UMC chief plays hooky, members ask him to quit

"The administration seems least bothered about the suffering of citizens," Prakash Mahadik of Shiv Sena rued, adding, "this only gives a bad name to my party and gives the opposition ammunition to attack us."

This is not the first time Shool has played hooky. Meetings have had to be adjourned five times in the past due to his absence. Members also pointed to the gap between debate and implementation. "None of the discussions in this house have resulted in concrete steps towards resolution of problems," said the chairperson of the education committee Dhananjay Borade.

Haridas Makhija (Congress) demanded that a committee be set up to find out the extent of increase in encroachments, and suggested that the committee could be jointly monitored by both the mayor and the civic commissioner.

Wondering if setting up committees helped, J Kaale (RPI) suggested that a joint effort be made to highlight the administration’s negligence. Lal Punjabi (BJP) also felt that the continued absence of the commissioner and his subordinates from meetings despite repeated requests and reminders indicated "a planned attempt to sideline core issues and then blame the elected representatives for the ills afflicting the UMC."

When contacted, Shool accepted that he had not attended the general body meetings "sometimes." He, however said that he was "not bound to attend all meetings. No one can dictate terms and take away that prerogative."

Brushing aside suggestions that he was not bothered about the problems facing the township, he said, "Certain steps taken by me have affected my popularity among the corporators. This should not be misconstrued as the feelings of citizens in general about the administration."