Loadshedding in several parts of Mumbai continues

MUMBAI: The power cut continues across several parts of Mumbai.

A statement issued by Tata Power said, "Tata Power would like to inform that at 9.45am, the power supply was affected due to tripping of Unit number 5 of Trombay power station. This tripping has resulted in load reduction of Parel, Mahalaxmi, Dharavi, Chembur and Grant Road to control loading on 220Kv Khargar, Nerul, Sonkar and Trombay tie line. We are working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply to these areas at the earliest."

The statement further stated, "We would like to reiterate Tata Power's commitment to providing reliable and 24X7 quality power to the city of Mumbai."

A senior official from BEST said, "Tata Power had informed us that the Unit 5 is expected to come on steam by 2.30pm. But the loadshedding continues due to some technical problem at Trombay's unit number 5."

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Central Railways services affected

MUMBAI: With services on slow corridors being suspended after a Over Head Equipment (OHE) broke near Vikhroli, Central Railways commuters had a bad start on Tuesday.

A CR spokesperson said, "The OHE broke down between Vikhroli and Ghatkopar at 7.15am because of which services on the slow corridor were diverted on fast track between Mulund and Matunga."

Commuters were neither able to alight not board the trains at Kanjurmarg, Nahur and Vidyavihar stations as these destinations do not have platforms for fast services.

Many trains were cancelled, while those in operation were running late by 20 to 30 minutes.

BJP leader Vinod Tawde tweeted, "I have requested CR general manager to make arrangement for bus services because of the disruption."

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HC notice to Maharashtra govt on Sealink deaths

MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the State Home Department on a public interest litigation regarding the increasing incidents of suicides on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

The court also issued notice to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and Mumbai Entry Point Infrastructure Development, the authorities responsible for maintenance, surveillance and toll collection on the bridge connecting Mumbai city with suburbs. The bridge was commissioned in 2009.

A division bench of Justice P V Hardas and Justice B P Colabawalla heard a public interest litigation by activist Ketan Titodkar seeking measures to safeguard the bridge and "prevent it from turning into a suicide point and a possible terror target."

Tirodkar's PIL cites loopholes in the security provided by MSRDC and MEPID."The Bandra Worli Sea Link is fast becoming the favoured suicide spot for disheartened citizens," the petition states, referring to incidents of suicide.

Tirodkar seeks better and more CC TVs from the present 6 CC TVs, that MEPID and the MSRDC pay compensation to the government for failing to install sufficient security and surveillance infrastructure and that an FIR be registered for criminal negligence on their part.

MSRDC advocate sought time to file its reply. The matter will be heard after two weeks.

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Power outage hits several parts of Mumbai

MUMBAI: Power outage hit several parts of the city, including offices and residential premises in the city, due to tripping of a power generation unit on Tuesday morning.

Sources said that Unit 5 of Tata Power Company's generating station at Trombay, supplying 500 MW power to Mumbai had tripped in the morning.

"As a result Tata Power Company switched off certain feeders supplying power to Sewree, Dadar and Mahalaxmi area. This resulted in loadshedding, inconveniencing several citizens," sources said.

Tata Power said the tripping of a unit at one of its power stations in Mumbai reduced the supply at 09.45am (0415 GMT) to various central and suburban parts of the city, with the problem yet to be resolved by early afternoon.

"We are working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply to these areas at the earliest," an emailed statement said.

"We would like to reiterate Tata Power's commitment to providing reliable and 24X7 quality power to the city of Mumbai."
The power cuts in Mumbai come amid concerns about wider blackouts in India due to a shortage of coal and underlines the challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in improving the country's creaking infrastructure.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Load shedding in several parts of Mumbai continues

MUMBAI: The power cut continues across several parts of Mumbai.

A statement issued by Tata Power said, "Tata Power would like to inform that at 9.45am, the power supply was affected due to tripping of unit number 5 of Trombay power station. This tripping has resulted in load reduction of Parel, Mahalaxmi, Dharavi, Chembur and Grant Road to control loading on 220Kv Khargar, Nerul, Sonkar and Trombay tie line. We are working towards an early resolution and will ensure power supply to these areas at the earliest."

The statement further stated, "We would like to reiterate Tata Power's commitment to providing reliable and 24X7 quality power to the city of Mumbai."

A senior official from BEST said, "Tata Power had informed us that the unit 5 is expected to come on steam by 2.30pm. But the load shedding continues due to some technical problem at Trombay's unit number 5."

