Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Sena responsible for massive traffic snarls at Navi Mumbai' that was published in Newsband

Sena responsible for massive traffic snarls at Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday held a rally from Chembur Naka to Mahul to protest against Tata Power's proposed coal-run plant in Trombay. The rally blocked several roads in the eastern suburbs, leading to massive traffic snarls especially on the roads leading into Mumbai from Navi Mumbai.

Currently the plant at unit 6 is powered using oil and gas. Senior Sena leader Subhash Desai said converting the plant to run on coal will compound the air pollution problem. The Sena was of the opinion that the plant should run on oil/gas. Hence Tata Power was asked to close down units 3 and 5 and convert them into environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The management at Tata told the protestors that they would speak to higher-ups.

Citizen activists have said the Sena protest is nothing but a publicity stunt and that they have not even cared to take the people along with them. The area is already highly polluted due to the petroleum factories. People are already suffering with respiratory problems and the coal based plant will add to the problems. But the union Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoEF) is doing nothing about it.

Tata Power is of the opinion that the coal plant will benefit Mumbai's customers through lower tariffs and that they are indeed adhering to prescribed environment norms.

But all these dramas made the Navi Mumbai residents suffer since they had to face a massive traffic snarls throughout the time this protest was taking place.