Tag: prithviraj chavan

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Four Campa Cola residents go on hunger strike

Campa Cola building society is about a week from demolition; residents want CM Prithviraj Chavan to intervene in the matter.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

With just one week to go before the demolition of their homes, four Campa Cola residents today went on an indefinite hunger strike till Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan intervenes to save them from being homeless.

The Campa Cola demolition issue is about to take centrestage once again as the demolition date nears. The apartments were constructed on land leased to Pure Drinks Ltd in 1955, which was permitted by the BMC in 1980 to develop it for residential purposes. Without getting the plans approved, Pure Drinks, along with builders Yusuf Patel, BK Gupta and PSB Construction Co. erected seven buildings, two of which were high-rise buildings of 17 and 20 stories. During the construction period, the authorities issued notices to the builders to stop work. The builders were fined and they paid the penalty and resumed work. After the construction was completed nobody prevented the buyers from occupying their apartments or the buildings from forming co-operative housing societies.

Four Campa Cola residents go on hunger strike

Unaware of these violations, the residents bought the apartments believing that they would get the occupation certificates in due course, as was the norm 25 years ago. Since 2005 the residents have been in litigation with B.M.C. trying to defend their homes and save their families from being thrown on the streets.

The four residents who are on hunger strike are Kamal Parikh, (42), Surendra Kumar Daga (49), Vinaychand Hirawat (67) and Kapoorchand Daga (67). The residents have also requested CM Chavan to intervene in the matter and come up with a solution to save the homes and lives of hundreds of residents.

Vinaychand Hirawat said, “So far the Chief Minister has been very cooperative with us and everyone here is expecting a positive response from him. We have taken this drastic step as we do not have much time and we don’t know what lies in store for us. As days are passing by, our fear and heartbeats are rising. We are unable to sleep and neither we are able to concentrate on our daily routine work. This is our last attempt to save our homes.”

Apart from these four residents who are on a hunger strike, other residents are planning a one day relay hunger strike.

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How well do you know our Raj Bhavans?

Two coffee table books on State’s three Raj Bhavans to be launched; will be uploaded on the Raj Bhavan website.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The most enviable private residence in Mumbai is, without doubt, the Maharashtra State Governor’s home, the Raj Bhavan. The Governor has three Raj Bhavans in Maharashtra – Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune – and a summer residence at Mahabaleshwar.

But since these are closed off to the general public and are open only to visiting heads of countries and occasionally the members of the Press, not many are aware of just how stunning these official residences really are. Now, everyone has a chance to feast their eyes on the palatial Raj Bhavans in Maharashtra; the State’s CM Prithviraj Chavan will formally launch two coffee table books on Raj Bhavan on Thursday, October 17. The books, one in English and the other in Marathi, document the heritage, architecture, flora and fauna and other interesting aspects of all the Raj Bhavans in Maharashtra through a series of stunning photographs. The English book is titled Raj Bhavans of Maharashtra: Witness to Glory and the Marathi one is titled Maharashtrateel Rajbhavaney: Vaibhavshali Itihasachi Saakshidaar.

The books will be presented as souvenirs to national and international dignitaries visiting Raj Bhavan, and will be shortly uploaded on the Raj Bhavan website.

See some of the pictures from the books:

(Pictures courtesy Sudharak Olwe)

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CM allows music up to midnight during Ganeshotsav

But cautions that sound norms may not be flouted; Ganesh mandals have requested that norms be relaxed during the festival.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Ganesh mandals meet with the CMGaneshotsav comes to the city on September 9 this year, and mandals across the city are gearing up to welcome the elephant god. A meeting yesterday between mandals and the Chief Minister of the State, Prithviraj Chavan, was held to discuss various issues related to the festival, prominent among those being the relaxing of sound norms during the 10 days of the festival.

While the Government gave no immediate assurance on this front, the CM is learnt to have allowed mandals to play traditional music “within reasonable sound limits” till midnight for all 10 days of the festival. Recently, the BMC too, had issued an appeal to mandals to not play music beyond midnight on any of the 10 days of the festival.

Overall, Chavan is learnt to have taken a soft stand against Ganpati mandals in the city. “There were mandals that met with police trouble last year, over law and order problems and over noise pollution norms. If such mandals write to the Government appealing that the charges against them be dropped, the Government will look at the case sympathetically,” he reportedly said. Chavan is also equally sympathetic about new Ganpati mandals mushrooming in the city after Ganeshotsav 2012, and has asked the BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte to consider each new case.

