Raj tears hair at Mumbai traffic mess

Mumbai:  Belying political hiccups, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray sought to don a new avatar as an urban governance buff, with emphasis on managing the city traffic muddles.

Raj, along with his senior confidante Bala Nandngaonkar dropped in to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today - fuelling wild speculation – a day after the MNS and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance was erased in the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society (BEST-ECCS).

After the 45-minute tete-a-tete with the CM, Raj told media-persons that he made a small but focussed presentation to rid the traffic and parking chaos plaguing Mumbai – with the city police brass attending.

Claiming the meeting had nothing to do with polls or partnerships, the MNS supremo declared: “Town planning is my interest… Show me the traffic status and I can predict the future of the country… Every city has rules and these must be followed to the hilt.”

“See the situation… Where 50 lived once, 500 are living. People and vehicles have multiplied manifold but not the road infrastructure. Mumbai has few roads, no organised transport system and no parking facilities. If not checked, the urban living will collapse,” said Raj grimly.

In a swipe at the ruling Mahayuti, the MNS said that “we are ignoring basic problems while getting obsessed with pigeons and elephants” – referring to the ongoing rows over pigeon-feeding in the city and a home for an aged female elephant Mahadevi belonging to a Kolhapur Jain Temple.

Providing solutions, Raj mooted new parking surface and underground parking facilities, clearly demarcating and painting zones with ‘Parking’ or ‘No Parking’ signs with detailed maps to prevent illegal dumping of vehicles anywhere.

Advocating steeper fines and harshness on the lines of drunken-driving to hammer in traffic discipline, Raj pointed an accusing finger at two-wheelers which create havoc on roads and cars that disregard road rules.

“Earlier this week, there was 400 cms of rainfall and traffic became a nightmare, roads jammed, haphazard parking and road congestion everywhere. Town planning is a critical aspect for me… Take cities like Mumbai, Thane or Pune which lack proper planning and also traffic discipline,” rued Raj.

On the Dharavi revamp project, Raj took a potshot at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying: “Merely giving away the land to Adani Group will not help. Instead of getting worked up about ‘Urban Naxals’, address the fundamental urban issues in the city.”

MVA willy-nilly backs Raj Thackeray.

Unperturbed over the MNS President Raj Thackeray’s meeting, SS (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that as an opposition party leader, “he can go and meet the CM for issues concerning the state”.

“Why are you hassled… He has met the CM even in the past,” Raut pointed out, even as Raj himself rejected any political connotations.

Congress leader Nana Patole said that it is not important who met the CM, but the crucial matter was the issues concerning the people of the state.

“After the recent deluge, Mumbai roadways were in shambles, boats plied on roads intended for vehicles. The situation is worse in rural areas where there are no roads left. This is the outcome of deploying ‘space technology’ on the ground,” said Patole, taking a jibe at the BJP.

“Many leaders meet one another as well as with the chief minister, irrespective of whether they are in power or not. Maintaining communication with each other is the tradition of the state. There is no need to give a political angle to this meeting.”

Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister