BADLAPUR NEWS

Mumbai's train trouble: Scorching heat, crawling trains make life hell

Every day, IT professional N Raja takes an hour to travel by train from his Badlapur house to his workplace in Vikhroli.

But, on Wednesday, the same commute ate into five hours of his time.

While most of the 70 lakh Central Railway commuters preferred to stay home or take other modes of transport on learning of the disrupted signal system at Kurla on Wednesday, a few, like Raja, decided to hop on the train.

“First I had to wait for 40-45 minutes to catch a train at Badlapur station. Blank indicators added to the woes as no one knew what time a train would arrive. Even though announcements were being made, trains still came in late,” he said.

Train services were running smoothly only between Karjat and Thane stations, he added.

“The actual problem was between Thane station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). As trains were crawling ahead, commuters were getting restless. We could see trains lined up between Mulund and Nahur stations. Many people jumped on the tracks and walked to the nearest station,” said a commuter, who did not want to be named.

He refused to blame the Central Railway for the chaos as the services disruption was due to a fire.

But, Dombivli resident Rakesh Shah was not so kind.

Shah, who took five hours to reach his office in Byculla, slammed the railway authorities for not making alternative arrangements.

“It was a minor fire. The problem could have been fixed by Wednesday morning. Lakhs of commuters were troubled because the authorities did not have an alternative plan in place to tackle emergency situations like this,” said Shah, pointing out that if the Central Railway had kept the emergency tracks between Thane and Kurla stations functional, commuters would not have suffered.

Shah said though the BEST did a commendable job by plying extra buses from Mulund, Kurla, Sion and Vashi stations, it was not enough to accommodate the huge number of railway commuters.

Autorickshaws and taxis also came to the rescue of students and office-goers who decided to not take the train on Wednesday.

BUKAD NEWS

'Mumbai mega infra-projects to be completed by 2013'

India Gazette
Wednesday 7th March, 2012
(IANS)

Focusing on completing mega-infrastructure projects in and around Mumbai, the state government has allocated Rs.4,825 crore for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for fiscal 2012-13 beginning April 1.

Though no new projects have been announced, the emphasis would be to complete the mega-projects like Monorail, Metro rail, elevated road near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Sahar and important roads in and around Mumbai, MMRDA Commissioner Rahul Asthana said here Tuesday.

The budget was approved at the MMRDA's 130th meeting held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

The highlight would be kicking off the crucial 22 km, Rs.8,800 crore Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link, the city's second sea-bridge after the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The ammount is to be spent over four-five years.

The project is expected to be awarded by November, Asthana said.

Another major infrastructure project is the 126-km-long Virar-Alibag Multi-Modal Corridor linking Thane, Mumbai and Raigad districts.

It is being implemented in two phases -- Virar-Chirner (79 km) and Chirner-Alibaug (47 km) at a cost of Rs.9,326 crore with dedicated lanes for traffic, buses, two-wheelers and non-motorized transport.

"We have made significant allocation for strengthening our road network as well as for developing infrastructure. The funds will be used for completion of the ongoing projects," Asthana said.

He said that MMRDA plans to start trial runs of the ambitious Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro railway by year-end and commission it in the next financial year, providing much-needed relief to Mumbai commuters.

An amount of Rs.338 crore has been earmarked for the Metro rail, including Rs.100 crore for the targeted Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar stretch, Rs.138 crore for the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd sector and Rs.100 crore for the underground Colaba-BKC-Andheri Link, Asthana said.

An allocation of Rs.870 crore has been made for the Monorail, while a large chunk - Rs.1,460 crore -- will be utilized on developing the road network in the city and surroundings.

Of the Rs.1,460 crore, Rs.660 crore will be spent for Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project components like Eastern Freeway (by December 2012), Anik-Panjrapole Link Road, Panjrapole-Ghatkopar Link Road, the under-construction Milan Rail Overbridge (tentatively, June 2012), and the elevated road outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) (by July 2012).

Mumbai's lifeline, the suburban railway network, will get Rs.290 crore under the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project-II, for developing various components.

An amount of Rs.800 crore has been allocated for the satellite towns/cities around Mumbai in Thane and Raigad districts, including Mira Road, Bhayander, Vasai, Virar, Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath, Karjat and Badlapur.

Aware of the growing requirements of water in the Mumbai Metrpolitan Region areas, the MMRDA has allocated Rs.390 crore to develop water resources.

RANDOM NEWS

Rupee hits all-time low of 52.73 vs dollar; looks vulnerable


The rupee skidded to an all-time low on Tuesday as oil refiners and other companies scrambled to buy dollars, with the currency looking increasingly vulnerable to a swelling current account deficit. 

