NMMC to construct Allow everyone flyover on Thane-Belapur ...

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The Dynamic Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai

Saturday, 7 November 2020

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 129 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE

www.newsband.in

NMMC to construct flyover on Thane-Belapur

road near TurbheNMMC announces

Diwali bonus The Navi Mumbai

Municipal Corporation has announced Diwali bonus for its employ-ees. The Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bhangar announced that a bonus of Rs. 25,000 will be given to permanent employees and Rs 19,000 to tem-porary employees.

Accused in murder case of Mathadi worker in APMC market arrested

after 8 yearsThe killer of Anan-

da Baburao Sukale, a Mathadi worker in APMC market, who had been misleading the police for the last eight years, has finally been nabbed by a team of Crime Branch Unit-2 of Navi Mumbai police after 8 years.

(More on page 3)

MP Rajan Vichare demands double Diwali bonus for

NMMC employeesThe officials and

the employees of the Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation (NMMC) have tireless-ly served the people of Navi Mumbai during the pandemic. There-fore, this Diwali, these employees should be given double bo-nus as compared to last year, demanded Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare to Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar…

(More on page 5)

Rs. 30 crore project is likely to be started by early next year and will be completed within eight months

PMO tells state to resolve 13-yr-old Uran garbage dump menace

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CONTINUED ON PAGE... 7

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpora-

tion (NMMC) has de-cided to develop a fly-over on Thane-Belapur road near Turbhe rail-way station.

The local residents of that area have been demanding such an in-frastructure to cross the busy road since long. If everything goes as per the plans, the work at the site will be started by early next year and it

will be completed with-in eight months, a senior officer said.

Sanjay Desai, execu-tive engineer of NMMC said, “The junction near the Turbhe railway sta-

tion sees heavy traffic jam on a regular basis and the pedestrians face a lot of problems to cross the road because of that.

Navi Mumbai

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), it is

learnt, has asked the Ma-harashtra Government to resolve the 13 year old garbage dump men-ace at Uran even as the civic body continues to violate the instructions from the PM himself.

The Raigad district administration had even filed an FIR against the Uran Municipal Council (UMC) for violation of the Environment Act and the then CEO had even taken an anticipatory bail, but the dumping of

garbage at Bori Pakhadi continues unabated.

Responding to a second complaint from environment group Nat-

Connect Foundation, the PMO has now directly asked Bhushan Gagrani,


By Abhitash D.SinghNavi Mumbai

The President of the Suburban Railway

Passengers, Ekta Ma-hasangh, Nandkumar Deshmukh has warned the railway authorities and state government that if the ser-vices for the non-essential workers and common pub-lic does not get green sig-nal before 11th N o v e m b e r , 2020 they will launch an agitation.

N a n d k u m a r Deshmukh speaking with the media said, "All the facilities have been started in a phased man-ner across the state. The local trains have resumed services for the essential service providers and for

women commuters as well. However, the ser-vices should be started for other passengers as well, who are facing great deal of inconve-nience. The patience of Mumbaikars as well as Navi Mumbaikars is

now getting exhausted. In the absence of local trains, commuters are getting inconvenienced. We have urged the rail-way officials to start the services for the benefits of the common man. It

Allow everyone in local train:

Ekta MahasanghThreatens agitation if the services

for all the passengers are not started by 11th November, 2020

Dumping on mangroves goes unabated in COVID times, residents suffer due to stink

PHOTO By SUMIT RENOSE

2 Saturday, 7 November 2020

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By Dinesh Pawar, Navi Mumbai

JNPT handled 423,155 TEUs in

October, registering a growth of 11.24% in October 2020 compared to previous month and growth of 5.10 per cent over the same month last year. Out of this, 52,087 TEUs were handled at JNPCT (3.37%), 64,254 TEUs at NSICT (+77.78%), 153,548 TEUs at APMT (-7.50%), 80,500 TEUs at NSIGT (-5.32%) and 72,766 TEUs at BMCT (+11.82%). (%variation over same month LY).

The overall traffic handled was 5.73 mil-lion tons (MT) during October compared to 5.44 MT in October 2019, posting a growth of 5.37 per cent.

JNPT handled a record number of 548 trains in October, beat-ing the previous highest of 536 trains handled in May 2011.

“This was possible due to the conscientious and excellent team ef-forts of all stakeholders, terminals, Railways and train operator’s both CONCOR and private operators,” said Sanjay

Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT.

The port also achieved a new mile-stone by handling the highest LPG of 1,07,530.67 MT at

JNPT-Liquid cargo terminal through seven vessels in October 2020 surpassing earlier record of 92,877 MT in August 2019. For the period of April-October 2020, JNPT handled 5,66,815 MT discharge of LPG which is 14.27% higher as compared to 4,96,052 MT handled in the same period LY. JNPT is giv-ing priority and timely berthing to the LPG vessels for fulfillment of distribution of LPG, under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna.

At the Liquid Cargo Terminal, JNPT is also handling essential com-modities like high speed diesel, Motorspirit, Edible oil etc. LPG is transported through 13.5

KM cryogenic pipeline from ship (JNPT Berth) to LPG BPCL bottling plant at Uran. LPG is then distributed by rail/road /pipeline to Maha-rashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Te-langana, Punjab, Delhi and Union Territory Chandigarh.

JNPT has systemi-cally invested in en-hancing its operational efficiency and handling capacity to enable seam-less trade and be the Port of Choice for the Exim Trade.

Container traffic at JNPT grows by 11.24% in October over last month

JNPort handled a record number of 548 trains as against the previous highest of 536 trains in May 2011

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

NMMC TO CONSTRUCT FLyOVER ON THANE...

Therefore, we have de-cided to develop a 0.87 kilometer long flyover at the junction.”

“Once the flyover is ready, the vehicles coming from Thane to Navi Mumbai and vice versa will pass the junc-tion through the flyover. The pedestrians will easily cross the road under it. We will make special provisions with

proper traffic signals so that they don’t face any problems while crossing the road under the fly-over,” he said.

“The general body had approved this proj-ect in 2019. However, it took us a long time to complete the tender-ing process. The work is likely to be started at the site by early 2021 and it will be finished within eight months at the cost of Rs. 30 crores,” Desai further said.

The 15 kilometer-long Thane-Belpaur road, which connects Thane with Navi Mum-bai, is one of the busi-est roads in the Mumbai region. In Navi Mumbai the road starts at the Sion-Panvel Highway near Turbhe and ends at Kalwa near Thane.

The residents have welcomed the move. Sunder Patil, a resident of Turbhe said, “We had been demanding infrastructure to cross

the road at Turbhe for the past one decade. But the NMMC was ignoring our demands for so many years. One obvi-ous reason behind that was that most of residents in this area are slum dwellers. There are now high-end residen-tial buildings like NRI Complex here and hence our issues were not tak-en seriously. However, we are glad that they are finally doing something about it.”

By Crime ReporterNavi Mumbai

Nagnath Kallappa Male (31) was

strangled to death by unknown assailant at CI-DCO's garden in Sector 2E, Kalamboli on Thurs-day morning. Kalamboli police have registered a case of murder against unknown killer in the case and have started in-vestigating the matter.

The deceased, Nag-

Young man strangled to death in Kalamboli, police search for killer

By Vikram GaikwadNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Police have booked

builder Ramesh Arte and his wife for duping 25 people of lakhs of rupees by giving false promise of construct-ing bungalow and not delivering the project on time nor refunding their money back.

The police arrested Rohan Ramesh Arte who was abscond-ing for 8 months. The accused allegedly in 2015 through Ashwini R. Construction Pvt. Ltd. promoted Whisper-ing Orchids Bungalow project in Nere area of Panvel taluka. Hun-dreds of people from

Navi Mumbai, Mum-bai and Thane showed interest and booked in the project. The couple took cash of Rs 1 lakh 2 thousand from each against booking.

At the time of book-ing, they promised to give the possession of the bungalows in December 2016. Apart from that, the couple also gave the allotment letter of the bungalow. However, after the couple did not start construction of the bun-galow, some customers started inquiring about the project and found out that the site was not owned by them and that their bungalow project had not received

any permit. Following which the custom-ers started demanding the booking amount back from the couple. Meanwhile, couple gave cheques to some customers, however, the cheques bounced. The customers then rushed to the crime branch, the Economic Wing Unit-2 and registered a case against the couple at the Panvel city police station for cheating. Fearing arrest, the couple went hiding for eight months. Finally, a team from the Eco-nomic Wing Unit-2 arrested Rohan Arte. The court has remanded him in police custody till November 6.

