Raj Thackeray alleged that locals were being kept out of the Third Mumbai plan in Raigad

Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday, while criticising the 17-year delay in redeveloping the Mumbai-Goa highway, said, “This is because of political interference.”Speaking to reporters during his Raigad visit, he raised concerns over the execution of a project crucial to Konkan connectivity and the impact of the continuing works on motorists and local residents.He said he had spoken to Union roads and highways minister Nitin Gadkari about it. “Gadkari said the contractors are fed up. I think the problem is that the govt appoints contractors without completing land acquisition and then the bills keep going up,” Thackeray said.State transport minister Pratap Sarnaik largely echoed Thackeray’s concerns and acknowledged that the Mumbai-Goa highway project had remained delayed for several years. Speaking to reporters in Thane, Sarnaik said that Thackeray’s constructive suggestions cannot be ignored, particularly on the highway project delays. Sarnaik, however, noted that the highway project had been pending since the tenure of the Congress-NCP govt and claimed that work gathered momentum under the present Mahayuti govt.Thackeray alleged that the Third Mumbai being developed in the Konkan would exclude the locals and that they should oppose this approach. Thir Mumbai is being planned for outsiders, he said during a visit to Raigad on Sunday. “There are plans for an Educity, Medicity, and data centres, but what do the locals know about this? These are secretive plans. The locals will remain as ex-land owners. The gains will go to outsiders and industrialists,” he warned.(With inputs from Nishikant Karlikar in Thane)