Exposure to short-term portfolio flows, a rising oil import bill and slowing export growth have heightened the risk on the rupee and the outlook remains bearish. 

There is also the increasing likelihood the US super committee will fail to reach a deal on debt restructuring, which could trigger another major round of selling of in emerging market and risky assets. 

At 10:40 a.m. (0510 GMT), the rupee was at 52.58/59 per dollar, after touching an all-time low of 52.73, and 0.8 percent weaker than its previous close of 52.1550/1650. 

At its record low, the rupee has slumped 16.8 percent from its 2011 high reached in late July. 

"The outlook for the rupee continues to look weak at this point. The next technical level on the chart shows 55.11," said Ashtosh Raina, head of foreign exchange trading at HDFC Bank in Mumbai. 

"There is all-round demand coming in from all quarters and there are unlikely to be any ranges for the market now." 

Describing the sharp depreciation of the rupee as "disruptive", the Reserve Bank said any action to arrest the fall will be guided by medium-term considerations. 

"We don't really have a target or a rate in mind. It's moving as per market dynamics. It (fall in the value of the rupee) is disruptive, there is no question. There (will be) impact on our import bill, particularly for energy. It's having an impact on companies and it is a problem," Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn told reporters here. 

On the possibility of action by the central bank to arrest the fall of the rupee, Gokarn said, "Any action we take now (will) have to take into account the fact that these actions might have consequences a little further down the road. So we have got to balance out actions with risks or a potential increase in vulnerability later on..." 

"Actions have to be weighed in terms of their medium-term risks," he added. 

The immediate impact of the fall in the value of rupee, he said, will be on the inflation rate, which has been hovering near the double-digit mark for several months. 

"We should not be looking at only the short-term when we make these judgements. Every action that has been suggested... that has been debated, also has potentially adverse consequences down the road. So we have got to balance out those too." 

Although the RBI has been maintaining that the exchange rate should be market-determined, it is volatility that has been worrying the central bank. 

"... Volatility is another thing. This is the sharpness and speed of the movement that is obviously creating some disruptions. We don't know where it is going to go, but it is something we need to watch out for," Gokarn said. 

DOMBIVLI NEWS

Collegians arrested for robbing three

The police on Thursday arrested three youths, including two collegians, for robbing people in Dombivli (W). They took to crime to finance their "lavish lifestyle", the police added. The police also seized a bike used by the youths to commit the crime. 

The accused are identified as Ajay Sakpal (20), Mayur Bane (18) and Prakash More (18). According to the police, Sakpal and Bane are FYJC students, while More works in a factory. On November 2, the accused targeted Pramod Badge around 12.30am in Manpada and robbed him of Rs 7,500. Later around 1.30am, they offered another passerby, Subhas Singh, a lift and took him to a deserted place where they beat him up and snatched his cellphone and jewellry worth Rs 24,000. 

At 2.30am, they stopped auto driver Santosh Yadav near Lodha Heaven and robbed him of Rs 1,500. The Manpada police formed a special team headed by inspector Dattatray Pandharey and on Thursday arrested accused from Dawdi, based on a tip-off. "We will check if they are involved in other robberies," Prakash Nilewad, inspector, Manpada police station.

DOMBIVLI NEWS

Governor lessons for CM on file disposal


It's time for chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and his cabinet colleagues to take lessons from governor K Sankaranarayanan on the quick disposal of files.

Sankaranarayanan, disclosing the secret on Sunday, said, "when I was the junior-most cabinet minister in Kerala, and whenever there was difficulty in understanding a subject or there was confusion, I never hesitated in consulting senior cabinet colleagues, so decision-making was faster."

Sankaranarayanan told a function largely attended by Keralites settled in Dombivli that now files were pending as there were no consultations. "There is nothing wrong if a cabinet member consults his senior. One should not feel shy about it. In the absence of consultations, pendency is bound to increase,'' he said. 

ULHASNAGAR NEWS

Muslims fight for burial ground in Ulhasnagar


MUMBAI: Fed up with the alleged apathy of the state government and the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) towards their three-decade-old demand for a burial ground, some Muslims of Ulhasnagar have threatened to try and bury their dead near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Mantralaya.

With 1.5 lakh Muslims, the town of Ulhasnagar badly needs a Muslim graveyard as the community has to take their dead to Kalyan and Ambernath, several kilometres away, for burial.

On Tuesday a group of around 100 Muslim residents of Ulhasnagar sat on a dharna at Azad Maidan, demanding at least two acres of land for the burial ground. Some of the protesters' representatives at a press conference threatened that if the government didn't give them a burial place within 15 days, they would take their dead to the gates of Mantralaya and, on the way the ambulances carrying the bodies would also stop at Matoshree, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's residence at Bandra. 

