Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan inaugurates monorail in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavanon Saturday inaugurated the monorail in Mumbai.

The country's first Monorail service is commencing operations after a delay of over two years. This new addition to the city's public transport system will be made available for public use on Sunday.

The Rs 3,000-crore monorail project is being implemented in two phases. The first phase comprises the 8.9 km long Wadala-Chembur section, while in the second phase the services will be extended to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in South Mumbai.

The Authority has fixed fares between Rs 5-11 for the first phase of operations, he said adding that MMRDA will operate six trains in the first phase, and another 10 will be added in the second.

To begin with, the services will operate with four coaches having a combined carrying capacity of 2,300 passengers at every 15 minutes, Madan said.

"We aim to provide a service at every four minutes going forward," he said.

The monorail project has been executed by a consortium of engineering major Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Malaysian firm Scomi Engineering and owned and operated by MMRDA.

The monorail is expected to reduce the travel time between Wadala and Chembur by almost half, from 40 minutes at present to nearly 21 minutes.

MMRDA has already spent Rs 1,900 crore of the Rs 3,000 crore allocated for the project, Madan said adding, "the civil work on the second phase of the project has been completed."

(With inputs from PTI)

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Employee steals Rs 2.75cr gold from jewellery store in Mumbai

MUMBAI: A 22-year-old man, Pramod Bhati, employed with a jewellery store in Kurla (W), stole 10.5kg gold worth Rs 2.75 crore from the shop and fled.

The incident took place on Thursday when Bhati stole the gold after changing the direction of the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at RR Sanghvi Jewellers' safe room, said the Kurla police. Hunt is on for Bhati.

The theft came to light only at night when the shop owner, Ratanchand Jain (72), asked his son to go and check the whereabouts of Bhati, who had been missing. In the complaint, Jain said, "One of my employees, who sleeps inside the shop along with Bhati, called late on Thursday to inform that the shop was locked. Bhati was nowhere to be found and his mobile was switched off." Suspecting something amiss, Jain asked his son to open the shop with the spare key. "On opening the shop, we Jain's son saw that the safe room was open and ornaments worth over Rs 2.75 crore were missing. Jain then lodged a theft complaint," said a Kurla police officer.

Jain told TOI: "After closing the shop account on Wednesday night, I left and handed over the keys to Bhati, who along with other employees sleeps in the shop. Bhati, a Rajasthan native, had been employed six months ago after his uncle, who has worked with me for past 16 years. gave his reference."

"Bhati knew the shop remains closed on Thursday and took advantage of the trust. Before stealing, he had changed the direction of the CCTV," said an officer. A team has been formed to nab Bhati and will leave for Rajasthan soon.

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Centre nod for Mumbai’s TB control plan

MUMBAI: The Centre on Friday gave the green light to upgrade BMC's tuberculosis-control programme in such a manner that extensively drug-resistant TB cases could be diagnosed within three months.

Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said the Mumbai TB-control plan will get five welcome additions. This follows the visit of a central team, including state health secretary K Desiraju, in the city last fortnight.

"We will get five new GeneXperts in 2014 to diagnose multi-drug-resistant TB faster," she said. The Centre has agreed to allow a TB patient who doesn't respond to first-line of treatment to be simultaneously checked for both MDR TB and its worse version called extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB).

Earlier, such patients would be put through the MDR TB course for six months before being tested for XDR TB. This meant an XDR TB patient would continue to spread the bacteria for almost a year before getting access to the right treatment. "Now, the diagnosis time would be cut down to three months and the XDR patient will be given individualized treatment," added Mhaiskar.

The other points include upgrading diagnostic facility for XDR TB as well as at BMC's TB Hospital in Sewri. The Centre has also agreed for a pilot project to provide nutritional supplements to patients with drug-resistant TB.

"We are working out the details of the plan and should be ready to roll it out in June," Mhaiskar said.

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Junkies spread terror in south Mumbai lanes

MUMBAI: The roads and lanes of the Fort precinct, Marine Drive and Masjid Bunder have become a haven for drug addicts, who are a tribe that even cops tend to avoid confronting. The presence of junkies on footpaths and bus stops prompts people, especially women, to avoid those areas or pass by hurriedly.

Last month, a drug addict was seen assaulting a constable near the gates of Anjuman Islam school. "These are desperate men who will do anything to get their daily fix. Police often allow them to be lest they slash them with a blade or jab an infected needle," says a photographer who witnessed the incident. Clusters of addicts prowl areas like Ballard Estate, whose workforce empties out in the evening, and accost passersby for money and valuables.

Residents of Marine Drive who park their cars outside often find stereo systems missing. Chain snatching is rampant. Suman Gurwara's car was stolen from the lane near the flyover where additional municipal commissioner Mohan Adtani was robbed of his phone. "I'm afraid to send my child out alone. Drug addicts lurk around and snatch whatever is in your hands," she said.

