Drone near house: Aaditya; it's for a survey: Civic body

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray Sunday complained about a drone "peeping" into Matoshree, the heavily guarded residence he shares with party chief Uddhav Thackeray and his mother at Bandra's Kalanagar, raising concerns about potential surveillance.

MMRDA and police clarified that the drone was part of a survey being conducted for the proposed pod taxi service in the area, but Aaditya asked why residents weren't informed beforehand. "A drone was caught peeping into our residence [on Sunday] morning and when the media learnt about it, MMRDA said it was a survey being done for BKC with police permission," Aaditya said on X. "What survey allows you to peep inside homes and fly out quickly when spotted? Why weren't residents informed? Is MMRDA only doing surveillance of our house?" He said MMRDA "should rather get on the ground and focus on its own work, like the MTHL (Atal Setu), which is an example of its corruption.

" In response, MMRDA said the drone survey was conducted over the weekend along the approved pod taxi alignment-from Kurla to Bandra via BKC-to facilitate a visual study of the corridor. "All necessary permissions were obtained by MMRDA on behalf of the concessionaire from the police department, and every instruction issued by them was strictly adhered to," it said on X. It said the certified drone operator, whose background verification was already submitted to the authorities, carried out the survey in the presence of police personnel and concessionaire officials.

"The operation remained fully compliant and restricted to the approved alignment, with no breach or deviation at any stage." DCP (zone 8) Manish Kalwaniya confirmed that all permissions were in place. Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab, however, demanded a detailed police inquiry. "[The drone] raises serious concerns about a potential security breach in a high-security zone," he said. Uddhav recently visited Marathwada region and interacted with farmers affected by heavy rain and floods over the last few months. He has targeted CM Devendra Fadnavis over the relief package announced by the state govt and stressed the opposition's demand for Rs 50,000 per hectare compensation for crop losses and a complete farm loan waiver. The pod taxi project, being implemented on a public-private partnership basis, aims to enhance last-mile connectivity to the business hub of BKC through electric-powered vehicles on an 8 km elevated corridor.