknath Shinde. Due to this, a war has started between Chief Minister Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Shinde. This government is the one who is eating the garbage money. The entire Mumbai is being given to the ‘A’ gang. All the work is being given to the ‘A’ gang. The central government and the Chief Minister of the state are also behind the ‘A’ gang,” Nana Patole alleged.

Patole’s reference was to how acres of Deonar Dumping Ground land were given to Adani Enterprises for Dharavi redevelopment, supposedly to rehabilitate 50,000 of Dharavi slum’s “ineligible residents who will not be given residences in Dharavi. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had floated a tender worth Rs 2368 crore for 3 years to lift 185 lakh metric tonnes of waste from the dumping ground.

As per this plan, 23,000 metric tonnes of waste were to be lifted daily and it was the biggest tender in solid waste management so far. Nana Patole alleged that the cost of cleaning up the Deonar land given to Adani has been passed on to tax paying Mumbaikars.

“Modi-Shah is a gang. Just like the ‘D’ Company gang earlier, this is the Modi-Shah gang. The government had taken this decision at that time to clean the garbage from the Deonar Ground with the municipality’s money. Crores of rupees were spent from the municipality’s treasury for this purpose, but the garbage was never cleared. This decision was taken at that time only to give the state’s money to Modi-Shah and so that Shinde could give the contract to his own people,” Nana Patole alleged.

“In 2024, Eknath Shinde was the chief minister. He used to head the Urban Development Department. Through the department, he prepared a proposal to vacate the Deonar Dumping Ground through the Municipal Corporation. A tender of more than Rs 2,500 crores was floated to vacate the Deonar Dumping Ground. Some specific conditions were imposed while issuing this tender. Provisions were made to ensure that the tender would go to people of his choice. However, after the 2024 assembly elections, Eknath Shinde did not become the Chief Minister. Therefore, the companies close to Shinde did not get anything from this tender. Three phases of the tender were scrapped and not even one phase was given to Eknath Shinde, due to which a war has now started between Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde,” Nana Patole alleged.

“At that time, the contract for clearing the garbage was given to Shinde’s men. But now, after Devendra Fadnavis became the chief minister, the contract has been taken away from Shinde. I asked the chief minister about this, but he could not answer. The state treasury is being mismanaged based on the orders of Modi-Shah,” Nana Patole alleged.

Patole also said that the Congress would not allow the hard-earned tax money of Mumbaikars to be wasted. “This is the biggest example of squandering the hard-earned money of Mumbaikars. Mumbai is being sold to the ‘A’ gang. The government is giving them free rein to loot Mumbai and the people of Maharashtra are being forced to commit suicide. The Congress will never tolerate this. The government is also involved in the ‘A’ gang. The Congress will work to expose them,” he added.

“Women’s safety is an issue in the state as the nine girls, who escaped from a juvenile correctional home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, alleged that CCTV cameras are being installed in their rooms due to which their privacy has been taken away,” Nana Patole said.

Replying to Patole, Women & Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said, “The juvenile correctional home matter will be investigated.”