The Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP dispensation will appoint a consultant for the Bandra Government Colony redevelopment project, which was scrapped by the then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

In tune with the redevelopment promise mentioned in the BJP’s election manifesto, the state government will appoint a consultant within three months to suggest appropriate option for redevelopment, a PWD official has said.

The colony, spread over 100-acres of prime land is located close to Western Express Highway and Bandra-Kurla Complex.

The official said the government was yet to take a call on issues like whom to award the project, the actual area to be under construction and the floor space index (FSI) to be provided.

The senior bureaucrat further said the chief architect of the PWD department is preparing drawing of the plan for redevelopment of existing buildings in the locality into a 250-plus high rise tower.

“We have two to three options on how to develop the colony. One option is to give the project to a private builder on certain conditions while another one is to let PWD develop it,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The decision to redevelop the colony was taken during the stint of then chief minister Ashok Chavan in 2009 when the Congress-led Democratic Front (DF) government was in power.

“The decision to redevelop the Government Colony at Bandra, the Mantralaya and other government buildings was taken during Ashok Chavan’s stint as CM in 2009. Builders carrying out redevelopment works were promised extra FSI and were supposed to pay the government Rs 800 crore. This figure was later revised to Rs 1200 crore,” the official said.

After the tender process, private players D B Realty, Akruti Constructions and Sanjay Kakade won the contract for redevelopment. Kakade had even made a down payment of Rs 145 crore to government for this work.

Meanwhile, Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa of DB Realty were arrested in the 2G scam case in 2011, which resulted in stalling of the redevelopment work.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has approved a proposal to distribute 22,799 tablet PCs to class 8th students across all municipal schools in the city.

The proposal was passed by the standing committee of Shiv Sena-ruled BMC, despite much opposition from other parties which termed it as “farce” and “unnecessary” as the tablet PCs did not have Wi-Fi facility or 3G service.

“A tablet without internet is a farce as we are in the age of connectivity. The Shiv Sena is fooling everyone with this tablet by spending tax payers’ money,” MNS group leader in BMC, Sandeep Deshpande alleged.

“Sena wants to make the whole city WiFi-enabled, but why is it not providing the facility to children who attend their own (municipal) schools?” he asked.

Sena’s youth wing leader Aditya Thackeray had last week met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed plans on how the Digital India campaign could be given a boost by his pet-project of giving tablet PCs to students.

Leading a delegation of Shiv Sena MPs, Thackeray had said the tablet, consisting of syllabus and notes, could help in reducing students’ burden of schools bags.

NCP leader and party’s Mumbai unit president Sachin Ahir also criticised the Sena’s ambitious project and demanded to scrap it, saying there were many other issues to be resolved first.

“BMC schools have seepage problems in rainy days, they don’t have proper standard of education to make optimum use of tablet. I fail to understand why BMC is running after this wastage of money,” said Ahir.

However, according to BMC, the project has all the potential to serve its purpose.

“The tab is for educational propose and meant for children. It would have all syllabus and educational content for them,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Pallavi Darade, who is in-charge of municipal schools.

She also clarified that the tabs can be updated later as and when there is a need.

“Right now there is no immediate need for Wi-Fi and 3G. As we use it and understand its further requirements, we would further update it,” she added.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Congress corporator Anil Patankar, who is said to be a staunch supporter of senior party leader Narayan Rane, resigned from the municipal body.

According to Shiv Sena insiders, Patankar, who was elected from Ghatla village, submitted his resignation to the Mayor and is likely to join the party in the coming days.

Besides this, three Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporators and one Independent corporator from Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) also joined Shiv Sena in the presence of party president Uddhav Thackeray at his Matoshri residence.

Thackeray hinted at the possibility of an alliance with the BJP for the KDMC civic polls which are due in November this year.

Currently in the 107 member KDMC house, the Sena with 31 members is in power, followed by 27 members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, 15 members of Congress, 14 members of NCP, 9 members of BJP and 11 independents.

Speaking about the upcoming Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) election that is also due in November, Thackeray said that he has not received any proposal from the local Sena leadership for any alliance with the BJP so far.

The Kolhapur city Sena unit had publicly voiced its opposition to any poll tie-up with the BJP.

Currently in the 77 member KMC house, the Congress with 31 members is in power. BJP has 3 members, while the NCP has 25, Sena has 24, 5 others and 9 independents.

Meanwhile, in the results announced for the Gram Panchayat elections yesterday in the state, the BJP has improved its performance considerably.

It has managed to bag many seats and Gram Panchayats in Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur, Dhule, Akola and Buldhana districts.

A relief train carrying survivors of the ill-fated Janta Express that derailed in Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district reached the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT).

Special arrangements were made on platform no. 4 of LTT in Kurla to receive the passengers who arrived by the train at around 10 AM today, a Central Railway official said.

“Working like good samaritans, even porters, out of good gesture, volunteered to carry luggage of the passengers free of cost,” CR spokesperson A K Singh said.

Though over 700 passengers boarded the accident relief train from Itarsi in MP, only about 250 finally reached LTT, as most of them got down at Bhusaval, Manmad, Nashik Road, Kalyan and Thane, another railway official said.

“First, the passengers were brought to Itarsi where they boarded the special train which was diverted via Nagpur route,” the official said, adding that most of the passengers appeared tired and aggrieved after witnessing the derailment.

The passengers were welcomed by their anxious family members at LTT and few of them turned emotional and even broke down after experiencing the horrific journey in Janta Express, said Subhash Gupta, a rail activist and member of Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC).

Though railway administration tried to help the passengers, there was lack of proper arrangements regarding information to the harried passengers, which shows that railway is not learning lessons from the repeated accidents, he said.

