- Devendra Fadnavis announced a network of tunnels to ease Mumbai traffic congestion
- The tunnel network named Paatal Lok will run parallel to surface roads and complement metro lines
- New roads and connectors will improve connectivity between Borivali, Goregaon, Worli, and Bandra areas
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis injected virality using the name of a Netflix thriller to an otherwise plain comment on infrastructure development plans for Mumbai.
To ease traffic at the crowded financial capital of the country, a huge network of tunnels that mirrors the roads on the surface would be built, Fadnavis said on Monday.
"We are creating a Paatal Lok, a widespread network of tunnels across Mumbai for complete decongestion," he said.
The term 'Paatal Lok' is also the name of a popular Hindi web series noted for its depiction of the netherworld.
"It will be a parallel network to existing roads," Fadnavis said, adding the metro corridors will complement the plan.
A parallel road between Borivali and Goregaon and the Worli-Shivdi connector, expected next year, would provide seamless movement from Atal Setu to Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the chief minister said.
A proposed tunnel from Bandra to the Bandra Kurla Complex will improve access to the airport, he added.
On Politics
After the announcements on infrastructure plans, Fadnavis moved to talking about politics. The election to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, is the next frontline where the ruling and the opposition alliances in Maharashtra will fight battles.
"There are two ways to run a democracy - through ideology and through numbers. You cannot propagate ideology without numbers. Prashant Kishor talked about ideology, but he didn't get any seats. You have to be practical in politics. Relevance is key, and that needs numbers," Fadnavis said.
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar, which some analysts had billed as possibly the next big thing, didn't do well at all in the recently held assembly election.
"Our ideologies may not match, but we can run the government on a common minimum programme… In the 90s, prime ministers used to change daily, but we have come a long way since then. Ideology has taken a centrestage in the country's politics today," Fadnavis said.
The chief minister said he does not approve of people calling politics a totally corrupt system simply because there are both good and people in it.
"To say that the entire system is corrupt is wrong. The Union government does not have a single allegation of corruption. But at the state level there are such instances," he added.
