Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced financial assistance of Rs 100 crore for Raigad district, which bore the brunt of cyclone ‘Nisarga’ three days ago.
Thackeray made the announcement while on a visit to Alibaug taluka of Raigad district, around 110km from Mumbai, to take stock of the situation.
The CM said he had given orders for expeditious assessment of damage caused by the cyclone which made landfall in the coastal district on Wednesday afternoon.
High-speed winds accompanied by rains caused large- scale damage in coastal areas of the district.
“This assistance (of Rs 100 crore) will be given for emergency relief. This is just a beginning. Don’t call it a package,” he said.
Thackeray said the coronavirus threat can increase because of rain.
“We have to stop other rain-related ailments as well. We will not leave any one in the lurch. Restoring electricity supply, telecommunications and house repairs is our priority,” he said.
चक्रीवादळाच्या संकटातून बाहेर पडलो तरीही कोरोनाचं संकट गेलेलं नाही. अनेक ठिकाणी पडझड झाली आहे, त्याची साफसफाई करावी लागेल, झाडाचा पाला कुजेल, जनावरे दुर्दैवाने मृत्युमुखी पडले असेल तर सडण्याची शक्यता आहे, त्यातून रोगराई होण्याची शक्यता आहे, ही साफसफाई लवकर झाली पाहिजे. pic.twitter.com/LXcN6vN8zN
Thackeray, who arrived in Alibaug from Mumbai, was accompanied by guardian ministers of Mumbai suburbs and city, Aaditya Thackeray and Aslam Shaikh, respectively.
Raigad guardian minister Aditi Tatkare and district collector Nidhi Chaudhary briefed the CM about the post- cyclone situation.
The Supreme Court on Friday said it intends to give 15 days to the Centre and states for transporting all stranded migrant labourers to their native places, commencing hearing on their plight during the Covid-19 lockdown period.
The Supreme Court was hearing in suo motu PIL over the plight of migrant workers.
The court said, “What we intend to do is we will give you and the states 15 days’ time to transport all migrants. All states will bring on record how they will provide employment and other kind of relief. There should be registration of the migrants.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government has transported an approximate of 1 crore migrant labourers so far.
“By road 41 lakh migrant labourers have been transported and 57 lakhs by train,” he said.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, who was representing the Delhi government, told the court that around 2 lakh workers are still in Delhi. He said, “They are choosing not to go back. Less than 10,000 workers have expressed desire to go back to their native places”.
The Uttar Pradesh government also made a similar statement in the court.
Senior advocate PS Narasimha, who was appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said, “At no point of time did the state charge the migrant labourers. Obligation of states is two-fold. We have to send those migrants back who were in UP as well. 104 special trains were organized to send back 1.35 lakh people.”
The UP government also said, “There are no persons who want to leave. People who are original residents of UP are working in different parts of the country. 5.50 lakhs migrant labourers were brought from Delhi borders and buses did more than 10,000 trips.”
“1,664 Shramik Special trains were organised in an extraordinary measure and 21.69 lakh people were brought back to the state,” the government has said.
With a trend of steady decline in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, the average daily growth rate of infections has gone down, claimed officials of the city civic body, spearheading the metropolis’s response to the pandemic.
According to a top Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official, as per the data till June 2, the average daily growth of COVID-19 cases went down from more than 8 per cent a few days ago to 3.64 per cent.
Till June 2, a total of 41,986 COVID-19 cases and 1,368 deaths were recorded in the city, the worst-hit by the disease in Maharashtra.
According to the BMC, it has conducted over 2.08 lakh tests till June 2, of those only 20.18 per cent people tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Even the COVID-19 case doubling rate has gone up to 19 days,” said the official.
According to BMC’s health department data, in the past one month, the maximum number of cases, 1,739, on a single-day were detected on May 22, while the minimum, 404, was recorded on May 13.
Another senior BMC official said, the daily number of cases are seeing a declining trend with the count remaining below 1,500 on most of the days since May 22.
According to the officials, due to aggressive screening, testing and contact tracing of suspected COVID-19 patients, the civic body has been successful in keeping the spread of the pandemic under control.
Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora has in a letter to the Union government urged it “to arrange trains for bringing migrant workers” who wish to come back from their home states and join work as industrial units have resumed their operations.