Twenty five people were killed and 50 others injured when two express trains passing each other derailed while crossing a railway bridge struck by flash floods in Harda district sending 17 bogies and one engine tumbling into a rain-swollen river.

The twin derailment that occurred at around the same time at about 1130 PM on Tuesday involved the Varanasi-bound Kamayani Express from Mumbai, which capsized first, and the Mumbai-bound Janta Express originating from Patna that was coming from the opposite direction.

The Nashik division of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to issue
special passes for pilgrims visiting the Kumbh Mela to enable them a hassle-free shuttle from here to Trimbakeshwar and adjoining areas.

According to MSRTC Divisional Controller, Yamini Joshi, the special ‘parvani pass’ (to facilitate movement of pilgrims on ‘shahi snan’ days) from Nashik to Trimbakeshwar and vice versa will be issued on reasonable rates starting from Rs 100.

The MSRTC will issue a day-long pass for Rs 100 per devotee so that he can visit Nashik, Trimbakeshwar and other places around these two pilgrimage towns, she said.

It will also issue a pass of Rs 847 valid for four days per head, on which tourists can visit Nashik, Shirdi, Saptshrungidevi Gad, Bhimashankar and other famous places, Joshi said.

MSRTC has made arrangement of 3,000 buses at both the destinations besides renovating some of the bus stands, opening information and repair centres and other amenities for passengers, the DC added.

The Corporation has also made provision to keep clean all bus stands along with facilities of drinking water, resting rooms for MSRTC staff.

Also, work of Nashik Road depot is complete and the Nashik Mahamarg bus stand and Javhar-phata bus stand at Trimbakeshwar have been renovated. CCTV cameras have also been installed at seven bus stands, she added.

While first shahi snan, the ceremonial bath of sadhus and mahants, falls on August 29, the other two will be held on September 13 and 25.

RTI activist Ravi Barhate on Wednesday alleged that NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad had purchased tribal land at Yeoor in adjoining Thane in 2006 and made an illegal construction on the plot, a charge denied by the latter.

The Pune-based activist further claimed that Awhad, a former Maharashtra minister, did not disclose details about the land in question in his election affidavit, which has details about a candidate’s assets.

Barhate has taken the matter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Awhad, the MLA from Kalwa-Mumbra in Thane, however, rubbished the allegations and dubbed Barhate as a “blackmailer”.

Speaking to reporters here, Barhate claimed that Awhad bought the land, measuring 33,245-sq.Ft, at Yeoor, a forested area, on March 10, 2006, from one Hari Jasumal Thakur, a tribal.

The NCP leader is currently in possession of the property but hid the fact while submitting his affidavit to the Election Commission ahead of the 2009 Assembly polls, alleged Barhate.

Producing the property card obtained by him last month, Barhate maintained that the document itself was evidence as records signed by the local talathi (a low-ranking revenue employee) show the name of Jitendra Satish Awhad.

Barhate claimed he had filed a complaint with the Kalwa Police Station on July 22, 2015, but the Senior Inspector there refused to treat it as a case involving a cognisable offence.

“(The) Chief Minister took cognisance of my application, which I had submitted through the CM’s office. This morning, he called me and assured that proper action (would be taken) in the matter,” Barhate said, adding, “the Chief Minster has forwarded the matter to the secretary concerned.”

The activist has demanded that the EC disqualify Awhad on the grounds that he had filed a false affidavit. The legislator should also face action for violating law (about non-tribals not being allowed to buy land belonging to tribals) and making illegal construction on the said plot.

Denying the charges, Awhad said although he had sold the Yeoor property in 2009, that was well before the Assembly polls of that year. Since then, the land had been sold out to two other buyers.

“Barhate gathers false and incomplete information. He has no moral right to blame politicians. He is infamous in Pune for these activities. He is not an RTI activist, he is a blackmailer,” charged Awhad.

Picking holes in prosecution arguments in the 2002 hit-and-run case, the lawyer defending convicted filmstar Salman Khan sought to know in Bombay High Court why police had not recorded the statement of his driver when they interrogated him after the mishap.

It is Salman’s case that he was not driving the car at the time of mishap and his driver Ashok Singh was behind the wheel. Singh had appeared as a defence witness in the trial court which did not accept his version, saying he was a “got-up witness” who just wanted to save his master.

The 49-year-old actor was convicted by a Sessions Court on May 6 and sentenced to five years in jail for running over his car on people sleeping outside a shop in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002. One person was killed and four others were injured in the mishap.

The actor, who is out on bail, was also found guilty of driving under the influence of liquor. Aggrieved by the verdict, he filed an appeal in the High Court, which has suspended his sentence.

Senior Counsel, Amit Desai, defending Salman, sought to know why the police were saying Singh had surfaced only now (13 years after the incident). He referred to the deposition of prosecution witness 27 (the then Senior Inspector of Bandra Police Station), who said he had called Singh and interrogated him.

“The word `interrogated’ is very important here…And he also says he has not recorded his (Singh’s) statement. What is the purpose of interrogation without recording a statement?” Salman’s counsel asked.

The lawyer said at the tail-end of trial, the police had produced evidence to show that Ravindra Patil, the police bodyguard of Salman who was seated with the actor in his car at the time of mishap, had passed away and the prosecution was relying upon his statement in the trial.

“If a star witness (Patil) was no more, there were other eye witnesses to throw light on who was driving the car. While the prosecution says there were three people in the car, the defence has argued that there were four…But there is no dispute over the fact that singer Kamaal Singh was also in the same car at the relevant time. Why he has not been examined?” Desai asked.