Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana, in its latest editorial, slammed the Maharashtra government over the mismanagement of monsoon preparedness and floods in Mumbai, saying that “the city sank due to corruption.”

The Marathi newspaper Saamana, headed by the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), said that during the BJP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s rule, Mumbai’s municipal corporation had come under the control of builders and contractors.

The editorial said that the BJP was a party of “traders and contractors” and didn’t have an emotional connect with the city of Mumbai and the city’s municipal corporation, which is why they are not “stressed” about the situation in the city.

Speaking about the intense flooding in the city, the Saamana editorial stated that the city’s drainage system which was built during the British era is “overburdened.”

Because of this, it will not take long for Mumbai to become Joshimath,” it said.

The editorial also said that roads and drains in Mumbai were cleaned in the absence of public representatives in the civic body, adding that “in the very first rain, Mumbai was submerged and people were in trouble.”

Apart from criticising the Maharashtra government on monsoon management, the editorial also alleged that there was a “huge scam” of Rs 6,000 crore in connection with the construction of 400-kilometre-long roads in Mumbai.

“The chief minister is the real mastermind behind the five companies that got the tender for this work,” the editorial read, adding that the central probe agency Enforcement Directorate had “closed its eyes” on this.