Builder arrested for defrauding more than 25 people

nath Male, a native of Karnataka worked as a painter. Nagnath's mar-ried sister lives in Ka-lamboli Sector-2E and he used to live with her. Nagnath had left for work at Chakan in Pune a year ago and had got married last May.

Four or five days ago, Nagnath had called his sister and told her that he was coming to visit her for Diwali. Howev-er, his body was found. Kalamboli police rushed to the spot after getting information about the incident. The primary in-vestigation revealed that

Nagnath was strangled to death with a wire.

A case of murder has been registered against the unidentified killer in the case, said senior police inspector Satish Gaikwad. He further said, “3 teams have been formed to search for the accused in the murder case and CCTV footage of the area is also being examined”.

Shivraj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Po-lice, Zone-2 and Sachin Sawant, Assistant Com-missioner of Police, Panvel also visited the spot.

3Saturday, 7 November 2020

By Vikram Gaikwad, Navi Mumbai

The killer of Ananda Baburao Su-kale, a Mathadi worker in APMC

market, who had been misleading the police for the last eight years, has finally been nabbed by a team of Crime Branch Unit-2 of Navi Mum-bai police after 8 years. The accused, identified as Dashrath Vitthal Kamble alias Appa, 46, was found to have killed Ananda Sukale and robbed him of Rs 25,000, said Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, Bipin Kumar Singh.

The accused Dashrath Kamble used to live in the same area where the deceased stayed. So the two knew each other. Ananda Sukale had won Rs 25,000 in gambling. Dashrath Kamble attacked Ananda Sukale on December 28, 2012 at around 2.30 pm in Sai Parking in Turbhe village with a wooden stick. He then stran-gled Ananda Sukale and killed him. He then took away Rs 25,000 and covered Ananda Sukale's body with grass. The next day, at around 4 am, he took the body in a rickshaw and dumped in the open space of Turbhe bus depot.

As Ananda Sukale was a Mathadi worker, there was great uproar in the APMC market after his assassination. The matter was thoroughly investigat-

ed by the APMC police. However, at that time, the police did not have any clue about the accused. Therefore, in August 2013, a summary report of the case was approved and the investi-gation of the case was temporarily closed. The case was re-investigated by APMC police in 2016. The team of Crime Branch Unit-2 undertook the investigation for the third time. After that, Senior Inspector of Police Girdhar Gore, Assistant Inspectors of Police Ganesh Karad, Sandeep Gai-kwad, Sharad Dhole and their team started probing the security guards at APMC market.

Later, information was received about Dashrath Kamble, who was on record at the APMC police station and had been deported earlier. The crime branch arrested the accused Dashrath Kamble and interrogated him further. He finally confessed to the crime and was arrested, said Police Commis-sioner Bipin Kumar Singh. Accused Dashrath Kamble had been accused of robbery, burglary for the last eight years and had been misleading the police by keeping himself away from the murder. However, Commissioner of Police Bipin Kumar Singh said that the crime branch had conducted a thorough investigation and succeeded in unearthing the case.

Accused in murder case of Mathadi worker in APMC market arrested after 8 years

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

The tree authority of NMMC is planning

to conduct a survey to understand the number of withered trees in Navi Mumbai and the chances of reviving them.

Earlier this month, this newspaper had reported that quite a few trees had withered around Vashi railway station around five years ago. However, the NMMC have left them unattended till date.

According to the en-vironmentalists, such withered trees are very dangerous as they may fall down at any mo-ment and injure the pe-destrians and the motor-ists below.

A senior officer from the NMMC’s tree au-thority said, “We have learnt that, apart from

Vashi, such withered trees are there at some other nodes as well such as Nerul, Kopar Khairane, Turbhe among others. By conducting this survey, we will first try to understand their numbers. After that each

and every tree will be examined to understand the possibility of reviv-ing them. The withered trees which cannot be revived, are likely to be chopped off.”

According to the of-

ficials, there are different reasons behind the death of the trees. “Many of the trees that have with-ered in the recent months have crossed their lifespan and thus they died. Concrete construc-tions around them are

also one reason. Some rain trees die when they are attacked by some in-sects. It is however tough to say if trees are killed by people due to lack of concrete evidences,” the official said.

NMMC to conduct survey to understand number of withered trees


The Maharashtra Chief Minister Ud-

dhav Thackeray held a review meeting at his of-ficial residence and dis-cussed about the prog-ress of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) project. During the meeting he instruct-ed all the officials to re-solve technical issues at the earliest and speed up the work at site.

Speaking with the Newsband correspon-dent, a senior official from CIDCO said, “The project has been halted because of the technical issues and that needed some more attention. Other issues are with regards to shareholding pattern and the quali-fying criteria of GVK which is responsible for the project work etc."

During the review meeting the CM said that all the matters which are obstructing the work of NMIA will be put before the CIDCO board for its

approval. And after the approval from the CI-DCO board it will be sent to the Chief Secre-tary.

Chief Minister while appreciating the earlier progress said that, "All the officials should to-gether fasten the work

process of NMIA so that it can be operational soon."

Earlier there a news was doing the rounds that the design of NMIA will now be reviewed by the Adani Group which has taken over 74 per-

cent equity in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).

According to the CIDCO Public Rela-tionship Officer Priya Ratambe, "If all the deadlines are met, the first flight from the NMIA is likely to take

off by 2024. The upcom-ing NMIA will provide crucial connectivity in the Navi Mumbai region and it will all reduce the air traffic around Chha-trapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai."

CM Thackeray reviews NMIA workAsks officials to accelerate work

By Crime Reporter Navi Mumbai

The Anti-Narcotics Squad of Navi Mumbai Police have arrested two

persons for selling methamphetamine in Koparkhairane area. The duo have been identified as Virendra Sundar Pu-jari (43) and Mithun Gopal Pujari (31). The anti-narcotics squad has seized methamphetamine powder worth Rs 5,07,000. Police are further probing to know from where the duo got the drugs and to whom they were going to sell? said Police Commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh.

The Anti-Narcotics squad of Navi Mumbai Police had received infor-mation that two persons would come near Ganpati Lake in Koparkhairane Sector-19 to sell drugs. Accordingly,

Senior Inspector of Police Ravindra Budhwant, Assistant Inspector of Po-lice Vinaya Parasur and their team had set a trap near Ganpati Lake in Koparkhairane Sector-19 last week. Virendra Pujari and Mithun Pujari, who came there on a motorcycle were arrested.

Police later found 52 grams of methamphetamine worth Rs 2 lakh 60 thousand in the possession of Virendra Pujari and 42 grams of methamphet-amine in the possession of Mithun Pujari. Police later seized metham-phetamine powder and their motor-cycle and arrested them. The court re-manded the duo to police custody and further investigation is underway, said Commissioner of Police Bipin Kumar Singh.

Two men arrested for selling drugsMethamphetamine powder worth about Rs 5 lakh seized


HEAltH AND NutRItION

Is Gulkand good for health?

Gulkand is pre-pared by using

rose petals. It is an age old tradition to eat gul-kand by adding in pan and by making variety of traditional sweets. It has healing and therapeutic properties. It helps to remove tox-ins from the body and is considered as good digestive tonic. It is prepared in different

ways. But the most simplest way is to take a layer of sugar pow-der, add a layer of rose petals. Two to three layers can be formed. Then the bowl has to be kept under sunlight for 4-5 days. This is a very natural and easy way to prepare gul-kand at home.Following are some

of the health benefits of gulkand :

1. It helps in boosting memory

2. It’s a great anti oxi-dant

3. It’s digestive tonic which helps to boost the appetite

4. It is beneficial for

peptic ulcer, gas-tric problem and constipation

5. It is useful for women who are in menopause stage.There are lot more

benefits of gulkand. Hence it should be included in small amount in our daily diet. Best and easiest way is to mix it with warm milk and con-sume once or twice a day. Apart from this several types of des-serts can be made. I am sharing one recipe which is my favourite as this dessert has the goodness of gulkand and dry fruits as well.

It seems to be quite unusual. Pedha with poha. That’s the spe-ciality of this recipe as it is highly nutritious.

