Dinesh Kamath's column (Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments) that was published in Newsband

-->

Facts about Navi Mumbai and comments

By Dinesh Kamath

Fact:

CM Prithviraj Chavan said, “The government is developing two international airports - at Chakan and Navi Mumbai. Both projects were delayed due to land-related issues. The Navi Mumbai airport requires some additional land.

We are working on airport projects and are confident to push ahead both projects in the coming days. We are keen on setting up airports in every district to promote industry and better communication."

Comment:

There is no end to excuses that are being made for delaying the International Airport project in Navi Mumbai. CM promises to push ahead the project in the coming days. What exactly does he mean by ‘coming days’? Will it take few more days or months or years? CM should specify the time that he requires to make this project a reality.

Fact:

The bodies of two of the three young men who were found dead near the tracks in Navi Mumbai on Thursday were allegedly switched and given to the wrong families. The families of the two men protested at the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation hospital in Vashi and then took away the bodies of their own sons. The hospital and the railway police authorities have, however, washed their hands of the incident. The hospital blames the police for this mistake while the police holds the hospital responsible.

Comment:

How could this mistake happen? Ridiculous! The hospital authorities, the police and the families of the dead persons are all responsible for this. In the first place, the hospital authorities and the police should have taken care to see that they are handing the right body to the right family. Both the families are also to be blamed since they should have checked whether the body was of their relative before accepting it. The strange thing is that both the families realized that mistake had happened only when they were about to cremate the bodies. Instead of passing the bucks, all the three should admit that they were all at fault.  

Fact:

Even before the construction of the Nhava-Sewri sea link has begun, the state has fixed the toll amounts that people will have to pay if they use the 22-km bridge that will bring Mumbai and Navi Mumbai closer by half an hour. Those driving in a car will have to pay Rs 235 as a one-way toll on the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link for the first three years. "The toll will increase by 5% every three years and the amount will be charged for 30 years," a source in the state administration said. It is expected to take five years to build the sea link and the work is likely to begin next year.

Comment:

This is like parents planning the future of the child before it is born. The construction of the sea link has not begun and it is already decided that people who will use the bridge will have to pay the toll amounts. Even the exact amount that the users of the bridge will have to pay is decided. This is ridiculous! How can the authorities decide as to how much toll these users will have to pay after five years or still later. The value of money will have risen after five years. It is not right on part of the authorities to decide now the toll amount that will have to be paid five years later. They should count the fruits after the tree is grown fully. But here the fruits are being counted even before planting the tree.   

Fact:

A day of mourning over Bal Thackeray’s demise for lakhs of people became a day of earning for some opportunistic vendors across the city, who took advantage of the shutdown to make a quick-buck from consumers desperate for goods or services.

With all prepaid booths at airport and railway terminals closed and few taxis and autos plying, several cabbies tried fleecing commuters by demanding exorbitant fares far exceeding the norm.

A commuter was asked by a taxi driver to pay Rs. 3,000-4,000 to go from the domestic terminal at Santacruz to Seawoods in Navi Mumbai. Similarly, cabbies at railway terminals also quoted higher fares. The regular fare to Vashi from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus is Rs. 300 to Rs. 350, but they were demanding Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500. Vegetable vendors kept their businesses running on Sunday also upped their rates.

Milk buyers were charged Rs. 54 a litre, whereas it usually is Rs. 32. Even eggs cost Rs. 2 extra per egg.

Comment:

The entire state was mourning the death of a person who when alive opposed such practices. These people who were charging high prices must have felt relieved that there was nobody now to question them and hence went about raising the prices without any fear of being penalized. It is obvious that Shiv Sainiks were in the state of mourning the death of their beloved leader and hence couldn’t prevent these wrong practices. But where were the policemen? Is it a rule that policemen should overlook such happenings and only the political activists should do the job of taking actions against such people who cause inconvenience to public in general? If that is so, then it is a strange rule!