The expatriate population is seen as a vulnerable target. A large population of foreigners not only lives and works in south Mumbai but loves to tour its heritage buildings and photograph them. Foreign students study at the Mumbai University, browse bookstores or take the train from Churchgate and CST railway stations.

DCP Ravindra Shisve of Zone I said cops have been conducting an ongoing drive against drug addicts. "Going by the dynamic nature of the business district, the crime rate is low. We had 30 cases of chain-snatching in 2013 compared to other zones which had 300-400. We have sanitized large parts of Azad Maidan and Oval Maidan of junkies. Dongri, which used to be the favourite haunt of Nigerian peddlers and conduits, is largely free of them. "I assure citizens we will intensify this drive."

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Mumbaikars invited to Chikoo Festival at Dahanu this weekend

MUMBAI: The Konkan fruit farmers of Dahanu are organising a colourful agro-tourism event, Chikoo Festival, on February 1 and 2 with the help of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Kokan Bhumi Pratishtan.

"The Chikoo festival will be a good weekend getaway for the people of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai to enjoy the Konkan climate at Dahanu and also learn about how the fruit Chikoo is hugely cultivated here," said Poonam Shrungare, a spokesperson of the fest.

Based at the picturesque Bordi Beach in the area, the festival is slated to attract many tourists.

The Chikoo Festival promotes Dahanu more towards Sustainable Progressive Development. Dahanu is a small coastal town and not many are aware of its history and its natural topography. The tribal interiors have rich culture and copiousness art & craft.

MTDC has substantiated the true potency of the region which is constellated with agriculturists, horticulturists, floriculturists, artisans, potters, basket weavers, jewelry die-makers, salt manufacturers, balloon manufactures, toddy tappers and fisher folks apart from primitive activities like boat repairing and net making.

Dr Jagdish Patil, Managing Director of MTDC, said, "It is our great pleasure to be the part of Chikoo Festival. Dahanu taluka is at crossroads - ecologically, socially, culturally; surrounded by the rapidly advancing industrial and commercial metros of Mumbai, Tarapur and Vapi. With over 50% land under fruit orchards, forests & mangroves, this region has a lot to offer through agro-tourism. We want tourist to get a flavor of the indigenous culture of Dahanu and the Chikoo Festival encapsulates the true spirit of the land to its core."

Sanjay Yadavrao, President, Kokan Bhumi Pratisthan, said, "Village tourism has a great potential in Konkan. This provides an ideal getaway to the urban and international tourists to relive a traditional Indian way of living in the natural habitat. We aim to augment the local economy through sustainable tourism through Chikoo Festival."

The local tribal population, the Warlis, constitute 66% of the total population of the Dahanu area.

The festival entertains, educates and sensitizes its visitors. The mission is to create opportunities for individuals and communities to celebrate, share and sustain the arts and the rich cultural traditions of the local area thereby creating alternative sources of income and sustainability.

The events will range from organizing a small fun-fair wherein stalls will be set-up to showcase different offerings; tribal art and craft, agricultural products, fresh fruits & their products, photo exhibition on the region, to outdoor attractions like, Chikoo safari, Warli dance, Parsi and Irani cuisine, visit to weekly bazaar, sans castle competition, kite making and Kite flying, local market visits, bon fire with local cuisine finger foods at the beach, etc.

Dahanu and Talasari are the largest chikoo cultivation areas in Maharashtra followed by Aurangabad region. Around Dahanu there is around 1100 hectare of land under chikoo cultivation of which about 7500 hectare is in and around Dahanu and 3600 in Talasari.

Chikoo is all season fruit and hence faces competition with all other seasonal fruits in terms of market and demand. Fruit cultivation has largely been neglected though it gives production across the seasons. There is little done to encourage this fruit as the demand of chikoo cultivators for setting up APMC in Virar or Vasai was never fulfilled. It could help a lot to the farmers saving their costs on transportation, reduction in wastage and economic pricing etc.

The APMC rate of chikoo varies from Rs 5 to Rs 12 per kg and currently it is traded at Rs 8 per kg.

Chikoo processing is also under developed though there is a large potential market for processed chikoo food. Even the Central Food Research was also approached to improve technology for processing of chikoo which was coming at a very big cost.

With all these limitations, the farmers and small food processors have successfully turned chikoo into a big success story and the region is prosperous. There are many innovations and scientific farming taking place due to the initiatives of locals without any government support.

Chikoo Festival, besides a fanfare is also a testimony of the spirit of these farmers and their vision to develop this region creating awareness about their issues and promoting their food products, produced and branded locally with required testing and quality assurance.

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Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan inaugurates Mumbai monorail

MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavanon Saturday inaugurated the monorail in Mumbai.

The country's first Monorail service is commencing operations after a delay of over two years. This new addition to the city's public transport system will be made available for public use on Sunday.

The Rs 3,000-crore monorail project is being implemented in two phases. The first phase comprises the 8.9 km long Wadala-Chembur section, while in the second phase the services will be extended to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in South Mumbai.

The Authority has fixed fares between Rs 5-11 for the first phase of operations, he said adding that MMRDA will operate six trains in the first phase, and another 10 will be added in the second.

