Maharashtra: Shiv Sena legislator’s lesson on cleanliness causes a stink

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena legislator from Chandivali Dilip Lande on Saturday forced a nullah cleaning contractor to sit on a waterlogged road and asked workers to throw garbage on him, alleging he did not do his job properly. Condemning the act, opposition leader in the legislative council Pravin Darekar called for chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to take a stand on whether his MLA’s conduct was justified.
In his defence, Lande told TOI that the contractor was assigned to clean the Sanjay Nagar nullah and to deploy 3-4 workers at the spot to ensure rainwater recedes quickly, but no one was present at the spot. The Sena MLA has alleged that due to shoddy work, there was waterlogging on the LBS road leading to inconvenience to the locals.

“As a public representative of the area, the onus is also on me. I was trying to call him for two hours but he did not come. He later came to see me when I, with the help of some Shiv Sainiks, had already started cleaning the drainage. I only made him realise his responsibility,” said Lande.
Waterlogging in various areas of the city has debunked BMC’s claim that most of nullah cleaning work has been completed. Reacting to this, Mayor Kishori Pednekar said, “I personally feel he should not have done this. But it is also the responsibility of the contractor to do his work properly so that people don’t blame the ruling party.” A BMC official said the worker harassed by Lande could be of a sub-contractor. “ If there is a complaint, the police will have to take action,” said an official.