BMC declares Maharashtra CM\'s official residence defaulter, 18 ministers also in list

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's 'Varsha' bungalow a defaulter as his water bill dues are pending.

The total amount of the bill pending is around Rs 7,44,981, according to BMC.

The Chief Minister's Office released a statement on the issue, stating there was a difference between water bills of November 2018 and May 2019 that led Mumbai's Public Works Department (PWD) to verify the bill.

"The water bills of Varsha & other ministers' bungalow have been paid in Nov 2018. There was a difference between the water bills of Nov 2018 & May 2019 & that's why PWD is verifying the bill amount. As the verification process will be over, PWD will pay the bill," the statement read.

Apart from Fadnavis, names of 18 Maharashtra ministers are also in the list of defaulters, as they are yet to clear their water bill dues.

Among those ministers in the list of defaulters are -- Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pankaja Munde, Ramdas Kadam and Eknath Shinde.

According to the reply to an RTI filed by activist Shakeel Ahmed, two other senior members of Mr Fadnavis' cabinet - finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and health minister Eknath Shinde - are also on the list. The residences of both ministers have three connections registered each and owe a total of Rs. 3,73,829 for the period between September and October of last year.