BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi moved out amid peak pandemic chaos in Mumbai

AMID allegations of mismanagement of the COVID19 crisis the state has completely overhauled the top rung of the BMC by transferring civic chief Praveen Pardeshi and two others on Friday Iqbal Singh Chahal replaces PardeshiIn addition to urban development Pardeshi would also look after the water resources department Pardeshi a celebrated disaster management expert who shot into limelight after managing the aftermath of the Latur earthquake very effectively as the collector has been the most soughtafter bureaucrat in planning relief and rehabilitationAshwini Bhide too was waiting for a posting after her Metro III issue with Shiv Sena and a subsequent punishment transfer Along with many other IAS colleagues she was deputed to the BMC for a special task after the Coronavirus breakout She would now be a fullfledged empowered officer ExThane civic chief Sanjeev Jaiswal has also joined Bhide as an additional commissioner He was waiting for a posting after leaving Thane where he served a record timeAbasaheb Jarhad and Jayshree Bhoj who were recently appointed in the BMC have been shifted to make space for Bhide and Jaiswal Two additional commissioners mdash P Velrasu and Suresh Kankani mdash have been sparedClashes in MantralayaMurmurs of clashes between Pardeshi and his political and administrative bosses in Mantralaya seemed to have proven right even as the opposition parties said on Friday that the Shiv Senaled government was trying to find a scapegoat for covering the failure of the political setup in MumbaiSion hospital incidentIqbal Singh ChahalSince Mumbais woes have been unending with the spread of the virus and the expose of BMCrun Sion hospital where bodies and patients were placed together in one ward and a COVID19 patients escape made the government redfaced Pardeshi and his team of additional commissioners who were new to the city invited criticism time and again Sources said Pardeshi had several arguments with chief secretary Ajoy Mehta who preceded him as BMC chief Pardeshi served as Devendra Fadnaviss principal secretary in the CMO before getting BMC chiefs post in the previous political regime Considering his seniority he has also been in the reckoning for the CS officeTransfers no solutionJarhad replaced relief and rehabilitation secretary Kishorraje Nimbalkar who has been transferred as Public Works Department PWD secretary Manoj Saunik will be an additional CS of the allimportant finance department He has been holding dual charge of PWD and finance Bhoj has been sent to Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation as its managing director Opposition leader in the legislative council Praveen Darekar said the government was masking its failure by finding scapegoats Transferring bureaucrats isnt the right approach to mend things The government should be able to make good policies and make bureaucrats implement them he saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news