Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS bask in bridge politics

Hindustan Times

10 hours ago

MUMBAI: In a show of solidarity, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held an agitation on Wednesday morning at Carnac Bunder to ensure speedy opening of the Carnac bridge, which connects Crawford Market to P D'Mello Road. The bridge has been ready since a week, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has purportedly been waiting for a VVIP to inaugurate it. Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS supporters on Wednesday protested against the BMC's inability to inaugurate the Carnac Bridge, which has been ready since a week, for public use.
The two parties uniting for a common cause comes ahead of their victory march planned on Saturday, after the state revoked government resolutions (GRs) on the three-language policy in schools and introducing Hindi as a third language in primary schools, four days ago.
Less than 15 kilometers from the bunder, on a spur of the moment, Sena (UBT) Bandra East MLA, Varun Sardesai, compelled officers of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to throw open the connector between Sion Dharavi Road and Bandra West, which is in fact yet to be completed. The connector was however opened only briefly as MMRDA officers closed it by evening. People in the know of things from MMRDA said, 'Electric connection to street lights and some civil work are pending. The connector will be opened after we complete it.'
Once opened, it will ease traffic congestion at Kala Nagar junction.
The Carnac bridge has been constructed by the bridges department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). With two motorable lanes on either side, the bridge is 330 metres long. It was constructed at a cost of ₹ 60 crore. The project which was slated to be completed at least five years ago, faced delays, until additional municipal commissioner (projects) Abhijeet Bangar accelerated the process last year after assuming office.
MNS vice president Arvind Gawde, who was leading the team of agitators said, 'The bridge has not been opened despite being ready for seven days. It causes a huge traffic jam at the spot. If the bridge is ready, BMC must open it for public. By the end of our agitation, police whisked away 12 agitators – both from Sena (UBT) and MNS.'
Sena (UBT) vibhag pramukh Santosh Shinde said the reason behind the agitation was BMC's failure to open the bridge on June 10, as planned. 'We also gave the BMC suggestions on behalf of citizens. It has still not opened. I live near Metro Cinema – it takes nearly 1.5 hours from Eastern Freeway to reach the spot, as there are enormous traffic jams. Hence workers from our party and MNS decided to protest together.'
Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray posted on X: 'On the orders of the state government, police today prevented our local unit from opening the Carnac bridge for Mumbaikars. The bridge is finally ready. Why does the government not open a fully ready bridge for people?'
The issue of the bridge's opening also came up for discussion at the legislative assembly by Congress MLA Amin Patel, who said, 'I want the bridge opened in two days'.
'Protestors were taken to Azad Maidan police station and released later,' said deputy commissioner of police (zone-1) Pravin Mundhe.
Criticising the opposition parties' move and defending BMC, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said, 'Shiv Sena (UBT) is in the habit of taking credit for projects done by others.' He added, during the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi regime, 'Sena (UBT) did not green-light any infra project, and in fact issued stays on many; they are now trying to take credit for Carnac bridge.'
In a similar vein, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Niranjan Shetty said, 'Our CM Devendra Fadnavis spends 18 to 20 hours a day and works for urban connectivity. What did Uddhav Thackeray do as CM?'
Meanwhile, explaining his spontaneous act earlier in the day, Sardesai, said, 'As the connector has been ready since a month, I told the MMRDA to open it two days ago, or else I would do it myself.'