He further informed that the Punjab government had even sent buses to ferry the labourers back to the state and “two such buses have already reached Hoshiarpur today.”
Arora also urged Chief Ministers of other states to purchase PPE kits manufactured in Punjab to fight coronavirus.
“I had written another letter to all Chief Ministers of other states to purchase masks and PPE kits being manufactured by Punjab’s textile industry. At present, 103 units are manufacturing approved PPE kits in the state,” he said.
He stated that “for the benefit of industry, new industrial parks, near Mandi Gobindgarh, Mattewara (Ludhiana), Rajpura (Patiala), Mohali and Bathinda are also in the offing.”
Arora also claimed that during the lockdown/curfew, the industry was given several relaxations by the Punjab government and more such relaxations will be given in the future.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday pitched for collective efforts to ensure that the planet becomes a better place for future generations. “On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we reiterate our pledge to preserve our planet’s rich biodiversity. Let us collectively do whatever possible to ensure the flora and fauna with whom we share the Earth thrive,” he wrote on Twitter.
“May we leave an even better planet for the coming generations,” he said.
Modi also shared a brief video of his latest “Mann ki Baat” programme in which he had referred to World Environment Day.
“The theme this year is biodiversity…(it) is especially pertinent in the current circumstances. During lockdown in the last few weeks the pace of life may have slowed down a bit but it has also given us an opportunity to introspect upon the rich diversity of nature or biodiversity around us,” he had said.
On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we reiterate our pledge to preserve our planet’s rich biodiversity. Let us collectively do whatever possible to ensure the flora and fauna with whom we share the Earth thrive. May we leave an even better planet for the coming generations. pic.twitter.com/nPBMthR1kr
Much of the avian fauna had sort of disappeared due to sound and air pollution, and now after years people can once again listen to their melodic chirping in their homes, Modi had said.
He had also pitched for saving rainwater, saying the traditional conservation methods are in the form of very simple remedies, and employing these “we can tap the water”.
He also urged people to plant trees and make resolutions so that a daily relationship with nature can be forged.
Temperature is on the rise, so do not forget to “facilitate water for the birds,” he said.
Roaming out of the house without wearing a mask? Delhi police have now been authorised to fine those who are found without wearing a mask on the streets. As per the orders of the Lieutenant Governor, the Delhi Police will now fine Rs 500 to all those who do not wear masks while moving out of their house.
Coronavirus cases in Delhi have crossed 25,000 while the death toll has mounted to 650.
The number of active cases in Delhi has risen to 14,456 while 9,898 people have recovered after contracting the virus.
After the relaxation of lockdown and reopening of religious places and all places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and hospitality services and all shopping malls which has been permitted to re-open from June 8 onwards. Mumbai is witnessing traffic jam; one big rain exposes BMC and with several waterlogs. Mumbai witnesses outpouring traffic on first day of ‘Unlock One’.
These guidelines will be effective till June 30 and the first phase is set to have an economic focus. The Home Ministry has lifted almost all restrictions placed under the lockdown, however, the right to implement relaxations has been put on state governments considering the prevalent COVID-19 situation in their respective states. Western Expressway and Eastern Express Highway, Sion-Panvel Road, Sion Vegetable Market, Vakola and Goregaon saw huge traffic, traffic police expecting further more surge in traffic.
The Ministry of Health shall also issue and SOP for the resumption of operations. In the second phase, schools, colleges, educational/training/coaching institutions will be resumed after consultation with respective states and Union Territories. The decision on the re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July based on the feedback of parents and other stakeholders.
The third phase shall determine the opening of certain activities that will continue to remain prohibited until stated otherwise which include air travel, metro rail, cinema halls, gymnasiums, bars, auditoriums, entertainment parks, large social/political gatherings etc. Mumbai witnessed a huge surge of traffic on day one as the city marked the first day of “Mission Begin Again” on Monday. The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier issued a new set of guidelines to facilitate the phase-wise dilution of the extended lockdown.