Apart from these, Chavan has asked that all mandals help in spreading awareness about the issues, especially terrorism, that currently plague the city. He also wants the BMC to set up CCTV surveillance of visarjan areas, that police train each of the major idol sites in safety, and that monitoring agencies should immediately apprehend those selling spurious mawa and milk during the festival.

(Pictures courtesy DGIPR and mmclaughlin11.wordpress.com)

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Over 800 from Maharashtra still stranded in Uttarakhand

Maharashtra CM camps out at Dehradun to monitor relief efforts; about 475 tourists from State are still stuck at Badrinath.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Even as intermittent rains lash the area and the Indian Army fights the elements to rescue as many people as they can find, important politicos are making way to Uttarakhand to take stock of the numbers of their citizens still missing or not found.

Prithviraj Chavan meets Vijay Bahuguna at DehradunMaharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been camping out at Dehradun since last night. This morning, his office gave out current information for Maharashtra, after Chavan had had discussions with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

As per official records, of the 2,949 Maharashtra tourists and pilgrims stuck in Uttarakhand following extremely heavy rains that caused unprecedented flooding, 2,100 have been rescued. Over 200 people from the State area are also reported to be missing. A total of over 10,000 tourists and pilgrims are still stranded, of which about 475 tourists and pilgrims from Maharashtra are said to be still stranded at Badrinath, where the current phase of rescue ops is underway. Bahuguna is said to have conveyed to Chavan that Maharashtra has provided ample help for the rescue operations. Last week, the Maharashtra Government announced a corpus of Rs 10 crore for relief and rescue at Uttarakhand.

Meanwhile, heavy rains and fresh landslides hampered rescue operations today. “Only the army helicopters can access Badrinath in these conditions, since most roads have been washed away,” Bahuguna said. “The Badrinath valley is also quite narrow, so access is very limited. We are waiting for weather conditions to slightly improve before more reinforcements can be sent in.” Reports have also just come in that Uttarakhand will now allow rescue ops to be carried out by other State Governments.

(Pictures courtesy CMO, Maharashtra and www.indianexpress.com)

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Kharcha paani

Maha CM wants Chinese industries in State

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan throws the door open for Chinese investment in industry in Mumbai and Maharashtra’s economically backward areas.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Maharashtra State Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is eyeing Chinese investment into Mumbai and Maharashtra. After previous visits from British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande, it was the turn of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to visit Mumbai yesterday.

During the visit, Chavan sought China’s help in creating various industrial corridors in Maharashtra. Apart from this, he solicited Chinese investment in the State’s economically backward areas to create employment opportunities. “The State’s textile policy is open and conducive to foreign investment,” Chavan is said to have told Li during their meeting in Mumbai. “Maharashtra is the second-largest producer of cotton in the country, and we have the technical expertise and machinery required for a major textile operation. China can invest in this ‘value chain’,” he said.

The State is also open to providing land at Chakan (near Pune) for Chinese industries. “If Chinese companies are sufficiently interested to set up factories here, we can create Special Investment Zones in the area for them. There are a few Chinese companies operational in Maharashtra, and they are doing well in building construction and vehicle manufacturing. We would like China to set up plants that manufacture heavy vehicles for India,” Chavan said.

Additionally, Chavan sought China’s know-how in providing basic services to citizens, such as water supply, solid waste management and drainage.

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Asha Bhosale gives Rs 5 lakh for drought relief

The Maharashtra State Government has already received upwards of Rs 116 crore via donations from within the State and without.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The State of Maharashtra has responded well to the Government’s call for help to supplement its efforts in combating the drought situation that the State is currently facing. Hearteningly, a little over Rs 116 crore has been collected already, via donations from students, artists, businesspersons, banks, NGOs and Trusts, and private individuals.

Today, noted playback singer Asha Bhosale visited Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan at his official residence, Varsha, to hand over a cheque of Rs 5,00,000 towards drought relief. Of this, Rs 1,00,000 was the prize money she won at the recently-held Hridayesh Arts event, which commemorated her contribution to the film industry. The rest was contributed by Bhosale.

“It is our fundamental duty to contribute for those who are affected by the ongoing drought crisis in the State. All of us must help the Government in the relief efforts it is carrying out,” she said while handing over the cheque to Chavan.

The biggest donations thus far – both Rs 25 crore each – have come from the Mumbai-based Siddhivinayak Trust and the Shirdi-based Shri Saibaba Sansthan.

(Picture courtesy DGIPR, Mantralaya, Mumbai)

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