MiC did not do Mumbai much good8217;

No grand plans, co-operation with the administration and opposition, transparency. The Mayor-in-Council MiC has done little to solve Mu...

No grand plans, co-operation with the administration and opposition, transparency. The Mayor-in-Council MiC has done little to solve Mumbai8217;s civic problems, feels new Mayor Hareshwar Patil, and he seems keen on making a clear break with the past.

The seventieth mayor Mumbai has seen, Patil started small, as a Shiv Sena worker. As a supervisor in a private firm, a shakha pramukh, and later chairperson of the prestigious Standing Committee in the BMC, his rise has been steady. Another bhoomi putra son of the soil has been elected to the chair, a happy yet relaxed Patil told Prasanna Khapre-Upadhyay in an interview at his plush seven-storeyed flat at Dahisar. At this very place, his parents had tilled a rice field years ago.

You have been opposing the MiC even though it was introduced by your party. You also seem happy about its scrapping.

The MiC did not do much good for Mumbai. In the earlier system, the municipal commissioner would be personally present during the proceedings of thegeneral body meeting to take note of and follow up our complaints. But in the MiC, the Sena corporators could not complain as all the departments were under the party8217;s corporators, and this would go against them. Now, the administration is back in the picture.

In the past one year, MiC members and the administration have squarely blamed all wrongs on one another. How will you set this right?

In the present system, the entire responsibility lies with the administration. There is no scope for shifting blame. However, I will extend my cooperation to the administrative staff and we will work as a team along with the opposition. I will ensure that transparency is maintained in all decisions, a lack of which was one of the reasons for the MiC debacle.

How do you propose to tackle the issue of unauthorised slums which have grabbed practically every vacant inch in the city? The Chief Minister has announced action against the concerned ward officer and the police inspector, but that has hardlyhelped.

Unless there is a halt to people migrating in such large numbers, it is difficult to contain the problem. However, curbing migration is a political issue, and there is nothing the Mayor can do about it. Sena chief Bal Thackeray had said a decade ago that this migration should stop, otherwise Mumbaikars would get no civic amenities. This is something everybody is waking up to only now.

AS Mayor, what are your plans for the city?

I have decided not to announce any lofty agenda. And my one-year term is too short to complete any major scheme. I will study the schemes unveiled by previous mayors and whichever requires to be implemented, I will do the needful. Right now, I will concentrate on smaller issues such as providing better civic amenities like water, clean drains, shauchalayas and waste management. And right away, I will work towards completion of the Link Road which connects Borivli to Mira Road.

You were brought up in a peasant8217;s family. What prompted you to jointhe Sena?

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In 1966, the Sena had launched a drive for providing jobs to the Marathi man, and I was jobless after passing SSC. I also joined the gang. After completing a diploma in engineering, I was employed as a supervisor in Mahindra and Mahindra and elected president of its union for 12 consecutive years. Later, I was promoted as shakha pramukh and given a ticket for the corporation election in 1985.

This is the first time that a corporator from the suburbs has been elected as Mayor. Do you have any special plans for suburbanites?

I will attempt to provide better civic amenities to the suburbs, such as more hospitals and proper schools. I will also take up the issue of property tax in a big way. Suburban residents have to pay almost six times more than residents of the city.