Need to make Mumbai of international standard, no need to make it like Shanghai: Eknath 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.

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"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.

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Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said as they were starting works on a number of works in one go, Mumbaikars will face inconvenience and traffic congestion for next months.

"But once all the roads are properly constructed, there will be no traffic jams and pollution will be under control," he said.

"Whatever work we try to start in Mumbai, some people immediately react and claim the same work was started by them. This is a very wrong and unhealthy habit," Fadnavis said, apparently targeting the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led state government.