The Dynamic Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai

Thursday, 18 February 2021

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 214 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE

Pages 8 • Price 2www.newsband.in

By Ryhea George

The residents of sec-tor- 16, Kharghar

and the city environ-mentalists have raised alarm over illegal shrimp farming, which is being carried out at a pond in Sector 16, behind Vastu Vihar Society, Kharghar. The residents say that the pond, which was full of water, has been il-legally dried up by few farmers for prawn and shrimp farming.

An animal activist, Seema Tank, had raised this issue a few weeks back with the officials of the Panvel City Mu-

nicipal Corporation (PCMC) and had even written letters to them as well as to the officials of the City and Industrial Development Corpora-

tion (CIDCO). But till date there has been no action against the cul-prits, she says.

Kharghar residents raise concern over illegal shrimp farming

Rising incidents of suicide among police officials: A cause for

concernThe suicide of

Assistant Inspector of Police, Bhushan Pawar and Constable San-tosh Patil of Navi Mumbai Police within a short span of time has once again brought to the fore the immense stress that the police officers are facing and its ef-fect on their mental health. Both the suicides have been at-tributed to the growing stress on the police and growing incidents of depression among them...

(More on page 3)

Agro Society Gar-den's Basant Utsav

evokes good re-sponse from citizens

‘Basant Utsav 2021’ which was held on Sunday at Agro Society Garden in sec-tor 9, CBD, Belapur evoked huge response from the citizens. This year Basant Utsav, the annual event hosted by the members of Agro Society garden was more of an awareness and educative event amid fun and frolic. More than 300 people came to attend the event and also took part in butterfly and vegetable garden trails at the society’s fully bloom vegetable and fruit garden…

(More on page 8)

Follow Covid 19 rules or face lockdown: CM Uddhav Thackeray

CONTINUED ON PAGE... 5

CONTINUED ON PAGE... 6

By Chandrashekhar Hendve

While expressing concern over the

indifference shown to-wards Covid 19 guide-lines issued by the state government, Chief Min-ister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray di-rected the administration to strictly implement the rules (SOP) for corona control and take punitive action against those who are found to be violating rules. “Use masks, avoid crowds, otherwise you will have to face lock-down again,” said Mr. Thackeray.

Alarmed by the rising number of Covid 19 cas-es in some districts of the state, the Chief Minister held a meeting with all the Divisional Commis-sioners, Collectors, Mu-nicipal Commissioners, District Police Chiefs through tele-vision sys-tem. Deputy Chief Min-ister Ajit Pawar, Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar and members of

the task force were pres-ent on the occasion.

Reviewing the dis-tricts, Chief Minister Mr. Thackeray said that due to the decline in the num-ber of corona patients in the last few months, the citizens have adopted a casual approach towards the Covid 19 protocols. “Even if there is slack-ness in people, don't let it get into the systems,” stressed CM Thackeray and directed the local administration to strictly enforce the rules.

“Agitations, meet-ings, processions should not be allowed and the system should check whether the attendance limit is observed at the wedding ceremony,” said Mr. Thackeray. He also said that contin-gency zones should be set up in the areas where the number of patients is increasing.

The Mahatma Jotiba Phule Jan Aarogya Yoja-

Alarmed by the rising number of positive Covid 19 cases in some districts,

a review meeting was held

Demand action from authorities as aquatic life is under threat

By Abhitash D. Singh

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpora-

tion (NMMC) will be presenting its budget for the financial year 2021-22 on Thurs-day, February 18, 2021. Speaking with the Newsband the NMMC Public Re-lationship Officer, Mahendra Konde said, "The budget will be tabled on 18th February. De-tailed discussions on it were held on 17th Feb-ruary."

Earlier in the finan-

cial year 2020-21, the property tax collection of the civic body was badly affected due to the outbreak of the pandem-ic. However, despite in-

curring losses, the civic body has decided not to increase any taxes.

The civic body last

year had presented the Rs 1.09 crore surplus budget. The earlier bud-get had stressed on civic works, waste manage-ment, e-governance,

health and educa-tion. The year 2020, passed without any major work due to Covid-19 pandemic. In the financial year 2021-22, many ma-jor works are likely to be undertaken by the civic body.

