Need to make Mumbai of international standard: Maha CM Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said there is no need to dream of making Mumbai like Shanghai, but the need is to focus on making the metropolis a city of international standard.
Shinde also said they need to win the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, to remove the “clout of certain contractors” and provide better roads and services to the people.
He was speaking at a public function where he launched works on 320 different projects in Mumbai.
“There is no need to dream of making Mumbai like Shanghai. We need to make the city of international standard. We are also setting up several sewage treatment plants which would treat the used water and release only clean water into the sea,” he said.
Shinde further said he will not to respond to criticism as he prefers to work rather than talk.
“If you level one allegation against me, I will carry out 10 good works in Mumbai city in response,” he said.
The chief minister also took a dig at Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut’s daily morning media interaction, comparing it to a “mill siren”.
“Earlier, Mumbai used to have mill sirens to which everyone used to pay attention. Now, there is only one siren and nobody needs to pay any attention to it it,” he quipped without taking Raut’s name.
Govt spending money extravagantly, ignoring key issues: Ajit Pawar
Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday accused the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government of spending money in an “extravagant” manner while ignoring the key issues being faced by common people and farmers.
The Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly was speaking to reporters here on the eve of the Budget session of the state legislature.
“The state government is extravagantly spending crores of rupees to show their smiling faces, instead of solving the woes of the common man. We have decided to boycott the invitation for high tea. Instead, we will meet the new Governor of Maharashtra, Ramesh Bais, and share our concerns with him,” the former deputy chief minister said.
“The state government announced aid for different purposes in the past some months, but that assistance is yet to reach the affected people or beneficiaries of schemes. I have noticed this during my recent visits to different places across Maharashtra,” he said.
Inflation is going up, due to which the cost of production has increased for farmers. However, the agricultural produce is not getting a good price in the market, Pawar said.
He announced that the opposition parties were boycotting the customary team party hosted by the Shinde government on the eve of the session.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, who belongs to the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), said, “The state government has changed the name of Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. The Union government’s communication to the state government clearly says that the names of those two districts can also be changed, but the state has failed to implement it.”