To begin with, the services will operate with four coaches having a combined carrying capacity of 2,300 passengers at every 15 minutes, Madan said.

"We aim to provide a service at every four minutes going forward," he said.

The monorail project has been executed by a consortium of engineering major Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Malaysian firm Scomi Engineering and owned and operated by MMRDA.

The monorail is expected to reduce the travel time between Wadala and Chembur by almost half, from 40 minutes at present to nearly 21 minutes.

MMRDA has already spent Rs 1,900 crore of the Rs 3,000 crore allocated for the project, Madan said adding, "the civil work on the second phase of the project has been completed."

(With inputs from PTI)

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Kandivli school’s noon schedule upsets parents

MUMBAI: Thakur Public School's decision to change the hours for its primary section from the coming academic year seems to have upset the parents, more than 100 of whom converged on the campus on Thursday to express their dissent. According to a directive issued by the Kandivli institute on January 29, the school will start at 11am instead of 7.45am and end at 5pm instead of 2.45pm.

The parents are opposed to the afternoon session as that would disturb their schedule. "On their way to work, many drop their kids to school and ask the domestic help to pick them up in the afternoon. If the schedule changes, working parents will have to depend on the help for both times," said a parent. Collecting signatures, guardians hope the school would consider their request. "We have time to discuss and the school is ready to address our issues," said a parent.

The circular also declared the school's plan to shorten the timings for the primary section from seven to six hours. Signed by principal Reetu Duggal, the circular had 10 points, including helping students with more sleep, exclusive buses for the kids, possibility of eating home food for lunch and more activities for the kids. Duggal could not be reached.

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EX-MD of Birla firm held in cheating case

MUMBAI: The economic offences wing on Thursday arrested PVR Murthy, former managing director of Birla Power Solutions Pvt Ltd, for his alleged role in a cheating case registered against several directors of the company.

The Marine Drive police on December 30, 2013, registered a case against Birla Power Solutions for allegedly duping a Worli businessman, Bhavin Seth, of Rs 1 crore by not repaying his FD investment on maturity.

Additional commissioner of police Rajvardhan Sinha confirmed Murthy was arrested late on Thursday. "Illegal transfer of funds from Birla Solutions to other companies took place when Murthy was the chief financial officer. He was mainly responsible for the transfer," said Sinha.

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From 2015-16, schools in Maharashtra need to admit RTE students first

PUNE: The admission process in 2015-16 for 25% reserved category under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, will be conducted first followed by admissions to the remaining seats, education commissioner S Chokallingam said.

As for the 2014-15 academic year, schools have been conducting the process for 75% seats from October 2013. The state education directorate has stated that admissions for 25% reserved seats would be held two months before schools open in June.

"The schedule for the admission process for RTE seats would be announced soon. Schools will have to follow the schedule for applications, submissions, lists and the final allotment," Mahavir Mane, state director of education (primary) said. Many students who are eligible for 25% reserved seats have secured admissions fearing they may lose out on a year if they do not apply in the desired schools.

Sonali Kunjir, RTE activist said several parents have admitted their wards to schools as soon as the admissions opened. "They feared that the 25% admission process later may not help. However, despite taking admission, parents have said they will apply under 25% reserved seats and if they get admission under this category, they will withdraw the earlier application," she added.

Chokallingam said they had chalked out a well-thought out plan for 2015-16 admission. "We will be announcing a schedule for both 25% reserved and 75% open seats at the beginning of the academic year. All schools under the RTE Act, irrespective of their boards, will have to follow this schedule. By conducting 25% admissions earlier, we will ensure that maximum students eligible under this category benefit," he said.

The state directorate of education has also decided on an online and centralized admission process for the 25% reserved seats. The website to carry out the procedure is under construction and the schedule dates will be declared soon.

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BMC to kickstart Marine Drive resurfacing project today

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to begin the resurfacing of the iconic Marine Drive on Friday night.

Crack-mapping will be done on parts of the existing Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Road. The civic body will first fix the cracks on the surface of the road. The BMC will start the resurfacing work from Tambe Chowk to Princess Street to minimize traffic disruptions. Work on the central part of the road will be done during daytime.

This is the second time since 1939 that the five-km stretch of Marine Drive will be resurfaced.

"There are vertical cracks on Marine Drive. It was first resurfaced in 1939. It has been extensively repaired several times and a lot of patchwork has also been done. Previous resurfacing has outlived its capacity. Now, cracks will be mapped, filled and then actual work of relaying of road will begin," said S V R Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner.

In between the cracks, geo-synthetic mesh will be placed that will be covered with a layer of bitumen. "We are also planning to take central two bays along the median of Marine Drive. Most of our work will be done during night time but work on the central portion of the road will be done during daytime," Srinivas said.

As per the plan, 70% of the stretch from Girgaum Chowpatty to Madame Cama Road will be resurfaced with mastic asphalt, while the rest will be concretized. This is expected to increase the road's lifespan by five to seven years.

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