There was long lockdown, people are in hurry to get back to their bread earning. Almost all the reserves got absorbed in this unplanned long lockdown. Monsoon has arrived but exposed the authorities and government with one pouring. The city’s buying cars faster than it’s building roads. The number of vehicles on Mumbai’s roads has increased in thousands while the city’s total road length has not increased accordingly, even if the roads are increased in the recent past the population has over grown in the city, so controlling traffic is actually a faraway thing. A 10 per cent increase in car population increases parking woes by 25 per cent and traffic congestion by around 20 per cent. There is a need to implement schemes that put a premium on using vehicles in Mumbai. These schemes include the Bus Rapid Transport System and increased parking charges. The study said the number of vehicles in the Mumbai metropolitan region is expected to reach 75 lakhs by 2024. New York has 50 lakh vehicles while Beijing has 20 lakhs. Well, Mumbai will always remain jam and monsoon is another challenge to control the roadblock.
Massive traffic queues across the city, especially in areas that are badly flooded including Dadar, Parel, Sion, Andheri, Jogeshwari and Santacruz. Residents complained that brand new water pumping stations on which the civic body spent 200 crores failed to work after being damaged by rocks. Mumbai has once again stuck in water. BMC has been silent over the news this monsoon. This is strange. Every year, there is at least one picture of a BMC worker who is working towards clearing the choked drainage, the silent messages depicted in pictures but what is the point in it? Every year Government is making budgets for drainage and those people are doing their jobs. The ever-procrastinating people, who are not answerable to anybody, waste much of government funds. Thankfully, the privatization has spurred those workers to work hard and be answerable. For example, the railways, people working for the railways are now ‘lesser’ corrupt, they are, I would not defy it but the point of escalations has been brought up a higher scale.
Just one or two rains hit Mumbai, but look at the conditions around, Railways station escalators are not protected against weather, there are water logs everywhere on the stations to metro and skywalk, tiles are broken and holes everywhere. Of course, there are attempts being made to ‘advance’ the facilities to passengers by installing escalators worth nearly 80 lakhs per set, which can speed up enough to cope with the rising demand of hurry for citizens. Ideally the escalators powerful enough and requires more electricity than an elevator, depending on the number of people who join in. So, what next? Fair of railway tickets too gone up, again that is the price we all are willing to pay for the facility given in return.
Scenario for railways commuters does require their employees to be disciplined and firm in their actions but someone should also keep up with the ownership to help railways spend our money, wisely. More money spending schemes are coming up! Mumbai is also billed to have protected the monumental buildings. There are over 110 monuments in the city and each is derived in their own style, each of them needs protection in their own style and each style needs a special approach. Although, right now only the data is being compiled to know which monument will need what kind of facility for protection. We can witness that Taj Mahal has been going ‘yellowish’ and many credited the ‘acid rains’, earlier, which are mainly caused due to factories using thermal energy where the combustion rate of coal used is not even near 90%.
Whenever it pours thousands of commuters leaving for offices gets caught unaware on reaching the suburban railway stations as trains gets cancelled due to waterlogging of tracks, as services on all three railway lines – Central, Western and Harbour – always gets cancelled. As every year, the civic body issues flood alert and keeps silent on their preparations. Large parts of Mumbai, including the central, western and eastern suburbs get flooded, and traffic comes to a standstill. Water levels at 91 major reservoirs nationwide are the lowest in a decade – no more than 29 per cent, water levels at Indian reservoirs are 71 per cent of last year, or 74 per cent of average storage over the last decade, the CWC data reveal.
The 91 major reservoirs contain 157.8 billion cubic metre (BCM) of water; the capacity of these reservoirs is 250 BCM. Another 400 BCM water is available for irrigation in India through groundwater, according to this answer given by the government in the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Parliament) in July 2015. July 2016 is on course to witness the worst water scarcity in a decade, and the waterlogs too would be much more as Sena-BJP wasted their entire tenure just accusing alleging each other but none really bothered to care for the city. Then the BJP Government came up with Minister centric apps, they were talking about “Aache Din” to “Badal Raha India” but in reality, nothing has moved, even after coming to power and ruling for five long years they were blaming previous government’s inefficiency. Well, the BJP came and gone out of power doing nothing much towards waterlogs and potholes. Now its new government Maha Vikas Aghadi, they are yet to tackle COVID-19 cases and rain water has arrived with new challenge to them, hope this government lives up to our expectations.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, known for his relatable, light as soufflé brand of cinema with films such as ‘Rajnigandha’ and “Chitchor”, died on Thursday following age related health issues. He was 93. Chatterjee, who is survived by his daughters Sonali Bhattacharya and Rupali Guha, died in his sleep at his Santacruz residence.