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Devyani Khobragade's father joins RPI (Athawale)

MUMBAI: Republican Party of India (Athawale), a part of Shiv Sena-BJP-led alliance, today said it is keen to contest at least 14-15 seats in the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra and hopes to win a dozen of them to emerge as a state-level recognised party.

Talking to reporters here, RPI chief Ramdas Athawale said his party has submitted a list of 20 assembly seats to the Sena-BJP and hoped the Dalit outfit gets to fight at least 14-15 of them.

"We have submitted a list of 20 probable seats to our alliance partners and we hope we get to fight from at least 14-15 of those. To make RPI a recognized party in the state, we will have to send at least 12 MLAs to the Vidhan Sabha. We hope our alliance partners consider this fact," he said.

The saffron alliance, which put up a robust show in the Lok Sabha election — winning 42 of the 48 constituencies — is yet to seal a pact for the 288-member House amid reports of differences between Sena and BJP over their quota of seats.

Athawale claimed the Narendra Modi government has done more work in 100 days than what its predecessor did in 100 months and said the BJP-led administration is committed towards bringing down prices of essential commodities.

"Prime Minister Modi said he will bring good days (acche din) for India. But even he cannot bring acche din in one day.

In the last 100 days, the government has done more work than what the previous government could do in 100 months. The government is trying hard to bring down prices of essential commodities," the former State Minister said.

Athawale was talking to the media on the sidelines of a function where former IAS officer Uttam Khobragade joined the party, the most influential among nearly half a dozen RPI factions active in the State politics.

The ex-bureaucrat, father of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, has joined the RPI to strengthen it and not to seek an election ticket, Athawale said.

"He has joined our party to strengthen it and help Dalits socially and economically. There is no question of tickets as of now..," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

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Consumer as king: ‘No depreciation on reinstatement policies’

Background: Indemnification by an insurance firm can be on the basis of the value of the subject matter insured, or on the basis of reinstatement value to restore the subject matter to its condition prior to the loss or damage. Where depreciation is applicable, reimbursement is according to the sum insured after deducting the depreciation. But in reinstatement policies, reimbursement is the replacement cost. Depreciation cannot be made applicable to policies issued on reinstatement basis, as per a recent ruling of the national commission in the case of New India Assurance v/s Kamboj Ultra Sound & Diagnostic.

Case Study: Kamboj Ultra Sound & Diagnostic had obtained an Electronic Equipment Insurance policy from New India Assurance for insuring its diagnostic equipment— CT MX 640 whole body CT Scanner with 8X10 multi-format camera, voltage stabilizer, lead glass and frame for lead class manufactured by Wipro GE Medical System. This equipment was installed at Jupiter Golden Hospital and was insured for Rs 65,75,000.

The equipment was initially covered under a manufacturer's warranty, and subsequently insured under an EEI Policy from January 9, 1997, to January 8, 1998. The terms of the policy stated that the coverage was on replacement basis.

On October 25, 1997, a scanning procedure came to a standstill. A Wipro engineer inspected the equipment and gave a quotation of Rs 9,15,200 for replacement of the X-Ray tube. Kamboj lodged a claim under the policy. Meanwhile, when the policy was due for renewal, the premium of Rs 99,823 was accepted with 30% loading. Later, the claim was rejected on the grounds that the tube had undergone 100% depreciation and its value was nil.

Kamboj filed a complaint before the Delhi state commission. The firm contested, saying the tube was not covered as it had completed 42,470 exposures at the time of taking the policy. It said there was an endorsement on the policy that no claim was payable for tubes that have over 40,000 exposures.

The state commission directed the firm to reimburse the replacement cost of the tube along with 12% interest and awarded Rs 50,000 towards compensation. The firm then moved the national commission.

Justice K S Chaudhari, in his August 27 order, noted that the company was aware of the extent of usage of the tube at the time of issuing the policy, but had opted to cover it. The national commission held that a question of depreciation cannot arise in a policy issued on reinstatement basis. Accordingly, it upheld the order.

Conclusion: Consumers must ensure claims are settled on the basis of policies issued.
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the govt of India's National Youth Award for Consumer Protection. His mail is jehangir.gai.articles@hotmail.com)

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35 Indians dive 13,500 feet down the sky in tandem to set world record

MUMBAI: At 55, gem and jewellery businessperson AnjuBansal was the second eldest in the group, but neither her age nor a fresh injury on her leg deterred her from taking the plunge, literally. She was among 35 Indians who took a dive from 13,500 feet, above puffy white clouds at Costa Brava in Spain, as they set a new mark in Guinness World Records in tandem skydiving last week.

