Belapur is one of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies located in Thane district and is a part of Navi Mumbai city. It is number 151 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Manda Mhatre (68) served as BJP MLA or two consecutive terms and has now been nominated by the party for the third time.
The constituency has 4.28 lakh voters and covers areas including Belapur, Nerul, Seawoods, Juinagar, Sanpada and parts of Turbhe and Vashi. It is a cosmopolitan area, with a significant number of minorities, Maharashtrians and North Indians , and includes the Agri, Koli and Maratha communities.
In 1978, Gautam Bhoir from Janata Party was elected and in 1980, Balaji Bhagat from Indian National Congress. INC stayed in power till 1985 and later Ganesh Naik who was in Shiv Sena then was elected in 1990. In 2004 Naik, joined NCP and he dominated till 2009. Belapur Constituency was popularly known by the name of Ganesh Naik till 2014 when Manda Mhatre from BJP was elected. Mhatre won against Naik by mere 1,491 votes. She had received 29.08% of the total votes. In 2019, Mhatre again won against Ashok Gawade from NCP with 43,597 more votes and she had earned a whooping 50.34% vote share in the election.
A class 7 passout from BMC school in Borivali, Mhatre is a household name with people referring to her as ‘Tai’ (elder sister). She has one criminal case with Koparkhairane police which was registered in 2019 after she allegedly flouted the model code of conduct. In alignment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concept of Smart Villages, Mhatre advocated for the status of smart village for Dilwale village in Belapur. She has actively advocated the housing issues of Police in Police colony at Belapur, redevelopment of Navi Mumbai Cidco residences and the issues of dilapidated buildings in Navi Mumbai. According to the residents of the constituency, none of the issues that Mhatre has highlighted and shown to be fighting for has ever found a solution.
Mhatre has claimed that a total of Rs. 2000 crores has been allocated for various public development works across Navi Mumbai, including Diwale Smart Village during her tenure. “I have revived the long pending Road Over Bridge (ROB) project on the Belapur-Sion Panvel Highway in Sector 11, CBD Belapur which was stalled for two years. The ROB would connect Palm Beach Road with the Sion-Panvel Highway via up and down ramps, reducing traffic woes during peak hours. Establishment of a super specialty hospital and medical college in Sector 15, Belapur was initiated by me. Due to some vested interests of people some of them got it stalled from court. Maharashtra Bhavan in Vashi is happening due to by hardwork. For the Annabhau Sathe Dalit Vasti Yojana a fund of Rs. 15 crores has been approved. A special provision fund of Rs. 20 crores has been sanctioned for basic amenities and infrastructure development in Belapur village,” Mhatre said.
Her supporter Corporator Bharat Jadhav said, “She had done a great work for the people and the city but her enemies have always stalled her initiatives in some or the other way. Stalling of Marina project, hospital project in Belapur, have been result of the political game played by her opponents. Senior citizen shelter home in Seawoods was her initiative”
NatConnect Foundation Director BN Kumar said, “On the environment front, unfortunately, we have not heard much from MLA Mhatre. On the contrary, she appears to have ignored the happenings even closer to her bungalow, around Parsik Hills.” He further added, “Green groups and residents have raised concerns over the cutting of the Hill from the middle as well as its bottom as a hundred odd buildings faced dangers of landslides. Based on our campaign and media reports the State Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the concerns and gross violations by a builder. Yet the MLA did not utter a word.”
The wetlands in Navi Mumbai have been under constant attack, thus forcing flamingos to fly helter-skelter and even die, but the elected representative failed to address the issue while the citizen groups fought the battle on their own, Kumar further emphasized. “Belapur hill also has been under attack with about 30 illegal temples on its slope. Here again the Human Rights Commission has taken cognisance and took the government and CIDCO to task after the people’s agitation,” Kumar added.
Dipali Gholap, Founder and President of Saksham Mahila Udyojak Parishad said, “She had been the MLA for 10 years but there has been no single work that has been done to empower women. Nothing has been done to empower the youth and bring in more jobs. The agenda has always been to impress the gaothan residents with project like smart village for Dilwale village but Belapur Constituency is not just about Diwale village. She takes pride in Maharashtra Bhavan project but what use is that of for common citizens and moreover, that project is in Vashi. Vashi has all major developmental projects happening while Seawoods, Nerul and Belapur remain the same that it was 10 years back. The hospital project initiated by her was at a plot that was used by citizens as open ground for various purposes which eventually has been stalled by court. ‘Development’ seems to be only in talks of MLA Mhatre and not in implementation.” She further added that with the airport coming in the Palm Beach Road is going to be congested and it will require many ROBs which has not been initiated.
Similar thoughts were shared by leader of the house Ravindra Ithape who said that Belapur Constituency has nothing to offer for the budding sportsmen. “The Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Belapur could be beautified and utilized in many different ways. It could be developed in the lines of Wankhede stadium but there seems to be no will. The Sion Panvel Highway has still not be taken over by NMMC and there seems to be absolutely no efforts for the same even after a lot of demand for the same.Ten years is a lot of time and in this period, many works could have been done.”
KEY CONCERNS:
Handing over of Sion-Panvel Highway to NMMC for maintenance
Cutting of PArsik Hill and other violations on the hill
No initiatives for employment of youth
No recreational centres or training place for budding sportsmen
ROB at Sion PAnvel Highway at Belapur connecting Palm Beach road
Government run auditoriums in Belapur-Nerul area similar to Vishnudas Bhave in Vashi