‘He passed away peacefully in his sleep in the morning. He hadn’t been keeping well for quite a while due to old age problems and died at his residence. It’s a great loss for the film industry,’ Ashoke Pandit, president of the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA), told a news agency.
The last rites of the filmmaker, who blazed a middle-of-the-road trail in the 1970s and 1980s, will be performed at the Santacruz crematorium, Pandit said.
Many people in the film industry and outside condoled the death of the director, who placed the middle class and its everyday joys and struggles at the centre of his cinematic world.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, ‘Saddened at the demise of legendary film director and screenwriter Basu Chatterjee. He gave us gems like ‘Chhoti Si Baat’, ‘Chitchor’, ‘Rajanigandha’, ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’, ‘Rajni’ among others. Condolences to his family, friends, fans & the entire film fraternity.’ Filmmaker Hansal Mehta said Chatterjee leaves behind a great legacy of cinema gems.
‘Basu Chatterjee moves on. For me very few see the lighter side of life like he did. All his films have a smirk on their faces. I’m a big fan. and I have ‘Kahaani 2′ to prove it,’ said “Kahaani” director Sujoy Ghosh said.
Chatterjee began as a cartoonist in a tabloid but changed his career path after assisting Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman starrer “Teesri Kasam”.
Sad to hear of the demise of Shri Basu Chatterjee. His works are brilliant and sensitive. It touched people's hearts and represented the simple and complex emotions, as well as struggles of people. Condolences to his family and innumerable fans. Om Shanti.
T 3552 – Prayers and Condolences on the passing of Basu Chatterjee .. a quiet, soft spoken, gentle human .. his films reflected the lives of middle India .. did 'MANZIL' with him .. a sad loss .. ? .. in these climes often remembered for 'rim jhim gire saawan'
Saddened at the demise of legendary film director and screenwriter Basu Chatterjee. He gave us gems like 'Chhoti Si Baat', 'Chitchor', 'Rajanigandha', 'Byomkesh Bakshi', 'Rajni' among others. Condolences to his family, friends, fans & the entire film fraternity
The two Basus along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee formed the Hindi cinema triumvirate whose ethos lay firmly in the middle class and its day-to-day struggles at a time when most of Bollywood was focused on larger-than-life stories of angst and tragedy led by Amitabh Bachchan.
Actors like Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab were the stars that were favoured by Chatterjee to tell aspiring stories of the middle class.
His cinema was progressive for the times, unhurried and a slice of everyday life — about conversations over cups of chai and romances blossoming in public buses, trains and office buildings.
Some of his best-known works are ‘Us Paar’, ‘Chitchor’, ‘Piya Ka Ghar’, ‘Khatta Meetha’ and ‘Baton Baton Mein’.
After struggling through lockdowns, with a flood of new concerns and tensions, it’s finally time to rest. It is certain that a sign of ‘normalcy’ is to return to our wounded earth and the environment, so this time, to celebrate World Environment Day, we should come together and work towards the betterment of this planet.
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is ‘Time for Nature’. To celebrate life, various species, imperatives Earth supplies us free of charge, and to know this planet well, once again, we must dive into the infinite wisdom acquired through research and innovations. And once again, we must unravel the team, resolve, and work to improve the environment that frustrates us.
The coronavirus is a kind of signal in today’s time, which leads us to the beauty of nature. This gives us an indication that if we want a clean and safe climate in this way, then in the future we will have to practice for an even bigger lockdown at our level, but without viruses like Covid-19. It also indicates that if we do not respect the rights of the environment, then we have to be ready to face the brunt of pandemics like Covid-19.
Global carbon emissions from the fossil fuel industry – the fossil fuse industry – could be reduced by a record 5 percent this year to 2.5 billion tonnes. The peak of the Coronavirus epidemic has caused the biggest drop in demand for this fossil fuel. Not only this, because of the epidemic, but unprecedented restrictions on travel, work, and industries have also ensured good days with good quality air even in our crumbling cities. In this sequence, the pollution and greenhouse gas emission levels have fallen in all continents.
The coronavirus epidemic has caused a global decrease in economic activity, although this is a major cause for concern, the reduction of human activities does have a positive effect on the environment. Now see, these days the number of industrial and transport emissions and waste generation has come down and the average data is working to clear the pollutants in the atmosphere, soil, and water. This effect is also in contrast to carbon emissions, which rose to 5 percent after the global financial crash a decade ago.