Ingredients• Poha : 100 gms (powdered)• Cashewnuts : 100 gms (pow-

dered)• Milk : 100 ml• Ghee : 1 tsp• Rock sugar (mishri) : 50 gms

(powdered)For filling

• Gulkand : 50 gms• Coarsely grinded almonds, ca-

shews, pistachios : 50 gmsMethod

Heat ghee in a pan and roast poha powder till it turns golden brown. Now add cashewnut powder in the pan and sauté for some time. At the end add mishri powder and milk and mix thoroughly till you get a smooth paste. Let it cool for

sometime. Once cooled then mash it nicely with palm and make a dough. Now take a small ball of this dough, flatten it and place a small ball of the filling and roll it and make pedha.

If you want the outer covering colourful then saffron can be added to get the orange colour. Even food colours can be added to make the pedhas colourful.

This Diwali try out this healthy pedha and do give your feedback.

The writer is Nutritionist and Founder of AAKANKSHA : Desire For Wellness. Contact 7021648382; e-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://aakankshadfw.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and subscribe to our Channel.

By: Bhavani Swaminathan

Poha Pedha with Gulkand stuffing

Indrani Basu, Navi Mumbai

Vashi based Yoga Guru Mrs. Nee-lam Gupta, popularly known as

Neelam Mam, has been selected as Yoga Zilaadhyaksha, Navi Mumbai or the Zonal President of Navi Mum-bai by AAYUSH International Medi-cal Association or AIMA, a registered Institute under Central Government. She will now focus on the Research and Development of Yoga, Meditation and Naturopathy related works in and around Navi Mumbai.

Dr. Pratish Deshmukh, (Naturopa-thy), president of Mumbai Chapter of

AYUSH International Medical Associ-ation informed, “Under the guidance of Department of AYUSH, Central Gov-ernment, we have been instrumental in spreading the awareness about the benefit of Yoga and meditation, which is being advised as the post Covid 19 rehabilitation by the Health Ministry of Central Government. Yoga is powerful to enhance immunity and subsequently we are going to formulate our activity which will spread across Navi Mumbai. We have appointed Ms. Neelam Gupta, the Yoga Guru who has been teaching Yoga, meditations, pranayama, kriya etc. since 1996, as the President for Navi Mumbai Zone. A team of 15 peo-ple will work under her and she will be assigned various tasks for enlightening the effectiveness of Yoga following the guidelines of department of Ayush.” ‘

Yoga Guru Neelam Gupta achieved her ‘Guru’ title from her Yoga teacher, the distinguished Patanjali Yoga Guru or educator Manohar Harkare or Kakaji, the founder member of Vaidic Vishwa in Vashi. This Yoga Center is spread across various cities in Maharashtra. Besides this, Neelam Gupta has also received training from eight individual gurus in meditations, pranayama, kriya, advance yoga. She gained her training by attending meditation camps held in different cities in Hyderabad, Banga-lore, Haridwar, Rajasthan, Andaman. She has been running classes for last

twenty-four years. During this Covid pandemic she took special online class-es for Covid patients and helped them to boost their immunity by doing pranaya-ma of various nature. Gupta, who is also a poet and artist, shared, “I took special online classes of yoga and meditation which is effective as immunity booster during Covid 19 illness. Many Covid - 19 patients, my students, their family members attended those classes, learnt the effective techniques of pranayama even while staying in the confinement of the quarantine centres. Some par-ticular meditations are very much ef-fective to maintain the Oxygen level.”

She has reopened her classes and is teaching her students how to strength-en immunity by doing daily course of Yoga, meditation and kriyas.

Neelam Gupta appointed as Yoga Zila adhyaksha, Navi Mumbai by AYUSH

She will focus on the Research and Development of Yoga, meditation and Naturopathy

related works in and around Navi Mumbai


ALLOw COMMON MAN IN LOCAL TRAIN...

is noticed that now the cases of corona is declin-ing in Mumbai as well as Navi Mumbai. The railway administration should now reopen local trains for everyone with all Covid-19 protocols."

A senior mem-ber from the Panvel Pravashi Sangh in-formed, "The railway authorities should start the local train services for all the common man following the Covid-19 protocols in the same way they have started it for all the women. In the

absence of local trains, the common man has to depend on buses and it is burning hole into their pockets. Railway authorities should con-sider the demand of Ekta Mahasangh and should start local trains for the common man by 11th November, 2020."

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By Meena R. PrashantNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Fataka Association

met the Navi Mumbai Municipal Chief Abhi-jit Bhangar recently and requested him to grant permission for setting up the annual firecrack-er stalls. While there has been no reply from the civic body, the Fataka Association says that it is only ‘wait and watch scenario' for hundreds of stall owners across the Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation’s (NMMC) jurisdiction.

Mukund Vishwas-rao, President of Vashi Nagar Fataka Sangha-tana said, “We met the NMMC Commissioner and other senior com-missioners of civic body and requested them to give permission to open firecracker stalls. How-ever, there has been no reply from them yet”.

Speaking about the state government advi-sory, ahead of Diwali, which will be celebrat-ed on 14th November, Vishwasrao said, “There has been no ban so far

from the Maharashtra Government, unlike other states. However, they have put restric-tions on the bursting of firecrackers in public places. However, we need to get a clear pic-ture and we hope that the state government takes a good collective decision.”

Anil Helekar, Presi-dent of Navi Mumbai Fataka Vayapari Sang-hatana, said, “This is one of the toughest pe-riods for all businesses. Every year we usually put up around 50 stalls. However, this year our sanghatana will put very limited stalls and we will follow all the SOPs of the pandemic.

However, all this is only going to happen once we get permission.”

Speaking with the Newsband, Additional Municipal Commis-sioner, Sujata Dhole said, “We are wait-ing for the instructions from the Government of Maharashtra. Just early this week, the home de-

partment issued a notifi-cation for the less use of crackers”. She further said, “We have received the application for the permission of putting up stalls from firecrack-ers associations. But, we are waiting for other instructions from the government or the col-lector before we take any decision”.

Firecracker association demands allocation of stalls for crackers

FILE PHOTO

By Pranab Jyoti Bhuyan, Navi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpo-

ration (NMMC) has decided to plant 50,000 saplings across the satellite city under the state govern-ment’s ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ plan.

The work will be started just after Diwali and it will be completed with-in three months. The civic body will also make some arrangements for watering the saplings regularly till they grow up, a senior officer said.

Manoj Mahale, deputy municipal commissioner (garden department and tree au-thority) of NMMC said, “First of all we will plant the saplings in the open areas under the

high tension wires. Af-ter that, we will cover the areas on the sides of main roads. This apart,

we have also chosen quite a few other places in some pockets, which could be turned into green zones by planting saplings.”

NMMC is planning to rope in the state for-

est department in this initiative.

Mahale said, “The forest of-ficials have good knowledge on increasing green covers by plant-ing saplings. If they guide us, it will be helpful for us. Therefore,

we will ask for their cooperation in this

NMMC to plant 50,000 saplings in three months

By Indrani BasuNavi Mumbai

Newsband, had car-ried a story “Resi-

dents of sector 26, Vashi irked with poor main-tenance” in its edition dated 5th November in which the issues plagu-ing the residents of Sec-tor 26, Vashi like poor maintenance of this sec-tor, inferior condition of the footpath, poorly maintained roads, par-ticularly main Mafco road, garbage dumping issues etc. were high-lighted.

After the news was published, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Cor-poration swung into ac-tion and the overflowing garbage was promptly removed.

NMMC swings into action

By Chandrasekhar HendveNavi Mumbai

The officials and the employees of the

Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation (NMMC) have tire-lessly served the peo-ple of Navi Mumbai during the pandemic. Therefore, this Di-wali, these employees should be given double bonus as compared to last year, demanded Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare to Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar.

The city of Navi Mumbai is ranked third in the country in terms of cleanliness.

Municipal officials and employees have played a key role in making

this a reality. About 150 employees and officials of the corporation were infected with corona. But still they worked

without hesitation. MP Vichare said that the administration should double the bonus amount this year so that the officials and staff of NMMC can celebrate Diwali with great enthusiasm.

The contribution of NMMT staff during the pandemic is also significant. However, the 7th pay commis-sion has not been implemented for these employees yet. Rajan Vichare also demanded

that the 7th pay com-mission should be implemented immedi-ately for the employees of NMMT.

