Do not merge Thane villages with Navi Mumbai, Naik tells CM

State forest minister Ganesh Naik has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding that the government order to merge 14 villages on the Thane and Kalyan border with Navi Mumbai be revoked.

- G. Mohiuddin Jeddy

NAVI MUMBAI:

The government resolution was issued in March last year during Eknath Shinde's tenure as chief minister. The villages in question are Dahisar, Pimpri, Valivali, Bhandarali, Goteghar, Mokashi, Uttarshiv, Nagaon, Navali, Niyu, Narivali, Bamali, Wakan and Baje.

The demand is being seen as yet another clash between the BJP and Shiv Sena, a conflict that has seen Fadnavis cancel or stay a number of Shinde's decisions. The latest clash concerns merging the villages located in MP Shrikant Shinde's constituency with Navi Mumbai. When he was CM, Shinde, who headed the urban development department, had appointed the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) as the planning authority for the villages, replacing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).