In a stinging attack on its ally, the Shiv Sena on Monday said that it will be “unfortunate” if the BJP does not come out of its “Opposition” mindset and provide a strong leadership in Maharashtra even as it asserted that it cannot turn a blind eye to the situation on the border.

“Some people, when they open their eyes see the border crisis and Pakistan’s breach of trust time and again. This can be only seen by those who have a nationalist and a patriotic eye. Seeing all this is not a fault in perception but our values, which we will continue with.

“There are some who only keep seeing drains. If there is a poll done on whether a drain is important or Pakistan’s aggression, people will choose patriotism and nationalism,” the Sena said in an edit in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

The verbal duel between the two alliance partners had hit a new low when BJP leader Ashish Shelar had on Saturday advised the BJP to focus on civic issues in Mumbai, rather than talking about international ones.

Hinting at the internal rift within the BJP, the Sena said the ‘ammunition’ (controversies surrounding senior ministers of the state cabinet) which the Opposition has got to attack the state government in the assembly session, has not been earned by hard-work but the source lies somewhere else.

“If the present government does not come out of its opposition mindset and provide a strong leadership to the state, it will be most unfortunate,” the Sena said.

It further said that allegations on the law and order situation in the state have been raised by BJP leaders themselves and the Sena has nothing to do with it.

“(Devendra) Fadnavis government is running with the Sena’s support and we are answerable to people of the state. Sena was not born for power but for the people’s well being, Maharashta’s honour, and the security of the country. Thus, if anything goes wrong, we will take to task our enemies even with closed eyes,” the Sena said.

Depressed over their poor financial condition, a 24-year-old woman in Bhiwandi town allegedly tried to commit suicide after setting on fire her two children, police said on Monday.

Akshara Chetan Paga took her two daughters, aged two and six months, into the bathroom of their house where she set them afire, Bhiwandi town’s assistant police inspector SR Patil said.

The woman then torched herself as well, he said.

Seeing smoke emanating from the house, their neighbours alerted the fire brigade and police rushed to the spot.

The woman’s elder daughter succumbed to her burns on the spot while Akshara and the infant suffered serious burns in the incident and were admitted to a hospital, he said.

The woman took the extreme step after being apparently fed up with the family’s poor financial condition, Patil said.

Offences under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of the IPC have been registered against the woman, he added.

The Maharashtra State Information Commission (SIC) could win only one case out of 84 in which its orders were challenged in different courts of law in the past 10 years, according to an RTI query.

In rest of the 83 cases, the orders were either reversed or are still pending, the reply to a query filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali showed.

Out of the 84 cases, three cases were filed in the Supreme Court while 81 cases were filed in the High Court of Bombay and its different benches in Nagpur, Aurangabad and tribunals as well.
Galgali had filed the Right To Information (RTI) query with the SIC seeking information about the cases in which different agencies moved the court against its order.

Initially, the information was denied, stating that no such data was available with the SIC, prompting Galgali to file an appeal.

Subsequently, Galgali was informed that in the period of 10 years from 2006 to 2015, a total of 84 cases went to court, in which the SIC got success in just one case whereas in the other 83 cases, its order was overturned.

The highest number of cases in which the court was approached was in 2013 with 24 cases followed by 23 in 2014, 12 in 2012, 10 in 2010, 7 in 2015, 5 in 2011, and one each in 2006, 2008 and 2009. No cases reached the court in 2007, the reply showed.

One case involving Reliance Energy Limited is pending since 2011, which pertains to the order of the SIC to bring the company under the purview of the RTI Act.

According to the data, the agencies which have knocked the doors of the court against the SIC’s orders are the government’s Home department, Mumbai University, Reliance Energy, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Police department, and S D Corporation.

“The SIC does not take much interest in the court cases filed against it, due to which its success rate is less than 1 percent,” Galgali said.

The activist, in a letter addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has demanded that to maintain the significance and to preserve the sanctity of the RTI Act 2005, the government should make arrangements of special Advocates to represent the SIC’s side effectively.

