By Apurva Bhatt
The Shiv Sena is mounting pressure on the BJP its ally in the BMC by opposing their move of installing LED lights at Marine Drive. It must be recalled that the BMC had decided to install LED lights across the city, starting with Marine Drive in January after Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal met Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte. Energy Efficiency Services, a Government of India subsidiary, is installing the new lights. This has not gone down well with Shiv Sena, as it feels the BJP should have taken them into confidence.
Earlier this week Sena’s nominated corporator Avkash Jadhav presented a point of order in the floor of the general body meeting demanding that the white LED lights be replaced with yellow or golden LED bulbs. Only a day earlier, BJP had voted against the rooftop restaurants policy that the Shiv Sena has long been pushing for. Jadhav said, “We are not against the LED lights. Infact, we welcome the move to install energy-efficienct lights but Marine Drive is a heritage property and the municipal commissioner decided to replace the lights without seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the heritage committee. The commissioner has not discussed the issue even with the group leaders or corporators.” Sena corporators also slammed BMC for not undertaking the project by inviting companies to bid. The project has ran into controversy with leaders fighting over the installation.
Aaditya Thackeray had shown his displeasure in his tweet. When asked about this to Manoj Kotak, BJP group leader said, “This project will save up to Rs 80 crore annually for BMC, the white lights installed are brighter people are only politicising the issue.”
