1. BMC Rejects Proposal to Fix 16 Bridges, Repair Work Shelved
The Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday rejected a proposal to repair 16 bridges in the city. The move might, sources say, will further delay the much-required repair of dilapidated bridges, already pending for more than six months after a structural audit report — submitted in September last year — highlighted the need to fix several bridges.
A Standing Committee, headed by the Sena, refused to clear a proposal for minor repairs on 16 bridges, including three subways, in the island city. Committee chairman Yashvant Jadhav said the proposal could not be passed as the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha election was in force.
The civic administration, however, claimed that if cleared, a special permission could have been obtained from the Election Commission of India to repair the bridges, especially in the backdrop of the March 14 foot overbridge collapse. Six people were killed and at least 31 others were injured after a FOB outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus collapsed.
Source: Indian Express
2. Critical Infrastructure Work at 14 Rail Stations Held up Due to Red Tape
Western Railway officials says they are waiting for BMC permission to finish much-needed upgrade of facilities; municipality puts the ball in judiciary’s court.
Western Railway plans to upgrade infrastructure at 14 of its busiest stations have been held up because of lack of permission from the BMC. These plans, which include building new landing spots for FOBs and setting up escalators, are expected to greatly improve passenger safety, but in almost all cases the land needed to build this infrastructure is with the BMC and as such the railway needs its permission for work to go ahead.
In the past few months there have been several meetings and exchanges of communication between railway and BMC officials to discuss these issues, but the municipality is yet to take a concrete decision, according to a Western Railway source.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Court Pulls up BMC and Railways Over CSMT Crash
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that the CSMT-Times of India foot overbridge collapsed due to lack of coordination between the two authorities involved in the matter – the civic body and the railways.
“Why don’t you conduct joint meetings to take stock of the condition of all existing foot overbridges, safety measures, etc,” asked a bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice NM Jamdar.
The court also asked how something like this could happen when the concerned authorities claimed to have conducted structural audits.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Mercury Six Notches Down, but Mumbai Puffs at 33.3 Degrees
wo days after recording the season’s hottest day, Mumbai got some respite on Wednesday as the maximum temperature dropped to 33.3 degrees Celsius. On Monday, mercury had peaked to 40.3 degrees while humidity also remained high. In a slight respite to citizens Wednesday, the temperature dropped by 6.2 degrees Celsius over 24 hours. However, humidity continued to remain high at 60 per cent.
“There is some respite from Monday’s heat. But mornings and evenings are no longer pleasant,” Priya Agarwal, Kandivali resident, said.
The Indian Meteorological Department at Santacruz recorded a minimum temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius, which is one degree above normal.
Source: Indian Express
5. Eyeing North East Seat, Pravin Chheda Meets Uddhav Thackeray
The race to bag a ticket from the Mumbai North East constituency has heated up as suspense over the re-nomination of the sitting BJP MP Kirit Somaiya continued. Former Congress corporator, Pravin Chheda, who joined the BJP last week, met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday to lobby for the ticket.
Chheda reportedly urged Uddhav to support his candidature if the BJP drops Somaiya. However, Uddhav is learnt to have refused to intervene, calling it an internal matter of the BJP.
According to a senior Sena functionary, BJP corporator from Ghatkopar, Parag Shah, known as the richest corporator in the BMC, also reached out to the Sena to lobby for Lok Sabha ticket from the Mumbai North East constituency soon after the Sena-BJP alliance was announced. While Shah has not met Uddhav recently, the functionary said that he has been seeking Sena’s support for the ticket.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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