The dispute between Reliance Infra-led Mumbai Metro One and the state is set to intensify with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying his administration will challenge the proposal to increase fares up to Rs 110 for the 11.4-km metro service, in the Supreme Court.

The FFC (Fare Fixation Committee) has recommended a tariff structure of Rs 10-110 for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro, which is an over threefold increase over the present fare of Rs 10-40.

“The FFC recommendations have not yet reached me. But if this is the fact it is totally unacceptable. We will challenge it in the Supreme Court. If any such decision is taken before the special CAG audit is conducted, it will not be in the best interest of commuters,” Fadnavis told a news agency.

The project, which is a public private partnership (PPP) model, has been embroiled in controversy over fare fixation as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) insisted on Rs 9-13 fare as per the concession agreement, while the operator fixed the rates at Rs 10-40 as per the Metro Act.

The MMRDA later challenged the fares that MMOPL fixed in the Bombay High Court and then in the Supreme Court, which set a deadline for the FFC to come up with its recommendations.

However, the state government has decided to challenge the FFC recommendation in the Supreme Court.

When contacted, a spokesperson of the Anil Ambani Group- run MMOPL, however, said they are examining the FFC report submitted on July 8, and will work towards a phased implementation of the new fare recommendations.

“We will go in for a gradual fare increases together with the mitigating impact of potential real estate development and subsidy from the state, and keeping in mind at all times the overall interest of the commuters,” the company said in a statement.

According to an expert involved in the process of determining the tariff, the decision was taken on the principles of sustainability and affordability. “The fares were arrived at on the basis of sustainability of the project for the operator and at the same time it should be affordable to commuters. Since safety cannot be compromised and at the same time the operator should not be perpetually in loss, therefore the proposal to steeply increase the fares,” the expert, who wished not to be identified, said.

He said sustainability depends on the cost of construction, which is different for private or PPP projects as the capital cost is higher in a such model compared to EPC model where the risk is borne by the government. For PPP, the loan has to be raised from the market.

As per Metro Act, it’s binding on MMOPL to implement the new fares.

“However, when to implement it is up to the operator. Besides, if the government wants, it can intervene by providing subsidy. But these fares will be binding on MMOPL to implement as per the Act,” the expert said.

In a bizarre development, seven debt-ridden farmers, among them three women, in Maharashtra’s Wardha district have sought the administration’s “permission” to commit suicide.

“The situation has become so bad that these seven peasants have approached the district officials requesting their green signal to end their lives,” said Kishore Tiwari, president of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an NGO working for farmers’ rights.

Kishore Ingale, Bhanudas Wadadkar, Pankaj Gawande, Shankar Khadse, and the women farmers – Kundabai Lonkar, Kamala Warhade and Vasanta Gingavkar – from Wadad village, have been running from pillar to post since January for the aid promised by the Maharashtra government, he said.

Around 10 days ago, these farmers wrote letters and simply walked down to the local tehsildar (government revenue department officer) to submit to them a memorandum, seeking their “clearance” to commit suicide.

They got an official acknowledgement to their “suicide permission letters” from the amused officials, which they submitted to the collector’s office and got another acknowledgement, Tiwari said.

As per government norms, the farmers are entitled to an aid of around Rs.4,000 per head for crop losses they suffered due to hailstorms, droughts and floods last year.

“For over six months, the money remains locked up in bank accounts as the district authorities are not clearing the disbursal. This is now forcing the farmers to write letters and ask for ‘clearance’ before committing suicide,” Tiwari said.

In the meantime, the current dry spell in the state has damaged around 70 percent of sown crops, and claimed 23 lives in the past 12 days.

These include seven from Yavatmal, five from Amravati, four from Wardha, two each from Akola and Buldhana, one each from Bhandara, Chandrapur and Washim districts.

The dry spell and crop losses are estimated at around Rs.8,000-10,000 per acre, pushing the farmers into deeper debt traps.