Mumbai News: Cabinet Minister Lodha Slams Aaditya Thackeray Over Kurla ITI Tree-Cutting Row, Denies Swimming Pool Claim

Aaditya Thackeray has alleged that trees are being chopped down within the premises of the Maharana Pratap Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Kurla to build a swimming pool. Responding sharply, Cabinet Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha rebutted the claim, stating:

“It is not a swimming pool being built there, but a playground for indigenous sports rooted in Maharashtrian culture since the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Is Aaditya Thackeray’s real concern to protect the unauthorized Rohingya–Bangladeshi slums in that area?”

For the past two months, a playground named after Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar has been under construction on the ITI premises. On the occasion of her death anniversary on August 13, a grand event featuring indigenous and traditional sports has been planned at the site. To avoid disturbing ITI students and to provide easy access for other players, a pathway and a gate are being built at the rear of the campus.

“Perhaps Aaditya Thackeray fears that this pathway might obstruct the unauthorized Rohingya–Bangladeshi slums that have sprung up outside the ITI premises. Instead of welcoming Mumbai’s first-ever playground for indigenous sports rooted in Maharashtrian culture, why make this desperate attempt to protect illegal slums?” Minister Lodha asked firmly.