The month of May, which typically records peak carbon emissions due to leaf decomposition, recorded what the minimum levels of pollutants in the air could be after the 2008 financial crisis. Not only India, but China and Northern Italy have also recorded a significant reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels in their country. As a result of the lockdown, there has been a tremendous improvement in the Air Quality Index in major cities of the world in March and April. The quality of air has improved substantially due to the formation of carbon dioxide (III 2), nitrogen oxide (Hr &), and related ozone (Hr 3) and reduced factory and road traffic emissions in particulate matter. At the same time, water bodies are also being cleaned and rivers like Yamuna and Ganga have shown very significant improvements since the implementation of a nationwide lockout.
In this situation, when all nations are almost shut in the shadow of the coronavirus, better implementation of environmental, transport and industry regulations have proved useful in reducing the hormonal effects of human activities on the environment, although such developments have led to global production. , Have given huge economic and social shocks in consumption and employment levels, but issues like air pollution and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are also related to this, so as long as the coronavirus crisis continues to reduce economic activity, carbon emissions are relatively Will be less If seen, this is a big and sustainable environmental improvement.
Deaths due to exposure to air pollution at the global level are almost equal in proportion to epidemics with 7 million deaths every year.
There should be a wake-up call in India to overcome this problem. Yes, although the method of lockdown is not an ideal way to reduce air pollution, in the present condition it proves that air pollution is man-made and now we have also come to know that we are the only people who reduce pollution can do. The current coronavirus crisis is giving India opportunities to invest in a clean energy future, we have to capitalize on this opportunity. Short-term climate pollutants – including black carbon, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone – are all-powerful climate cancers that promote global warming. They also significantly affect food, water, and economic security for large populations around the world. The effects of short-term climate pollutants represent a major development issue that seeks quick and significant global action, reducing short-term climate pollutant emissions. Mitigation measures are often accessible and cost-effective, and if implemented quickly, can prove to be immediately beneficial to the health and livelihood of millions of people along with the climate.
Through science on climate change, we have failed to recognize the danger to the public, which has led to the widespread denial of facts. The loss of habitat and biodiversity creates conditions for deadly viruses spreading in human communities and diseases such as Covid-19 and if we continue to destroy our land, we will also destroy the necessary resources we have, and thereby Our agricultural systems will also get a deep push.
There is no doubt that the drastic steps taken on climate change can reduce food and water shortages, natural disasters, and sea-level rise, thereby ensuring the safety of countless individuals and communities. is. Around the world, healthy people are changing their lifestyles to protect more sensitive people in their community. Similar dedication to climate change can drastically change our energy consumption.
In general – digging up fossil fuels, cutting forests, and igniting health for profit, convenience, and consumption – is fueling destructive climate change. Now the time has come when precautionary steps should be taken to protect our earth by looking at the present conditions. From this perspective, the coronavirus is a symptom, a sign, that leads us to the beauty of nature. This gives us an indication that if we want a clean and safe climate like this, then in the future we will have to practice for even bigger lockdowns at our level, but without viruses like Covid-19. This indicates that if we do not respect the rights of the environment, then we have to be ready to face the brunt of pandemics like Covid-19.
Now the time has come, we need to hear the call of Mother Earth. If we have given our mother the status of our earth, then we have to deal with her mother like spirit. Otherwise, we have to bear the pain of the prophecy of Stephen Hawking, the greatest scientist of the modern age, and the astronomer who solved many mysteries of the universe. He believed that the days of us humans on earth are now complete. We have spent a million years here. The age of the Earth is now only two hundred to five hundred years. After this, either a comet will come from somewhere and hit it or the heat of the sun is going to swallow it or some epidemic will come and this earth will be empty.
According to Hawking, if a man has to survive for one or one million years more, he will have to take refuge on another planet except for Earth. Now, which planet will it be, it is yet to be discovered The pace of this quest is very slow at the moment. Looking at the rapid pace of the Earth’s weather, temperature and the conditions of life here, there is no reason to not trust his prediction, but yes after Lockdown the way the condition of our Earth and the surrounding climate Changed, because of that, if we still take a lesson towards nature, a lot can change.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora has in a letter to the Union government urged it “to arrange trains for bringing migrant workers” who wish to come back from their home states and join work as industrial units have resumed their operations.