MP Rajan Vichare demands double Diwali bonus for NMMC employees



EditorialISSUE: 129 7 NOVEMBER, 2020

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Cor-poration appears to have sudden-

ly realized its role as an authority for regulating development activity in Navi Mumbai. Its decision to demol-ish unauthorized constructions ap-pears to be a step in this direction. A brief survey of the city has revealed some startling figures with respect to illegal constructions. It was found that in Navi Mumbai too, there are ample examples of unauthorized structures. This sorry state of affairs could have been easily avoided had the authorities realized their duties on time and had they taken stern measures against the defaulters right in the beginning. As this was not forthcoming, some of the prominent structures in Vashi and several nodes in the city are sad saga of illegal con-structions going on under the very nose of the regulatory authorities. To add to the problem, most of these structures are today inhabited by the innocent occupants/buyers and therefore any action against these is bound to create great deal of op-position, furore and legal tussles.

Illegal constructions grew rap-idly especially in Gaothan areas few years back. Hundreds of these have either been sold or rented out. NMMC instead of taking action against appears to be encourag-ing their growth by providing them with all the essential amenities like drinking water, electricity, drainage connections etc. In many residen-tial buildings, ground floors or stilts have been converted to commercial shopping complexes, garages, work-shops etc. but no action is ever taken

against them. Had the timely action been taken, the menace could have been curbed in its infancy. However, only recently NMMC seems to have undergone a change in its policy. It has now started unleashing its whip against the illegal structures.

While there is no denying that il-legal constructions should not be en-couraged and the defaulters should be severely punished, but to demolish the structure especially when these are occupied by the residents, is not the correct step. The best course of action at this stage would perhaps be to regularize these illegal or irregular constructions. The builders should be fined heavy penalties and the il-legal constructions, if not yet sold, should be taken over by the authori-ties. Only those structures which hinder the development process like extension to the hotels, shops etc. which block the footpaths and the pathways should be demolished. Action of regularizing illegal struc-tures should not generate a feeling of weak administration. To avoid that, the builders should be fined in geo-metric progression to their offence. Since the authorities are equally responsible for such constructions stern action should be taken against them as well. These measures would go a long way in the proper plan-ning of the development activity in Navi Mumbai. Regularising rather than demolishing the unauthorized structures with penalties to the build-ers would not only save the already created assets but will also save the traumatized residents from sleepless nightmares.

Timely action is the need of the hour

By Crime Reporter Navi Mumbai

A team of Crime Branch Unit-2 ar-

rested Roshan Nana Mhatre (27) and Vinay Chandrakant Joshi (22) for stealing a TV and a projector from the Zilla Parishad School at Hari-gram. TV and projector have been recovered from their possession.

The Maharashtra government had donated a 41-inch Philips TV and

a Dell PC projector to the Zilla Parishad school at Harigram in Panvel under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan two years ago. However, an unidentified thief entered the school in February 2018 and stole the TV and projec-tor from the school. The Panvel police after filing the complaint, started searching for the bur-glars. However, as the thieves were not caught, the police submitted a

final report summary of the case last year.

A team from Crime Branch Unit-2 then start-ed investigating the case. During investigation, af-ter receiving information that Roshan Mhatre and Vinay Joshi of Harigram village had robbed the electronic items, senior police inspector Giridhar Gore and his team arrest-ed the accused. During interrogation, the duo confessed to the theft.

Police nab two for stealing tV and projector from ZP school

By Ashok Dhamija

Gyanendro Ningombam from Ma-nipur and Mohd Mushtaque Ah-

mad were elected unopposed as the President and Vice President of Hock-ey India respectively on Friday 6th November, 2020. Ningombam who was the Chief Executive Officer of Manipur Hockey between 2009-2014 and has been associated with Manipur Hockey for over a decade, in the pro-cess became the first President from the North East region to spearhead Hockey India and will hold the post for a term of two years. Earlier he has been actively involved in developing hockey at the grassroots in the North East region and is committed to devel-oping the sport further in his new role as President of Hockey India.

A veteran in sports administration with decades of experience Senior Vice President Mohd. Mushtaque Ah-mad, on the other hand has played a pivotal role in ensuring Hockey India hosting several major International tournaments including the FIH Men's World Cup in 2018 at the Kalinga Sta-dium in Bhubaneswar and was lauded for its impeccable infrastructure and execution. He has been involved with Hockey India in different capacities in the past and most recently also held the post of President till July 2020.

The duo took official charge of their duties and chaired the meet-

ing with its Member Units including Mumbai Hockey Association on the occasion of the 10th Hockey India Congress which was conducted in the virtual mode also. They had a fruitful discussion on the roadmap towards resumption of the domestic calendar and the way forward for the sport in India keeping in mind the safety pre-

cautions due to the ongoing battle with the pandemic, following Ministry of Home Affairs green signal to resume sporting activities early in September this year

“I am confident their expertise will benefit the sport. Their advice will be instrumental in developing the sport further in the country and their leader-ship will help us work towards achiev-ing our goals," stated Rajinder Singh, Secretary General, Hockey India.

Gyanendro Ningombam tohead Hockey IndiaMohd Mushtaque Ahmad to be its VP

(L to R) Gyanendro Ningombam and Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad were elected unopposed for the post of Hockey India President and Vice President respectively for a term of two years

By Ashok Dhamija, Mumbai

Central Railway (CR) will run 12 trips of Fully Reserved Festival

Specials between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Mumbai and Samas-tipur as per details given under:

Train no. 01021 Special will leave LTT, Mumbai at 16.40 hrs on ev-ery Wednesday and Saturday from Wednesday 11th to 28th November, 2020 and will arrive Samastipur at 04.00 hrs on Friday and Monday re-spectively. On its return journey Train no. 01022 Special will leave Samas-tipur at 09.50 hrs on every Friday and Monday from 13th to 30th Novem-ber, 2020 and arrive LTT, Mumbai at 18.40 hrs next day.

The above Special train comprises of One AC 2 Tier, Four AC 3 Tier, Twelve Second Sleeper Class and Three Second Class Seating Coaches. Halts en-route includes Thane, Kalyan, Igatpuri, Nashik Road, Bhusaval, Itar-si, Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Prayagraj

Chheoki, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn., Buxar, Ara, Patliputra, Hajipur and Muzaffarpur in both directions. Reser-vation for the fully Reserved Train no. 01021 Special on Special charges will open on Sunday 8th November, 2020 at all computerized reservation centres

and on website www.irctc.co.in. Only passengers having confirmed tickets will be permitted to board these spe-cial trains. Passengers are advised to adhere all norms, SOPs related to COVID19 during the boarding, travel and at destination.

CR to run Bi-weekly festival specials between Mumbai and Samastipur from next week

For representational purpose only



PMO TELLS STATE TO RESOLVE 13-yR-OLD...

Principal Secretary – Urban development-2, to look into the issue. “We are happy that at last the PMO asked a re-sponsible official for ac-tion,” said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect. So far, there have been only exchanges of 10 mails between the PMO and the union health ministry with no action, Kumar regretted and said he posted a remind-er to the PMO following which the instructions have gone to Gagrani.

Gagrani was the Vice Chairman and MD of CIDCO for two years between April 2016 and May 2018, and he must be aware of the issue, the environmentalist said.

On an earlier com-plaint by NatConnect last year, the PMO asked “all concerned” to take “immediate action”. With no action forth-coming, NatConnect filed a fresh complaint on which there has been a lot of mail exchange.

“We have repeat-edly told the PM that the garbage dump on man-groves is an insult to his favorite Swachh Bharat campaign. Moreover, during COVID pan-demic, the dump and the stink add to the health hazards of the people,” Kumar said.

“It is shocking that no action has been tak-en despite the FIR and even the High Court ap-pointed committee ask-ing UMC not to dump garbage on mangroves,”

said Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan.

Local resident Samir Ashrit, who first wrote to the PM in October 2017, said the problem has been assuming men-acing proportion by the day. Ashrit’s complaint was closed after UMC gave an undertaking to the PMO that due care will be taken while dis-posing of the garbage. “Nothing of that sort has happened,” he said and pointed out: “At times we see even sewer wa-ter and COVID related medical waste being dumped here.”

NatConnect has also renewed its complaint to the Mangrove Com-mittee as the killing of mangroves continues even now.

