Projects worth Rs 40,000 cr stopped due to cost overrun, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that his government stopped urban development department (UDD) projects worth Rs 40,000 crore on account of cost overrun, in consultation with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Speaking at a joint interactive session with Indian Express and Loksatta on Tuesday in Mumbai, Fadnavis spoke on the issue of transparency and governance that has been raised by the Opposition parties in their poll campaigns.

“To tackle massive cost overrun, projects worth Rs 40,000 crore, approved by the Urban Development department, have been stopped. A probe has been ordered in all these projects to ensure greater transparency and accountability in the system. Every project is being closely monitored and reviewed,” said Fadnavis adding that since he took charge as the CM, there has been a decline in bidding cost for tenders by 10 to 12 per cent for various BMC and other infrastructure projects.

On the Opposition charge that the BJP was handing over huge land parcels to certain industrialists and was not taking care of the interest of Marathi Manoos in Mumbai, Fadnavis said that it was the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray that facilitated Dharavi redevelopment as they cancelled the previous contract.

Stating that the BJP was not on the backfoot on the issue of Marathi Manoos that the Opposition has been constantly raising, the CM said that he is “playing on the front foot” and the aggression in local body polls is on account of the fact that they are the lifeline of any political party.

“Since we are a pan-India party, we don’t aggressively project regional pride. In every election, they try to push emotive issues as they have nothing to counter my development agenda.  We are not defensive on Marathi issues. We are batting on the front foot,” Fadnavis said.

Referring to the past three Assembly elections, the CM said, “The BJP got maximum number of MLAs in Mumbai and in the state. This would be possible only with support from the sons of the soil. BJP has an extremely strong voter base among the Marathi voters. They (Sena UBT) think it can be moved, but it never happens.”

Speaking on the decline of Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), the CM said it was an outcome of failure of their leaders to fight for grassroots workers, while BJP’s expansion can be attributed to its leader’s commitment to the karyakartas.

Underplaying the power tussle within three ruling parties of the Mahayuti, Fadnavis said, “All three parties had come to a consensus that we will have alliance wherever possible and hold friendly contests in others. However, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who is confronting BJP as the main rival in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, engaged in a bitter attack against me. I have, however, still shown restraint.”

Explaining the bitter contest between allies BJP and Shiv Sena in several places, Fadnavis said, “At local level, there have been some tussles. Even in the Ambernath council body where BJP and Shiv Sena contested, top leaders of both parties stayed out of it.”

Adding that Mumbai’s cosmopolitan character can never be dented, Fadnavis said, “We are committed to giving Mumbaikars a better life. A climate action plan of Rs 17,000 crore to tackle environmental issues, including air pollution, is high on our agenda. It is for all civic bodies, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, etc. We have chalked out a plan for sewage treatment plants to address water pollution. Till now the untreated sewage in Mumbai was flowing directly into the sea.”