ULHASNAGAR NEWS

7L gold, cash looted from bizman's home

Ulhasnagar: Five robbers threatened a businessman's family at gunpoint and escaped with Rs 5 lakh cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 1.68 lakh at Ulhasnagar on Sunday. One of the robbers had kept a security guard confined to the building gate at gunpoint so that he could not raise an alarm.
The incident took place around 3.45 am. Of the gang of five, four entered the first floor flat ofPremchand Narwani at Sai Charan apartment of Gol Maidan. Premchand's wife and son were in the house at the time. The valuables in the house were meant for Premchand's son's wedding in February 2012.

AMBERNATH NEWS

Kshamata Gaikwad

She is the first Indian woman to co-author a description of a new species of lizard. Kshamata Gaikwad (24) from Ambernath has made a universal discovery of new species of lizard in Kolhapur, under the guidance of Dr Varad Giri, the curator of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). After completing her post graduation in environmental science from Mumbai University in September 2007, she volunteered in BNHS, learning the basics of taxonomy on caecilians and reptiles. In September 2008, she was given the post of research fellow when she began working on this gecko. "I always had a liking towards wildlife. I observed that a lot of research was being done on larger group of animals whereas little creatures like reptiles and caecilians were unexplored. Thus, I plunged in and took the opportunity to explore their world under my microscope," quips Kshamata. Her mentor Dr Giri is full of praise for the young scientist. "Kshamata has been patient and persistent throughout these years. She volunteered for a year with BNHS and travelled all the way from Ambernath to Fort everyday even when she wasn't paid a penny. We need thousands of Kshamatas to come forward and popularise the beauty of reptiles," he says. For her part, Kshamata is thankful to her mentor. "Giri sir always cleared my doubts but never spoon-fed me; instead, he nudged me to think on my own," she avers. Kshamata is proud of her work and yet believes in staying simple and working hard. "I am happy that at this point of my career I have received a co-authorship for a universal discovery but will be content when I will become the first author," she confesses. The determined girl is now working in the Western Ghats looking for new species of reptiles and amphibians. She will also check their breeding season while finding out if they are facing any problems related to survival and ensuring that the species is preserved. We wish her all the very best!  About the lizard  This gecko has been termed scientifically as cnemaspis kolhapurensis, after the locality where it was discovered. It belongs to the group of dwarf gecko (cnemaspis genus) and is smaller in size, has a strange snout and a long neck. As this lizard moves on the ground, it has circular pupil and smooth scales. It also has slender digits and a shiny tail. The under side of the tail has black and yellow dots. These characteristics mark it from other specimens of this family Fast facts • The first sample of this dwarf gecko was picked by Dr Giri back in 2005 • It took four years for the finding to be published as the scientists had to compare this gecko with every individual species in the group to guarantee that the specimen was first of its kind • This species is registered in Zootaxa, a scientific journal from New Zealand

REAL ESTATE IN BUKAD

“One can find plenty of 1BHK homes costing Rs 10-15 lakh here, which is perfect for government employees,” says Mohan Tharwani, from Tharwani infrastructure. Tharwani’s ongoing projects include Rosalie, Rosalie LX at Kalyan and Ritu World- Wind of Change at Barrage Road, Badlapur (West). “Ritu World is the first of its kind luxury project in Badlapur with all modern amenities at affordable prices,” informs Mohan Tharwani.  

Ambernath is faring well with its new projects like Wadhwa constructions. “Ambernath is a blend of old-world charm, culture and modern times. People keep getting attracted to its ambience,” says Prakash Wadhwa, from Wadha group. He adds, “We have slashed 100 rupees from the booking price for Gudi Padwa to boost sales in Ambernath,” adds Wadhwa.

In Dombivli, premium lifestyle projects such as Lodha’s Casa Bella and Regency Estate have altered the perception of the city. “These flats offer high-end amenities at reasonable prices, moreover Dombivli is really well connected, has good education options, a mall nearby,” says Kishore Pishori, a CA and a resident of Regency Estates.

Interestingly, Government policy has a role to play in the emergence of these areas as realty hotspots. Avers Bhavin from Raj Group, “The home loans are more attractive. Most of these projects are backed by banks; these factors are responsible for a huge spurt in realty demand.”

There are positive signs of development in the far flung suburbs too. Neptune builders and Nirmal Lifestyle are coming up with projects in Ambivli and Shahad, which are all set to revolutionise the face of these towns. “The main advantages of these suburbs are low pollution level and affordable rates,” says Raja Rochlani of Madhav constructions.

"Badlapur has become a haven for professionals from the public sector. One can find plenty of 1BHK homes costing Rs 10-15 lakh here, which is perfect for government employees”