Panvel: MLA Prashant Thakur in-spected the beautification development work of Vadale Lake in Panvel city. During the visit he gave necessary in-structions to the concerned officers re-

garding quality of work. Deputy Mayor Jagdish Gaikwad, Leader of the House Paresh Thakur, Standing Committee Chairman Santosh Shetty and other officials were present on the occasion.

MlA Prashant thakur inspects beautification development

work of Vadale lake

By Ashok Dhamija

Bolstered by the return of pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and all-rounder

Hardik Pandya defending champions Mum-bai Indians(MI) registered an emphatic by 57 runs victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Qualifier 1 of the Dream11 Indian Pre-mier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai Inter-national Cricket Stadium, UAE on Thursday while defending a target of 201. In the pro-cess Rohit Sharma’s side ensured a three match unbeaten record in the current sea-son against their rivals led by his Mumbai team mate Shreyas Iyer and are a match away in annexing their fifth IPL title.

Put in to bat MI opener Quinton de Kock (40, 25b, 5x4s, 1x6) along with Suryaku-mar Yadav (51; 38b, 6x4s, 2x6s) made up for the loss of their skipper in the second over to the willy off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for no score, to put on 62 runs for the second wicket in 6.1 overs before de Kock became Ashwin’s second victim. Suryakumar in the company of south paw Ishan Kishan (55*; 30b, 4x4s, 3x6s) en-sured MI score past hundred in the 12th over. Two wickets by DC bowlers in quick succession including that of the set Surya-kumar (by Anrich Nortje) and Kieron Pol-lard (by Ashwin) temporarily put brakes on the run flow. Krunal Pandya (13) dismissal by Marcus Stoinis in the 17th over at the score of 140 provided a perfect launch pad for the younger Pandya sibling, Hardik whose smashed a quick fire unbeaten 37 of 14 balls which included five sixes, two of which came in the final over bowled by pacer who had conceded Nortje only one run in his first two balls. Kishan too added to DC woes as he scored one himself on the final ball of the innings to take MI to 200.

DC in their run chase had the worst possible start and lost three wickets in space of eight balls with no score on the board, New Zealander pacer Boult (2/9)

bowled a two-wicket maiden with wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane in the first over. Bumrah latter yorked the inform Shikhar Dhawan (with two back to back centuries in the tournament) for no score and latter had Shreyas Iyer caught by his skipper in the fourth over after the latter looked to counterattack as DC crawled to 32 for 4 in the power play. Axar Patel (42; 33b, 2x4s, 3x6s) who came in the fall of Rishabh Pant (dismissed by Krunal Pan-dya) with only 41 runs on the board in the company of Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (65; 46b,6x4s, 3x6s) put up a brave fight as the duo added 71 runs. Bumrah’s introduction into the attack, ended Stoinis’ cameo in the 16th over and the ace MI bowler later picked his fourth wicket of Daniel Sams with a well-directed short ball DC in the end managed to score 143 for 8 in the end.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma later shared that it was his team’s best performance so far. The versatile squad gave him the luxury to change the batting order and rotate the bowlers and the team played with intent in their quest for yet another title (one match away). DC skipper Shreyas Iyer on the other hand said it was very tough to lose a match like this and want to make sure we come out with a solid mind-set in the next qualifiers (against winner of Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore and David Warner’s SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday. The practice and hard work by the team has been tremendous and it’s a mat-ter of time we click together.

Brief Scores (Qualifiers): Mumbai In-dians: 200/5 (Ishan Kishan 55*, Suryaku-mar Yadav 51, Quinton de Kock 40, Hardik Pandya 37*; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/29) beat Delhi Capitals: 143/8 (Marcus Stoinis 65, Axar Patel 42; Jasprit Bumrah 4/14, Trent Boult 2/9) by 57 runs. Man of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

Mumbai Indians cruise in to yet another Final: Dream11 IPL 2020

Outplay Delhi Capitals by 57 runs in Qualifier 1

Man of the Match Jasprit Bumrah who registered his career-best T20 figures of 4 for 14 is the lead-ing wicket taker in IPL 2020 with 27 to his credit (Photo Credits: BCCI/IPL)

Cameos by Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan late in the innings saw MI add 60 runs in space of 23 balls against DC

initiative. We will fin-ish the project by end of February.”

A survey conducted in 2017 revealed that there were 8,57,295 trees in Navi Mum-bai. It also revealed that there are 1,88,000 Subabul trees in the

city, the largest spe-cies found here. Local authorities in the state conduct tree survey in every five years.

Sunil Sutar, a Vashi resident said, “50,000 is a very big number. From our past experi-ences we have realized that the NMMC plants thousands of saplings every year. But only

a small percentage of them survive. NMMC themselves are respon-sible for it. After plant-ing the saplings they don’t take much effort to water them and thus most of the saplings wither within a few months. We hope they will not make the same mistake now.”


NMMC TO PLANT 50,000 SAPLINGS...


Navi Mumbai

As mangroves in Mumbai region have been facing twin dangers

from pests and project proponents, environmentalists have knocked the doors of the United National Environ-ment Programme (UNEP).

“The situation is alarming and we have to find a solution before pests de-vour the sea forest,” the environment groups NatConnect Foundation and Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan said.

The Institute Of Wood Science and Technology under Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education has studied the pest attacks and suggested some measures such as spraying in-secticides.

The State Mangrove Cell is howev-er wary of using any insecticide treat-ment as it could have a detrimental effect on the other moths requited for the mangrove eco system, said Nenu Somraj, deputy conservator of forests.

Large stretches of mangroves in MMR, including Navi Mumbai, have

been affected and one can hardly find a green tree amid bunches of plants which has not turned brown,” said Nandakumar Pawar head of Shri Ek-vira Aai Pratishtan.

“We have written to UNEP for sharing information on how they tack-led similar crisis in other parts of the world,” said B N Kumar, director of award winning not-for-profit entity NatConnect Foundation.

The pest problem is an annual oc-currence but this year the problem has prolonged for too long. And normally by this time the fresh green shoots be-gin to appear which is not happening as of now, Pawar said.

“We are hence keeping a close watch as temperature rises,” Kumar said.

While this crisis is on, the destruc-tion of mangroves in the name of proj-ect development is going on relent-lessly, the environment groups pointed out. The devastation done by NMSEZ and JNPT has already been officially confirmed by the Raigad district ad-

ministration, Pawar said.The State government agency Ma-

harashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has confirmed in response to different RTI applications that it has not given any permission for either drawing township development plans or construction at Panje wetland in particular, Kumar said.

The much talked about Ahmedbad-Mumbai Bullet train project is set to destroy mangroves equivalent to the size of five and half Azad Maidans, he added.

In view of the need to conserve whatever mangroves, it is important to save the sea forest that Mumbai region is left with, the environmentalist said.

The study by the Institute Of Wood Science and Technology was conducted to record the defoliating and sapsucking pest problems in this region. Surveys conducted to assess the pest problems of mangrove spe-cies in Airoli and Vashi creek, and in Gorai mangrove areas revealed the in-

festation of about 20 defoliating pests and two sapsucking pests. The details of these pests and their management practices are described in this techni-cal bulletin.

The study report said, for instance, a number of sap sucking insects are associated with mangrove ecosys-tem and they usually cause consider-able damage to the mangrove plants. Among the sapsucking pests Dysmi-coccus brevipes is observed as major pest in the mangroves of Maharashtra State.

On certain snail species destroy-ing the mangroves, the report says melampus pulchellus are air breathers and small in size. These are gregarious and occur under the bark and crevices in the roots of mangrove plants. It is a major and serious pest particularly in rainy season causing damage to the mangroves. The snails are distributed in Maharashtra and West Bengal in In-dia and also in Philippines, the report said.

Pests & projects endanger mangrovesGreens write to UNEP for help

By Chandrashekhar Hendve, Navi Mumbai

Health Minister Rajesh Tope called a meeting of the State Task Force

and Death Audit Committee appointed in the backdrop of Corona. A review of mortality rate and the preparation for a possible second corona wave was con-ducted. During the meeting, the health minister appealed to avoid gatherings while celebrating Diwali and urged for firecracker-free Diwali celebration in Maharashtra. Although the number of corona patients are cur-rently under control, the number of corona tests will be increased, said the health minister.

Speaking during the meeting the Health Min-ister said, “Efforts are being made to reduce the death rate due to Covid in the state. Experts have advised us that the death audit committee should be appointed at the hospital level in the hospitals where the death rate is higher”.

