Corporators head to Andaman and Nicobar Islands for ‘study tour’

Barely a week to go for the civic annual budget and some standing committee members of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are embarking on a “study tour” of Andaman and Nicobar Islands at the expense of taxpayers’ money.

The three-day tour kicks-off on Thursday and aims to “study” the drainage and sewerage system of these islands located at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Out of 26 standing committee members, about 12 corporators, a majority of them from Shiv Sena and BJP, and some civic officials will be going on the tour whereas members of Congress and Samajwadi Party have decided to give the outing a miss for various reasons.

Ironically, just a month ago, fearing criticism over the proposed study tour of the islands, civic corporators had cancelled the tour.

While it has been officially declared a “study tour”, fact remains that senior Sena corporator and house leader Trishna Vishwasrao had a few months back demanded that BMC arrange a tour of standing committee members to the islands. “It will enable standing committee members to visit the Swatantraveer Savarkar Memorial in Andaman and also enjoy the islands’ natural beauty,” she had said.

Supporting the decision, standing committee chairman Shailesh Phanse said, “There are a lot of similarities between Mumbai and Andaman as both are islands. We will study what mechanism they are using to drain flood water to check whether it can be used in our city.”

While more than Rs 5000 is likely to be spent on each corporator on the tour, Congress corporator Pravin Chheda termed it a waste of public money. “We will not go on such kind of tours as they serve no purpose,” he added.

It is learnt however that Congress corporators have decided to abstain as their party is planning to organise a major rally in the city against the Rent Control Act.