At 12.20pm, local time in Spain, on August 25, a judge reported that a new record was set by a team of Indians, all Puneites, in 35 tandem skydiving jumps in one hour; the previous record was of 28 jumps. The youngest diver was 11 years old.

A gritty, enthusiastic bunch of nearly 90 entrepreneurs and their families, led by business coach Manish Gupta, took the initiative to try and beat two records. Gupta sought out Padma Shri Shital Mahajan, founder of Indian Phoenix Skydiving Academy, to help them turn their dream into reality. Inspired by popular film Zindagi na Milegi Dobara, the group wanted to visit the centre at Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain.

For the jump, each diver had a trained member from the Empuriabrava with him/her. "The first minute was a straight free fall. Then the chute opens and the feeling is just amazing," said Bansal. The divers took about two-and-half minutes to reach terra firma again after soaking in Spain's coastal beauty and waving out with tri-coloured wristbands on their hands. The world record apart, several divers were thrilled that they dove out of the same aircraft as their favourite actors had.

The records that Gupta wanted to smash were the one-hour and 10-hour tandem skydiving, but they could succeeded in only the first one. The other, too, was almost done but for poor weather and a delayed start. The Empuriabrava website said 85 jumps later, "they abandoned the second attempt... when it became evident there was insufficient time to achieve the highest number of jumps in 10 hours".

The enthusiasm of the group notwithstanding, families were a worried lot. Bansal's daughter was so scared that she even called up the Spanish centre to prevent her mother's "audacious attempt" with a broken heel. But the mother paid no heed and took the dive all the same. On her return home, a visit to the doctor on Saturday, however, confirmed a fracture.

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Environmental nod must for rehab sites, state panel says

MUMBAI: All rehabilitation sites must have an environment clearance before a rehabilitation project is approved, the state environment appraisal committee-I (SEAC-I) has recommended.

The recommendation has been made in the light of the Malin landslide in Pune district in which 151 people were killed and an entire village destroyed.

Environment secretary Medha Gadgil affirmed receiving the recommendation. Sources said the Gadgil will have to forward the recommendation to the Union ministry of environment and forests as the terms of reference of the committee are set by the Centre.

The SEAC-I scrutinizes projects in the rest of Maharashtra before recommending it for environmental clearance. In its meeting early in August, the committee discussed the desirability of appraising rehabilitation projects undertaken by public-private agencies. "Of late, concerns have been raised regarding locations selected for rehabilitating Project Affected Persons (PAPs). The Malin landslide has reinforced these concerns. In this context, it was decided that the chairman SEAC-I should move the government to consider rehabilitation project also to be appraised for environmental clearance by SEACs," said an official.

Sources in the committee said that while environmental clearance is mandatory for projects, including rehabilitation buildings, it is not so for the site. Rehabilitation is carried out by various government departments or private agencies and often on land that is hazardous to life. "It is to ensure that rehabilitation is properly done that we have made the recommendation," said the source.

Often, rehabilitation is carried out on land that is seen as "non-appreciating" in the real estate market.

When the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority undertook road-widening projects under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, a majority of PAPs were shunted to no-development zones (NDZs) in the eastern suburbs close to chemical industries.

"These NDZs had no civic infrastructure, no schools, hospitals and no connectivity to the rest of the city. A vast majority of people from the western suburbs who were moved here lost their jobs as maids and drivers; and children had to drop out of school," said an activist.

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A 45-year-old commits suicide at Bandra-Worli Sea Link

MUMBAI: A 45-year-old Vikram Vasudev, reportedly committed suicide at Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) on Monday morning.

He lived at Prabhadevi in Dadar along with his family and was working at a technical teaching institution.

The Bandra police has filed an accidental death report. The police said that Vasudev's son died due to cancer last year after which he went into depression.

Vasudev left from his home in the morning. He went to BWSL and parked the vehicle on the sea link. Later, he jumped off the BWSL. The police said that no suicide note found in the car and they are inquiring with Vasudev's family members about the incident.

It's the fourth suicide incident on BWSL over the last three weeks. Eight suicides have been reported (on the sea link) at Worli and Bandra police stations this year.

The police is planning to coordinate with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSR-DC) to prevent suicides following the three cases. Motorists enter the BWSL, and after stopping their vehicles midway, commit suicide.

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