Although, a second wave of corona is unlikely to occur in the state, but there was a detailed discussion about precautionary measures for a possible wave. At present, corona tests are be-ing conducted in the state, and the same will not be disturbed and fever surveillance will be increased across the state, said Tope.

He further said, “In-fluenza-like illnesses increase during winter. Therefore, fever patients will be surveyed and the committee has suggest-ed that private doctors should give priority to immediate tests for fe-ver patients according to their symptoms”.

The regional level body has been directed to focus on testing of gro-cery shopkeepers, milk sellers, vegetable sellers, small and large traders, public transport work-ers who are in constant contact with the people across the state.

He further said, due to the shortage of doctors and nurses in ICUs in small towns, a programme would be launched to train the staff with the help of simula-

tion labs.The decision to reserve 80 percent

beds for private hospitals will be taken while maintaining the existing facili-ties for corona in the state as well as maintaining the existing facilities. Similarly, the task force has prepared the ideal treatment procedures accord-ing to the treatment, Tope said.

“Citizens should be more careful in view of the upcoming Diwali festi-val. People should use masks, observe

social distance, and wash their hands regularly,” said Mr. Tope.

He urged the revellers to celebrate a firecracker-free Diwali this year as the smoke from firecrackers causes respiratory prob-lems. Rajesh Tope also said that he will make a demand to the Chief Minister and the Cabinet to make Ma-harashtra firecracker free.

The meeting was chaired by the head of the health department, Dr. Pradeep Vyas, Chairman, State Task Force Dr. Sanjay Oak, Chairman, Death Audit Committee Dr. Avinash Supe, Chairman, State Infectious Dis-eases Control Committee Dr. Subhash Salunke, Director of Health Sadhana Tayde, Dr. Archana Patil.

Covid-19: Health Minister holds review meeting for a possible second waveUrges for a cracker-free Diwali in Maharashtra

Swara Rajesh Deshmukh, Std - 8thBal Bharti Public School, Kharghar

4VOL. 24 4 NO 22 4NAVI MUMBAI 4 7 - 13 NOVEMBER 2020 4RNI NO. 71478/97 4PAGES 4 4PRICE 2/-

By Vikram Gaikwad Navi Mumbai

The number of road accidents on Sion-

Panvel, Thane-Belapur and Palm Beach roads within the limits of Navi Mumbai Police Commis-sionerate has come down drastically this year as compared to the number of accidents in 2019. The number of accidents and the deaths and injuries has dropped dramatically this year and the reason cited is less number of vehicles on roads during the lockdown.

A total of 112 ac-cidents were reported

in 2019 on the Sion-Panvel route, one of the major highways passing through the Navi Mum-bai Police Commission-erate. There were 61

serious and 10 minor ac-cidents. 29 people were reported dead and 132 were injured. Meanwhile, during eight-month from January to August this

year, only 38 accidents occurred on the same highway, including 13 serious and 5 minor ac-cidents. Statistics show that 18 people were killed and 31 injured in the accident.

On the Thane-Be-lapur route, a total of 130 accidents were reported in 2019, including 45 se-rious and 11 minor acci-dents. A total of 17 peo-ple were killed and 70 injured in the accident. In the current year 2020, only 29 accidents have been reported during the

Road accidents register sharp dip in Navi Mumbai

File photo


By Chandrasekhar Hendve Navi Mumbai

With an aim to de-velop Gavalidev

and Sulaidev hills in Ghansoli into tourist spot, MP Rajan Vich-are along with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, other NMMC officials as well as for-est conservators visited the hills on Tuesday, 3rd November.

During the visit, MP Vichare said, “I have been pursuing the devel-opment of Gavalidev and Sulaidev hills, the only natural tourist destina-tion in Navi Mumbai, for the last few years. I have held meetings with the Forest Department and Navi Mumbai Munici-pal Commissioner from time to time. However, due to lack of funds and with forest department not preparing a plan, the place has not been developed the way it should have been”.

Gavalidev and Sulai-devi, are the only tourist destinations in Ghansoli under the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC). The area was to be developed by the Forest Department. The NMMC had given Rs 1 crore in 2014 to forest department. However, due to some technical reasons, the work of

the tourist spot could not be started. Later, the hill was leased and developed by Mafatlal Group's Nocil Company and five lakh trees were planted there. But after the closure of the Nocil Company, the trees were not looked after.

“There are many old trees on Gavalidev and Sulaidev hills, which include medicinal plants as well. Various species of birds, insects and but-terflies can be spotted in the area. The climate here is quite similar to Matheran, and Maha-baleshwar in the rainy season and attracts na-ture lovers. Also, moun-taineers, environmental-ists and bird watchers visit this place for vari-ous information”, said Vichare.

“A proposal has been submitted to the forest department for the de-velopment of 108 sq. ki-lometers of Gawalidev hill and its vicinity. The plan will be prepared in around one to one and a half months. The area will be developed with funds from the govern-ment and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation”, said Chief Conservator Naresh Zurmure.

“Efforts will be made to make the area scenic without causing

Gavalidev tourist spot to be developed soon


By Abhitash D.Singh, Navi Mumbai

In the backdrop of Covid 19, people across the world are

now becoming accustomed to the new lifestyle. The humble mask, which has become es-sential in controlling and curbing the virus, is now evolving as the latest fashion accessory. The demand for fancy masks is ris-ing in Navi Mumbai especially by the youngsters and college going students.

“Even after the easing of lockdown in many parts of the country, the mask has now become an everyday wear and slowly it is also becoming a glamorous addition to the out-fits. The trend is slowly taking a pace especially among youths in the satellite city,” said a shop-keeper in Vashi. He expects the demand for fancy masks to grow further once the colleges and school reopen.

Even reputed brands have

jumped in the field and are mak-ing masks not just for daily wear but also for party wear.

Raghu Jain, a medical store owner in Ulwe Sector-17 said, "Even in medical stores the youngsters come searching for fancy masks. Being a medical

store, we did not keep fancy masks earlier. But seeing the de-mand for it we too are selling it. The fancy masks range from Rs. 40 to Rs. 300 depending upon the quality of the mask."

Sunil Gholap, a shop-keeper

from Nerul who is selling masks since the beginning of the pan-demic informed, "In the month of March, when lockdown was announced from 25th March, 2020 in the city, all the citizens were asked to wear the normal masks. However slowly, demand

for trendy and fancy masks started increasing. I have heard that now even fashion design-ers are making different styles of fancy masks for the models to wear. The trendy designs for people of different ages and gender are in great demand."

Vijay Bhandari, owner of a cloth store in Kharghar said, "It is seen that in Kharghar people are buying different

masks for daily wear and for outings. The mask has become a new style statement now. The young women and also college and school going girls are giving

Fancy masks in great demandYoungsters especially college going students prefer trendy masks

PHOTO By SUMIT RENOSE


7- 13 November 2020

eight-month period from January to August. 14 accidents were serious in which 16 people were killed and 18 injured.

In 2019, a total of 32 accidents took place on the Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, including 15 serious and 13 minor accidents. Also, 10 people were killed and 28 injured in the accident. However, during the eight-month period from January to August 2020, there were only 12 accidents on the Palm Beach route. Amongst these, eight serious accidents

were reported in which 4 people died and 16 were injured.

The corona pandemic has led to a nationwide lockdown since March. The five-month period

from March to August saw a sharp decline in the number of accidents and deaths due to less number of vehicles on the roads during that pe-riod.

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Printed and owned by Kailash Shankarlalji Gindodia Published by Shiv Kailash Gindodia Editor: Varda Sharma Printed at Siddhakala Print Media & Publications Pvt. Ltd. Plot No. W-230, T.T.C. Ind. Area, MIDC, Khairane, Navi Mumbai – 400 710 and published at 1313/1314, 13th Floor, Real Tech Park, Plot No. 39/2,

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EditorialISSUE: 22 7- 13 NOVEMBER, 2020

2

ROAD ACCIDENTS REGISTER SHARP DIP...CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

Statistics of accidents on various routes in Navi Mumbai in the year 2019

Total deaths injuries accidentSion Panvel Highway 112 29 132Thane Belapur Marg 130 17 70Palm Beach Route 32 10 28Total 274 56 230

Statistics of accidents on various routes in Navi Mumbai from January to August in the year 2020

Total deaths injuries accident Sion Panvel Highway 38 18 31Thane Belapur Marg 29 16 18Palm Beach Route 12 4 16Total 79 38 68

Mangrove forests are the world’s most productive and important

ecosystem. Apart from providing a safe haven for animals, mangroves have a major role in supporting hu-mans too -- they provide food secu-rity, forest products and sustainable fishing to local communities living around the sea shores.

