Uddhav Thackeray said the Center was trying to stop development projects in Mumbai. (ARCHIVE)
Mumbai:
Hardening his government’s position regarding land ownership at Kanjurmarg in Mumbai, where the Subway 3 shed project will start, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday that the Center was trying to stop the development projects in the city.
In a webcast, Thackeray said that “Maharashtra haters” ran a smear campaign that tried to portray the state as a center for the cultivation of drugs and narcotics.
He criticized the BJP for opposing the transfer of the subway car shed project to Kanjurmarg from the green lung Aarey Colony.
“Recently it was said that the land in Kanjurmarg where the project of the car shed (of subway 3) was moved is a salt flat … They are trying to stop development projects in Mumbai,” Thackeray said referring to the letter requesting the state government not to continue the project at the new location.
The state government and the BJP have been at odds since Thackeray announced the change to the subway car shed project last month.
Thackeray said a number of attempts were made to create obstacles in the development of the state, but all failed.
“Maharashtra haters carried out a smear campaign against the state to smear its image. They tried to paint Maharashtra as a lawless state where the cultivation of drugs and narcotic substances occurs.
“But, the fact is that we received investments worth millions of rupees for which memorandums of understanding were signed, and now the work would also start soon,” said the prime minister who heads the tripartite government of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress.
Although memorandums of understanding worth 17 billion rupees were signed in June this year, agreements worth 35 billion rupees were recently signed, the Chief Minister added.
He said that the new agreements would create job opportunities in different sectors, including electronics, logistics, etc., for at least 23,182 people.
“In the coming years, Maharashtra will become the center for logistics and data,” added the chief minister.
Referring to recent floods and heavy rains in the state, Thackeray said that crops in the 41 lakh hectare area were damaged.
He said the state government quickly announced a 10 billion rupee aid package to mitigate hardship for farmers.
Thackeray also praised the success of the “My Family, My Responsibility” campaign against COVID-19, which ran between September 15 and October 24 in two phases.
He said 99 percent of the state’s population was covered by the campaign.
“Our healthcare workers covered 2.74 million homes and detected more than 51,000 COVID-19 patients,” said the Chief Minister, adding that the campaign could be relaunched in December.
Speaking about the gradual unlocking of various sectors and services, the Chief Minister said that discussions were underway with the Ministry of Railways for the resumption of suburban train services for all in Mumbai.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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