1. Farmers Are up in Arms Against CM Devendra Fadnavis's Pet Project
In a hamlet outside Mumbai, jobbing electrician Sandip Dhamne has quit working to guard the family farmland. Across some vineyards in Ahmednagar district, 50 flurried villagers have huddled around a newspaper copy that lists plots the state wants to acquire. In another farming community in Thane district, Kamlabai Kashivale declares she would rather chop off her thumb than plant its impression on a document consenting sale of her land. Outside Nashik, growers have prepared nooses, saying they would hang themselves if their fields are taken.
The disquiet, defiance and demonstrations result from the simmering tensions in farming villages between Mumbai and Nagpur — the two regions that the Devendra Fadnavis government wants to unite through a new 706-km highway, which requires nearly 10,000 hectares in 10 districts.
Officials say the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway will radically improve access from rural communities in the east to commercial hubs in the west, reduce travel time between the two cities, and trigger industrial and real estate development in several districts. But farmers whose land the highway, dubbed the 'Prosperity Corridor', will eat up say the compensation package offered to them is neither appealing nor adequate. Broken past promises and a long wait for benefits from previous infrastructure projects for which people gave up space have further complicated the government's land acquisition mission. The government has dispatched 'communicators' to the far-off pockets of resistance to persuade farmers, and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) claims majority of those approached, especially closer to Nagpur, are ready to cooperate.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Drunkard Assaults Nurse With Metal Object at Byculla Railway Hospital
Yet another hospital staffer was assaulted in the city, but this time, it was a drunk intruder who did it, and not the unruly relatives of a patient. Following the attack at the railway hospital in Byculla, staffers and the railway union went on a hunger strike to demand better security.
The incident took place in the intervening night of May 12 and 13, when Ramesh Pawara, a male nurse, was on duty at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Byculla. Pawara spotted a drunk man trying to enter the hospital premises in the late hours, and asked him to leave. But, the man entered the hospital again. "This time, Pawara asked the RPF staff posted there to get the man out of the hospital premises," said an official from Central Railway, which runs the hospital.
Sources said the man was looking for a place to spend the night. He returned a second time at around 3 am. This time, he was armed with a metal object, with which he attacked Pawara. The accused was apprehended by the hospital guards and handed over to the police.
Source: Mid-day
3. Western Railway to Conduct Trials on First AC Local, Diwali Launch Expected
The Western Railways (WR) will now offically conduct trials on Mumbai's first air-conditioned electrical multiple unit (EMU) rake, which has been handed over to them. WR officials say the rake was transferred on Thursday and that it would take 3-6 months to finish trials.
According to The Times of India, they are hoping to launch the rake by Diwali this year, but only after it is cleared by the commissioner of railway (safety).
Currently services are expected to run between Churchgate-Borivli and Churchgate-Andheri. Western Railway (WR) sources say it's feasible to operate only 12 services daily on fast and slow corridors since there is only one AC rake.
The Central Railway (CR) have been conducting static and dynamic trials on the rake since November 2016, after it arrived from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, in April.
The inadequate height of British-era bridges between CST and Kurla led to CR abandoning their plan of running the coaches since their trains have a height of 4.335m, which is against the maximum permissible height of 4.270m for EMU coaches.
The railways will invite tenders for the next lot of 47 AC rakes having 12 coaches each. Official sources say Railway Board was working on the specifications of the AC local trains, which would be out in the next two months. Only after that the railways would call for the tenders.
Source: Mid-day
4. Headless Torso Case: Woman's Charred Limbs Found, Family Considered Committing Suicide
After murdering Priyanka Gurav (24), hacking her body to bits and dumping the body parts at different spots, her husband and in-laws were confident that they would never be found out. But when Priyanka's sister identified her mutilated body from a tattoo she saw in a mid-day report on May 9, the Gurav family knew their game was up. Scared of being arrested, they then considered committing suicide, said cops.
The plot continued to unravel late last night, as the Rabale MIDC police found the semi-burnt remains of Priyanka's lower limbs in a rexine bag at Khoni village, near the Ambernath-Badlapur Road. "We have recovered a burnt portion of a rexine bag, which had semi-burnt remains of limbs and bones inside it. The spot is in a secluded area," said the investigating officer, Inspector P Jadhav.
The bag was set ablaze with an inflammable liquid. The recovered bone will be examined and samples will be sent for DNA examination.
Planned days in advance
The cops said that the plan to murder Priyanka had been hatched 10 days in advance. Priyanka's husband Siddesh Gurav (23), his parents and one of his friends, Durgesh Patwa, murdered her on the night of May 4.
Source: Mid-day
5. Man Attacks Doctor at Sion Hospital After His Father Dies
A resident doctor at Sion Hospital was manhandled on the premises by the son of a critically ill patient who passed away. Although a case has ben registered with the Sion Police on Thursday, no arrests have been made.
Police have booked the accused under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC and also invoked a section of the Medical Services Act.
According to The Times of India, Sion Police sources say that 23-year-old Sunil Kale, the deceased patient's son, who is a resident of Saki Naka, apparently caught hold of 26-year-old Dr Ajay Athawale's collar and pushed him after the latter declared his father dead.
Cops say the patient, 52-year-old Prakash Kale, died during treatment on Thursday at Sion Hospital where he was transferred to from Ghatkopar's Rajawadi Hospital after his condition deteriorated.
Source: Mid-day
6. Rs 100 Cr Protective Ring For Mangroves
After several attempts to protect and preserve mangroves in Mumbai have failed, the state forest department has decided to construct boundary walls on the landward side of the mangroves.
The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), which is quite protective about the state’s huge mangrove cover, cleared the proposal last week.
Assistant Conservator Makarand Ghodke of the mangrove protection cell said, “Ridding mangroves of encroachment isn’t working as the encroachers keep coming back. Hence, construction of walls on the landward side of mangrove is a good idea. The entire work is going to cost us Rs 100 crore.”
However, environmentalists are against the idea of having a wall. Environmentalist Harish Pandey of New Link road residents’ forum said, “If there is an encroachment on the seaward side, one will never come to know. Besides, it will affect the free flow of tidal water, which will choke mangroves. If a boundary is what the government wants to build, it can have an iron fence or a barbed wire fence.”
D Stalin of NGO Vanashakti said, “The step will only open doors for all kinds of construction. There is no need to construct a wall. It is a backdoor entry for developers. The mangrove cell has done a commendable job of removing encroachments, but buildings walls is a strict no.”
The MCZMA plans to construct the walls, approximately 10 feet in height, at Kanjurmarg, Chikuwadi, Malwani-Malad, Charkop, Borivali, Erangal, Dahisar, Gorai, Eksar, Mandale, Turbhe, Mahul, Ghatkopar, Colaba, Airoli, and Vashi. In western Mumbai, the length of the wall will be 19,715 metres, while in central Mumbai, it will be 6,835 metres. Navi Mumbai will have the longest wall, going up till 28,550 metres.
Around a year-and-a-half ago, the MMRDA had been the first one to construct walls on the landward side of the mangroves using tin sheets at construction sites, as debris used to be constantly dumped in the mangroves of Bandra Kurla Complex.
The MCZMA has given strict instructions to the mangrove protection unit to allow free flow of tidal water in the mangroves. They have been told to construct the wall in such a way that its height prevents dumping of waste in the mangroves.
Mumbai has a cover of 5,800 hectares of mangrove.
From January to March this year, 63 cases of mangrove destruction were registered with the mangrove protection unit.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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