In addition, mangrove forests act as a natural defence barrier along the tropical coastlines, protecting them from tides, storm surges, cur-rents and even tsunamis. They help in reducing soil erosion and act as an effective carbon sink.

In spite of the many advantages mangroves provide, this unique ecosystem is under threat like most of the other ecosystems around the world. According to the scientists, mangroves are disappearing 3 to 5 times faster than the overall for-est losses in the recent years. Man-groves are so sensitive that even minute changes in temperatures, at-mospheric carbon dioxide, sea lev-els, rainfall, wind and waves during storms can disrupt their existence.

Development of the seashore for housing, construction of dams and clearing of swamps are greatly con-tributing to the destruction of man-groves. In addition, unchecked and

uncontrolled dumping of construc-tion debris is also leading to their destruction.

Recognizing the threat faced by mangrove forests in 123 nations of the world, the United Nations Edu-cational, Scientific and Cultural Or-ganisation (UNESCO) as officially proclaimed July 26th of every year as the ‘International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Eco-system’. The earth and humanity simply cannot afford to lose these vital ecosystems. Reducing land, air and ocean pollution by using bio degradable alternatives can help in a big way. We can also restrict overex-ploitation of resources by the human communities which will regulate and conserve mangrove forests.

A healthy mangrove ecosystem is important for our own well-being. If their destruction continues at the present rate, the coastal shorelines will soon become sources of car-bon dioxide, which will be directly released into the oceans, resulting in great imbalance in carbon levels in the oceans and increase in ocean temperatures. Oceans, with their own marine ecosystem, are as fragile as the mangroves and a slight increase in temperature will spell doom for the myriad list of its inhabitants.

Sea plants are vital

any harm to the environ-ment,” he added.

MP Vichare also sub-mitted a memorandum to the Chief Conservator of Forest for immediate approval of the plan.

The district head Dwarkanath Bhoir, Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar, Chief Conser-vator of Forests Naresh Zurmure, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Chief Engineer Suren-dra Patil, Deputy Forest

Conservator Gajendra Hiray, Assistant Deputy Forest Conservator Giri-ja Desai, Range Forest Officer Narendra Muthe, Nitin Geete senior police inspector Rabale as well as local office bearers and Shiv Sainiks were present.


GAVALIDEV TOURIST SPOT TO BE...

Mumbai

While we, and the entire world, were busy clapping and banging

plates and utensils to show solidarity with the frontline Covid warriors — the doctors, nurses and civic workers — there was another group of unsung heroes, our farmers, who toiled day and night without relenting to bring food to our plates. For them, there was no lockdown!

In fact, this was the first disaster in history — whether natural, or man-made — which saw no shortage of food and no break in the supply pipe-line. Since February, with the rapid spread of Covid-19, life has been ex-tremely difficult for every one of us. It was an unprecedented situation and fear gripped us with all reason failing.

Good times, bad timesBut while fighting the scourge

through the long lockdown period, we enjoyed life to an extent, too, by being with our families, sharing good times and good food. Some of us even ex-perimented with cooking and became successful home chéfs.

Others cooked huge quantities of food to help those who lost their jobs and were in urgent need of help. But, unlike in any past pandemic situa-tion, there was no food scarcity this time around. Despite all the odds, our farmers kept glued to the grindstone, working overtime to ensure that food reached our table in time.

Through thick and thinThe busiest season for farmers is

from mid-February to mid-July as this is harvest time for important crops, such as onion, potato, wheat, sugar-cane, mustard and fruits like grapes, pomegranate, banana and others. They also have to prepare the field for the next crop season (kharif), so it is back-breaking work for them!

Even in normal times, farmers have

to face a lot of uncertainties and chal-lenges, such as poor or delayed mon-soon, moneylenders’ arm-twisting, not getting the proper price for their produce and many more. And, with the lockdown, there was a severe dis-ruption in their demand from mandies, supply chain systems as also a short-age of labourers.

Let’s give them their due - #ThankYouFarmers -

Despite all this, our farm heroes along with their families took on the responsibility of keeping us healthy and strong and provided us with fresh fruits, vegetables and all the grains that we needed. They kept working with-out a break, so that we stayed safe at home under lockdown and were able to take care of our children and our el-ders, too.

But did these heroes get their share of acknowledgment and appreciation? Let us take this opportunity and salute the sons of the soil — the real driving force of the nation — respectfully for keeping our bellies full all through the lockdown.

Sahyadri Farms, has initiated a cause campaign - 'Thank You Farmers' towards bridging the urban and rural communities. The whole initiative is to spread awareness of the fact that the rural communities need the urban com-munities to understand them and vice versa. The film can be found on the companies social media pages namely - YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

From farm to forkful of food: The real Covid-19 heroes are farmers!

7- 13 November 20203

preference to the mask which matches with their dress. The masks which are in demand are polka dots, stripes,

zig-zags and many other designs.”

Suraj Rajput, a college going student from Ulwe said, "It is mandatory for everyone to wear masks. Our friends keep searching

for different types of masks that are stylish and at the same time comfortable. If we have to wear masks then why not look good while wearing these?” he asks.


FANCy MASKS IN GREAT DEMAND...

Navi Mumbai

The Karnataka Cell of Maharashtra,

‘Salute Tiranga’ which was constituted recently held its first state level webinar meeting on 1st November, 2020 under the guidance of Maha-rashtra Coordinator of Karnataka Cell of ‘Sa-lute Tiranga’ Mr. Harish Poojary. ‘Salute Tiranga’ is Delhi based national level Non- Governmen-tal Organization (NGO) founded by Rajesh Jha and spread across 22 states with main object of making the country more beautiful, more powerful and united.

The meeting began with the introductory address by Mr. Harish Poojary on its aims and objectives followed by members at the state level and district levels introducing themselves with their professions and their social activi-ties. Members from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Raigad par-ticipated in this online meeting.

State President of the organization, Mr. Rajesh Rai, in his key note speech, commend-ed Mr. Harish Poojary for pooling over hundred members in a very short span of time. While dis-cussing about the aims and objectives of the or-ganization Mr. Rai said, the welfare and wellbe-ing of the soldiers and

their family should be the maim motto of the organization along with conducting national ori-entation programmes. National integration, unity among the peo-ple, respecting National Flag, awareness pro-grammes on various welfare schemes intro-duced by the govern-ment and reaching them to the deserving people particularly the soldiers and their family, should be the aim, he said. He appealed members to organize programmes of National interest and

invite soldiers and hon-our them during such programmes.

While referring to collection of donations etc for the medical, educational helps, he emphasized on proper accounting and main-tenance of record. He also cautioned that the reputation of the orga-nization should not be maligned in any way and dignity should be maintained.

National Coordina-tor and general secre-tary. Mrs. Bandana Tri-pathi in her brief speech complemented the Ma-harashtra Kannada Cell and the newly formed committees. She ex-tended her full coopera-tion to the organization

at every level.Mr. Rajesh Rai as

well as Mrs. Bandana Tripathi complemented the Karnataka Cell of the organization on the occasion of ‘Karnataka Rajhyotsava’, the State Foundation Day, which is celebrated on first No-vember every year.

Mr. Shyam N. Shet-ty, Vice President, Kar-nataka Cell Maharash-tra, while expressing his view extended his full support to the organiza-tion whenever needed.

Mr. Harish G. Main-dan, General Secretary Maharashtra; Mr. Ra-jaram Acharya, Vice President Navi Mumbai, Mrs. Purnima Devadiga, Womens wing General Secretary Navi Mumbai; Mrs. Prabhavati Devadi-ga, President, Women’s wing-Navi Mumbai; Mr Sudhakar Yelluru, Gen-eral Secretary, Mumbai; Mr. K.M. Kotian, Patron Maharashtra; and many others while expressing their opinions thanked Mr. Harish Poojary for giving them an opportu-nity to work for the soci-ety under the banner of this organization.

