Thane: Alleging that the Municipal Corporation’s claims of completing pre-monsoon drain-cleaning works are false and exist only on paper, Thane City District Congress President Rahul Pingale criticized the civic administration. Congress workers, led by Pingale, protested against the authorities after discovering that even the main drain located in front of the Mumbra Ward Committee Office had not been cleaned.

The lapse came to light during an inspection conducted under the leadership of Rahul Pingale. Despite being informed about the issue, officials allegedly failed to take corrective action, prompting a Congress delegation to visit the Mumbra office and stage a protest.

Instead of adopting an aggressive form of agitation, the Congress leaders chose the path of “Gandhigiri.” They presented roses to officials of the Solid Waste Management and Public Works Departments while demanding immediate action to clean the drains and prevent flooding during the monsoon.

The Congress party warned that if the work is not completed promptly to avert monsoon flooding, it will organize a sit-in protest in front of the Municipal Commissioner’s office.

Among those who participated in the protest were Block President Nilesh Patil, Yasin Momin, Vasant Poladia, Wasim Sayyid, Ravindra Koli, Bhola Patil, Vaishali Bhosale, Gafur Rumani, Afsar Khan, Bilal Tamboli, Niyaz Kurne, Mujawar Sir, Raju Dhawle, Gaurav Kamble, Rajesh Mishra, Chandrakant Patil, Sharad Jadhav, and other party office-bearers.

“The claims regarding drain-cleaning work exist only on paper. Today we offered roses; tomorrow the administration should be prepared to face the anger of the people.”

— Rahul Pingale