Assembly committee asks MMRDA to take up infrastructure projects

In a move that could pit the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation against each other, state estimates committee members asked the development agency to undertake infrastructure projects in the city.

The estimates committee of the state assembly has been evaluating MMRDA’s projects for two days.

During Wednesday’s meeting, some members demanded that the MMRDA take up projects, such as community toilets, in the city.

But senior MMRDA officials turned down their request.

“Our stand about city-level infrastructure is very clear. The BMC is a huge financial body generating revenue from many sources. It is their job to see city-level infrastructure is carried out effectively,” said a senior MMRDA official, requesting anonymity.

There have been many feuds with a political hue between the development agency and the municipal body. The Shiv Sena-BJP controls the BMC while the chief minister head’s the MMRDA. Sena had complained that the MMRDA is trying to encroach on the BMC’s turf.

The tiff was accentuated with Sena MLA and corporator Ravindra Waikar taking on the MMRDA for not carrying out full works within the municipality’s limit.

The 30-member committee was represented by nine MLAs including Ravindra Waikar, Neelam Gorhe and Abu Azmi.