Mrs. Shailaja U. Shetty, Jt. Secretary of Ladies wing for Navi Mumbai and Mrs. Sujata Kotian, President Ladies Wing Maharashtra, en-thralled the participants by presenting songs on the theme of ‘Karnataka Rajhyotsava’, the State Foundation Day.

State General Sec-retary, Adv. Prabhakar Devadiga thanked all the participants for their key role in coordinating the programme and con-cluded the meeting with vote of thanks.

‘Salute Tiranga’ Karnataka Cell, Maharashtra constituted

The Cell held its first state level webinar meeting recently

Harish Poojary

By Prabhakar Devadiga

Mumbai: ‘‘The quest for sustained hap-piness and peace can-not be purchased as it is earned through life-long dedicated efforts for self-improvement through regular Person-ality Defect Removal (PDR), sattvik lifestyle and spiritual practice under the guidance of an evolved spiritual guide. However, if one sincerely practices spir-ituality as per universal principles, then it will only be a matter of time before one is able to transcend the mind and obtain the experience of the Soul or the God Principle within each of us. This is the experi-ence of Bliss, a superla-tive form of happiness, which is not dependent on anything.’’ These were the concluding words by Dr. Nandini Samant as she summed up her presentation ‘Finding peace of mind in a stressful world’ in

the webinar. The webi-nar was organised by the South Asian Medi-cal Students Associa-tion (SAMSA). It was held on 1st November, 2020 and was hosted by Dr. Shriya Saha, a men-tor and the treasurer at SAMSA.

Dr. Nandini Samant presented the research

on ‘Finding peace of mind’ by H. H. (Dr.) Jayant Athavale. H. H. (Dr.) Jayant Athavale is a world renowned Clinical Hypnothera-pist, having experience of 23 years of clinical practice as a doctor, 51 years in psychological

research, both in India and the United King-dom, and 39 years in spiritual research. Dr. Samant began by giving an overview of why we get stressed. Then she explained the PDR pro-cess and how to use it to overcome the undesir-able traits also known as personality defects and turn them into qualities. She then explained how Spirituality and a satt-vik lifestyle helps in re-ducing stress. The case studies that she shared gave the participants a fair idea of how PDR can be used to bring a complete turnaround in life.

A total of 1168 peo-ple from 14 countries and 24 states of India registered for the event. The webinar was avail-able on both Zoom and Youtube live platforms. The webinar is now available on Youtube and has reached more than 11,000 viewers.

Maharshi Adhyatma Vishwavidyalay presents its research on

‘Finding peace of mind’ in a webinar organised by SAMSA

Dr. Nandini Samant


In the absence of local trains for the common

man, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) is fulfilling the needs of more than 1,50,000 commuters from Navi Mumbai and Panvel area. The city transportation body is running 362 buses in the city for the passengers.

According to the NMMT officials, there is a plan to add more buses so that the com-muters are not inconve-nienced. All the Covid-19 protocols will be stringently followed.

Speaking with the Newsband correspon-dent NMMT General Manager Shirish Arad-wad said, "When there were no railway services

during the lockdown, the NMMT was plying buses for the essential service providers. As the process of unlock down began under ‘Mission Begin Again’, NMMT increased its

bus services. From 6th June, 100 more buses were added and now 362 buses are plying in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Badlapur, Ambernath, Dombivali, Uran, Panvel and Mum-

bai area. While boarding the buses, it is manda-tory for the passengers to wear masks and also follow other Covid-19 protocols."

Aradwad further added, "The NMMT has

increased the number of buses to ensure that there is no overcrowd-ing in the buses. Cur-rently, the transportation unit of civic body is making a loss of 50 percent."

More than 1,50,000 passengers from the satellite city depend on NMMT buses

7- 13 November 20204

Navi Mumbai

Maharashtra State Electricity Dis-

tribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL) 11 kV switching substation No. 4, which supplies power to the Tarapur in-dustrial estate at Boisar, has received the ISO 9001: 2015 certificate on Thursday. It is the first switching station in the state to achieve ISO certification.

“This is the first step taken with the objective of providing uninter-rupted power supply to the Tarapur Industrial Estate”, said Dinesh Agarwal, Chief Engi-neer, Welfare Circle,

while accepting the certificate of rating.

The switching sub-station number four was severely damaged by a power outage two years ago. The substation has been literally trans-formed by the co-ordi-nation of the CAPEX scheme, dedicated staff, senior executives who support and guide them, and the equally valued industrial customers. The substation has set an example with the help of Rs 4 crore from the Capex scheme as well as the cooperation of some industrial customers.

About 59 improve-ments have been made

over the past year, as suggested by the ISO rat-ing team. All the criteria, including safe and unin-terrupted power supply were strictly implement-ed. As a result, the num-ber of breakdowns in in-dustrial estates between July and September last year was reduced by 72 percent, while power outages were reduced from 316 hours to 57 hours (82 percent), said Chief Engineer Agarw-al. He further said, “The aim is to provide un-interrupted power sup-ply to the customers at the substations includ-ing industrial estates by further improving it.”

ISO certification awarded to the switching station supplying power to Tarapur MIDC

It is the first sub-station in the state to get the ratingBy Ashok DhamijaNavi Mumbai

In order to infuse creativity among its young students of Montessori sec-

tion by using food items of daily con-sumption, Ryan International School, Sanpada orgainsed a ‘Creative Biscuit Topping Activity’ virtually.

The enthusiastic children exhibited their culinary skills and decorated the yummy biscuits with various colourful

toppings including cheese, gems, jellies, chocolate fruits and vegetables to make them more tempting and palatable.

“Children were very happy to see the decorat-ed biscuits and their curi-osity knew no bounds as they relished the new taste of biscuits. It was a definitely a learn-ing experience for these tiny tots who showcased lots of creativity with bis-

cuits and different toppings and will certainly go a long way in them relish-ing the festive season ,” shared Muriel Fernandes, Principal of the institute

topping it up creatively

By Pranab Jyoti Bhuyan, Navi Mumbai

The railway under-pass which connects

Taloja (phase I) with Kharghar, will be thrown open to the public around Diwali. Thousands of residents of both the nodes will be benefitted from it.

The Railways and the City and Industrial Development Corpora-tion (Cidco) have jointly developed the underpass over the past four years. Sources said they spent Rs 6 crore on this proj-ect.

Rajesh Mishra, ex-ecutive engineer of the Railways said, “The un-derpass is now ready and it will be inaugurated before November, 22. The exact date of inau-guration will be decided

soon.”The local residents of

that area have welcomed the move. Kasam Mulani, an activist and a member of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said, “At present there is a railway gate on that road and that gate is closed before a train passes through that area. At times the gate is closed for more than an hour as two to three trains pass at a time, and that causes severe traffic

jam in the entire area.” “We have been re-

questing the authorities concerned to inaugurate the underpass for the past several months. We had even held protests earlier for not inaugurating it on time. We are now glad the Railways have now decided to inaugurate it during Dilwali. This will be a valuable Diwali gift for the residents of this part of the town,” he said.

Taloja railway underpass to be inaugurated around Diwali

Chief Engineer of Kalyan Perimandal Dinesh Agarwal, Superintending Engineer Kiran Naga-onkar, Rajesh Singh Chavan and Deputy Executive Engineer Laxman Rathod accepting the cer-tificate from ISO certification representative Nandkishore Deshmukh

By Vikram Gaikwad, Navi Mumbai

After the death of Vashi police con-stable, Rajendra Balasaheb Khot

due to corona, officers and employees of Vashi police station and some social workers collected Rs 6 lakh to give to Khot's family. The financial assistance of Rs 6 lakh was handed over to Khot's family on Wednesday by Zone-1 Dep-uty Commissioner of Police, Suresh Mengde. Vinayak Vasta, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vashi Divi-sion was present on the occasion.

Police Constable Rajendra Khot worked as a driver in Vashi police station. While on duty last month,

he contracted Covid-19. He was admitted for treatment at DY Pa-til Hospital in Nerul but unfortu-nately, he succumbed to the virus.

Police Constable Khot was a very conscientious, honest and friendly of-ficer. After his death, the officers and employees of Vashi police station and some social workers decided to help Khot's family. The financial assistance of Rs 6 lakh was handed over to Khot's family by Deputy Commissioner of Police Suresh Mengde of Zone-1 on Wednesday. Assistant Commissioner of Police and other senior police officers and staff were present on the occasion.

Rs.6 lakh financial assistance given to deceased constable Khot’s family

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