Uddhav Thackeray dares BMC, govt to charge fines before potholes on Mumbai-Goa highway are fixed; he claimed that he has no intention to indulge in politics over the celebration of the traditional festival
Uddhav Thackeray has asserted that the Ganpati idol immersion issue should be resolved once and for all. FILE PIC/ASHISH RAJE
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray claimed that Ganpati mandals will not pay fines for potholes caused by their pandals unless the BJP-led state government first fines those responsible for potholes along the Mumbai-Goa highway.
Addressing Ganpati mandals at Rangsharda Auditorium in Bandra, Uddhav dared the BMC and the ruling Mahayuti government to fine Ganpati mandals for potholes. “Ganpati mandals will not pay a single rupee fine in penalties for any pothole due to setting up mandaps for celebration,” Thackeray said. He was referring to recent orders by the BMC to fine mandals Rs 15,000 per hole if any road is damaged while setting up pandals.
Every year, thousands of people from Mumbai travel to their native place in the Konkan region for the Ganesh festival. However, the journey is time-consuming and risky due to traffic snarls on the pothole-ridden Mumbai-Goa highway.
Taking a dig at political rivals for trying to take Ganpati mandals under their wing, Thackeray claimed that he has no intention to indulge in politics over the celebration of the traditional festival. “One is clever enough to understand what their (read as BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena) motive is. For years, Shiv Sena (UBT) has had emotional bonding with these mandals and will continue to have it hereafter too,” Thackeray said, claiming that the Sena has been ruling the BMC and will continue to do so in future too.
In order to strengthen the party base, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar has been making relentless efforts to address issues faced by the mandals with an aim to ensure that most of these organisers are associated with him and the party.
UBT leader Vinod Ghosalkar claimed that the court has permitted immersion of large Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols this year and has instructed the BMC to find a solution to the issue by next year. This means the question of where to immerse large-sized idols and the legal battle will come into the picture again.
Taking cue from the same, Uddhav stated that nature and environment questions come into play only for festivals and not when it is about other big-ticket projects. “We too are in favour of protecting the environment. That’s the reason we wanted a desalination project instead of Gargai dam, which will need uprooting of lakhs of trees. But the current government went ahead with the dam, and the desalination project has taken a back seat. Now where are those in the government who are talking about the environment?” Thackeray questioned while asserting that the immersion issue should be resolved once and for all.
Initially, the immersion of PoP idols was banned in any kind of natural water bodies or the sea. But, following requests by Ganpati idol makers, mandals, and meditation by the government, the Bombay High Court has allowed immersion of PoP idols that are six feet tall or more in natural water bodies till March 2026. The court has directed that no idol below six feet in height be allowed to be immersed in natural water bodies and that the agencies concerned should provide enough artificial tanks for the same.
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