The Shiv Sena on Wednesday announced the formation of a 21-member committee headed by party chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to strategise for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
The panel, titled the Chief Executive Committee, will be responsible for all key decisions related to the BMC polls. It comprises senior Shiv Sena leaders, sitting and former legislators, and Members of Parliament, according to the news agency PTI.
Prominent members include former ministers Ramdas Kadam, Anandrao Adsul, and Gajanan Kirtikar, as well as MPs Shrikant Shinde, Milind Deora, and Ravindra Waikar. MLAs Prakash Surve, Ashok Patil, Dilip Lande, Tukaram Kate, Mangesh Kudalkar, and Murji Patel, along with MLC Manisha Kayande, are also part of the committee.
Former MP Rahul Shewale and ex-MLAs Sada Sarvankar, Yamini Jadhav, and Shishir Shinde have also been included.
Elections to the BMC, India`s richest civic body with a 2025–26 budget of Rs 74,427 crore, have been pending since March 2022, as per the news agency PTI.
Apart from the BMC, elections to several urban and rural local bodies across Maharashtra are also due.
BMC to begin concreting 574 roads across Mumbai in October
Construction of 574 concrete roads will begin in October as part of the BMC’s mega cement concreting road project, under which 2121 roads across Mumbai are planned for concreting. These roads were taken up for construction after the 2024 monsoon season and were partially completed. Work was halted after being brought to a safe stage before this year’s monsoon.
A senior civic official said, “Immediately after the monsoon season is over, work will begin on these 574 roads. This should start by October 1 and will be completed by May 2026. Simultaneously, work on 776 other roads that have not yet been taken up will also begin. Some of these will be completed by May 2027.” So far, work on 771 roads, covering approximately 186 km, has been completed under Phase I and Phase II of the project. About 64 per cent of Phase I has been completed, while 37 per cent of Phase II is done. Overall, 49 per cent of the project is complete.
Launched in 2023, BMC’s road concretisation project aims to create more durable roads and reduce potholes. Phase I covers 700 roads, spanning approximately 324 km, while Phase II covers 1421 roads, spanning about 377 km. As per the original timelines, BMC planned to complete Phase I by December 2025 and Phase II by December 2026. A senior civic official said, “We calculated the time required to complete all the planned roads by breaking down the kilometre-wise length into smaller portions of 30 to 40 metres.
(With PTI inputs)
