Aaditya Thackeray slams BMC over delayed Delisle Road bridge inauguration

In the midst of the controversy surrounding the delayed inauguration of Lower Parel's Delisle Road bridge, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray expressed his frustration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Thackeray accused the BMC of keeping the bridge closed to "satisfy the egos" of the Shinde government.

"Hi @mybmc  please open up the Delisle Road bridge that you have kept shut to satisfy the egos of the mindhe- bjp Govt. It has been ready for 15 days and you await a VIP inauguration.   @MMRDAOfficial  same with the MTHL. You can have your minister ego satisfying event later when they’re available at the end of December.  Finish off the purposely kept 5% remaining work and open it up to people for use!   Both the Delisle Road Bridge and MTHL are ready, but only because mindhe- bjp ministers have no time for Mumbai, the inaugurations are kept pending.  Shame on such governance!" Aaditya Thackeray wrote on X.

Hi @mybmc please open up the Delisle Road bridge that you have kept shut to satisfy the egos of the mindhe- bjp Govt. It has been ready for 15 days and you await a VIP inauguration. @MMRDAOfficial same with the MTHL. You can have your minister ego satisfying event later when… pic.twitter.com/0FJN2zXV1E

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) November 21, 2023

The Mumbai Police registered a case against three UBT leaders, including Aaditya Thackeray, MLC Sunil Shinde, and MLC Sachin Ahir, following the forced opening of the bridge last week. An officer from the Road Department of Mumbai Municipal Corporation filed a complaint against them under sections 143, 149, 326, and 447 of the IPC.

According to the Mumbai Police, Aaditya Thackeray, along with Sunil Shinde, Sachin Ahir, former mayor Kishori Pednekar, former mayor Snehal Ambekar, and 15-20 activists forcefully inaugurated the Deslisle Road bridge, which was not fully ready for traffic. Additionally, there was no permission from the BMC to open the bridge. The BMC officer's complaint led to the police registering a case against Aditya Thackeray and other party leaders.

About Lower Parel's Delisle Road bridge

The history of the Delisle Bridge project has been fraught with challenges. In July 2018, the bridge was closed following an IIT-B report declaring it unsafe. The deadline for the new bridge underwent multiple revisions. On June 1, one arm of the bridge, connecting Ganpatrao Kadam Marg with N M Joshi Marg, was opened for traffic. In a strategic move ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 17, BMC opened a portion of the second arm of the bridge, linking Lower Parel with Currey Road. Despite the completion of the bridge's construction, BMC officials remained non-committal regarding the official inauguration date of the second carriageway. The proactive move by Shiv Sena (UBT) underscores their commitment to addressing public concerns and infrastructure challenges in the city.