Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray slams media for comparisons with 26th July deluge, says BMC has done much better and that those trying to teach them should become the CM or civic chief
Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena president
Firefighting for the BMC, which is under serious attack for failing the city yet again, especially in the wake of what people had to endure 12 years ago in a similar situation, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray fell short of matching gutsy Mumbaikars, who braved Tuesday's rain fury.
Media attack
Launching a scathing attack on a probing media, Thackeray refused to compare Tuesday with July 26, 2005. "The BMC and my Shiv Sainiks have done much better this time. I'm not responsible for people who criticise us for no reason; I'm responsible for true Mumbaikars who understand and cooperate with us," he said at a media conference at the mayor's residence, with municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta next to him, after a meeting with BMC officials.
"Has the media taken responsibility of the city? Remember that the Sena has more connect with people than you (media). We know what people think about us, and hence, they have been blessing us," the Sena president added.
Also read: Ajoy Mehta defends the BMC, says they 'performed beautifully'
Uddhav said he could also politicise the crisis because the works undertaken by agencies (other than the BMC, such as the Metro) were largely responsible for the mess. "But I don't want to do that in this hour of rebuilding. I'm happy that we returned to normalcy the very next morning."
He said the city would have faced an unprecedented catastrophe had a 9-km cloud that loomed large overhead burst on Tuesday. "You and I wouldn't have met today. We're all fortunate that the cloud didn't burst," he added.
He refused to buy the argument that the BMC had failed in cleaning the drains and nullahs, and desilting the Mithi river.
"The allegations are false. The accusers should know the rain pattern that we had yesterday. We had extreme rains in some 26 spots. Those who talk of the capacity of stormwater drains and try to teach us should either become the chief minister or municipal commissioner," said an irritated Uddhav.
In support, Mehta chipped in with his own information, saying the Mithi was widened and deepened to double its capacity to carry 50 mm rainfall from its earlier capacity of 25 mm. To increase it further, we will need to remove the slums on the riverbank, he said.
Uddhav questioned if changing climate patterns could guarantee limited rainfall in the future.
"No matter how much we increased the capacity, we may not be able to stop the seas. We have to understand the geography of the city. And yet, we managed to pump out the water as quickly as possible, with the result being that the city is back to normalcy the very next day," he said.
Where was Uddhav?
He said he didn't deem it fit to get out or reach out to the disaster management control room because he knew the officers were well equipped to handle the crisis.
"Do you think I was sleeping at home? I was working for the people. I was directing Sainiks to help the people in need and mobilising all support mechanism. But I will go to the BMC (headquarters) today and thank Mumbaikars for showing resilience," he said.
You may also like - Mumbai Rains photos: Heavy showers drown city