PMC chief throws media out of crucial meeting chaired by Supriya Sule

Most of the department heads attended the meeting to give details of the civic projects undertaken by them. The hall was packed to capacity with several citizens,civic staff and mediapersons getting no place to sit. As Pathak spotted the mediapersons in the meeting hall,he rushed towards them and asked them to leave. “What is this new trend started by you people (media)? Please,leave the meeting hall…” he said,raising his voice. Humiliated,the journalists quietly walked out.

When Sule was asked about the commissioner’s behaviour,she said: “I did not notice him asking you to leave the hall… I had no problem with mediapersons being present in the meeting and we will ask him not to restrict mediapersons from attending such meetings in future as it is all about public works.”

NCP leader Subhash Jagtap said no one among the party leaders,including Sule,had asked the civic administration to send the mediapersons out of the hall.

On Friday,when the recently appointed Officer on Special Duty for Metro Cell Shashikant Limaye was contacted for information on the Metro rail project,he refused to come on the phone and passed on a message saying the municipal commissioner had directed him not to talk to the media directly. “The mediapersons have to talk to the municipal commissioner for any information on the project,” said his office staff.

In the last few weeks,many of the civic department heads have been avoiding talking to the media due to the restriction on sharing civic-related information.