NMMC is also likely to spend a major chunk on improving health infra-structure in the city.

NMMC to present 2021-22 budget

on ThursdayMajor emphasis will be on improving health infrastructure

2 Thursday, 18 February 2021

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ATTENTION READERS: While every effort is made to check the genuineness of party/parties inserting ads in this paper, we cannot be held responsible for the truthfulness of its contents. The publishers, Editor and/or the staff cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage due to transactions that they may enter into guided by the ads.

By Dinesh Pawar

The idol of lord Ga-nesha was installed

at the residence of BJP Transport Association Raigad District Presi-dent Sudhir Gharat and Mrs. Shailja Sudhir Gharat.

On this occasion, BJP leader PJ Patil, La-bour leader Suresh Patil, JNPT trustee Dinesh Pa-

til, National Indian Trade Union leader Appa Dhu-mal and dignitaries took blessings of the lord.

By Chandrasekhar Hendve

Uran Muktai Mahila Utkarsh Mandal

and Mukta Salve Ma-hila Samuh jointly or-ganized Haldi-Kumkum programme at Raigad Zilla Parishad School, Nagaon, Taluka Uran.

The event was attended by women from both the groups. Ranjana Charudat Patil-Sarpanch Nagaon, Seema Anant Gharat-Shekap Uran Taluka President, Nita Vijay Daur-Women Police, Sweety Ram-

chandra Tike-Women Police, Kanchan Kille-dar-Teacher, Dr. Aparna Rahul Sathe, Sangita Sachin Dhere-Samaj as Chief Guest Sevika, Su-man Mhatre, Vinaya As-wale-CRP and 65 other women were present.

Glimpse of Lord Ganesha

Women honoured during Haldi-Kumkum event

By Vkram Gaikwad“Road safety campaign should not

be limited just for a month. It is an ongoing task. The campaign will not be successful without the cooperation from all sections of the society. We need to work towards an accident-free city as well as an accident-free India,” said Police Commissioner Bipin Ku-mar Singh. He was speaking during the closing ceremony of the 32nd Road Safety Campaign organized by the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner-ate and Regional Transport Office that was held on Wednesday at Vishnudas Bhave Natyagriha in Vashi.

Panvel RTO Regional Trans-port Officer Abhay Deshpande, Ad-ditional Commis-sioner of Police Dr. BG Shekhar Patil, well-known singer-songwriter Shankar Mahade-van, actor Swapnil Joshi, puppet artist Satyajit Padhye, Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Pravin Kumar Patil, Circle-1 Deputy Commissioner of Police Suresh Mengde, Purushottam Karad, Deputy Commissioner, Trans-port Department, Rupali Ambure, Deputy Commissioner, Special Branch and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Commissioner of Police further

said that Navi Mumbai is a planned city and the traffic system in this city should be in the same manner. "Every-one needs to work together to make the city a better place," he said. “It is not the intention of the police to harass the offending drivers by levying fines on them, but to ensure that they comply with the traffic rules. About 7 to 8 lakh drivers violating traffic rules are pros-ecuted by the traffic police throughout the year,” he said.

He appealed to the citizens to abide

by the traffic rules and cooperate with the traffic police. Abhay Deshpande, Regional Transport Officer, Panvel RTO, said that in order to prevent road accidents, everyone needs to follow self-discipline.

Well known singer, composer Shankar Mahadevan sung songs in his own style and appealed to follow the traffic rules. He also appreciated the various initiatives undertaken by the traffic police.

Everyone should make effort to make city accident free: NM Police Commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh

Youngsters in the city practice Lezim on the eve of Shiv Jayanti that marks the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who was the creator and founder of the Maratha Empire. To be celebrated on 19th February, the celebrations are expected to be a low profile affair this year, follow-ing Maharashtra government’s order issuing guidelines of not allowing gathering of more than 100 people in order to avoid outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The guideline further urges citizens to conduct health related activities instead, including blood donation camps and create awareness about various diseases like Malaria, Dengue, Corona along with their preventive measures as well as hygiene. (Text and Photo by Ashok Dhamija)

Gearing up for Shivaji JayantiI have changed my name from DIPANSHI DHARMEN-DRA RANE to DIPANKSHI DHARMENDRA RANE as per Maharashtra Government Gazette Reg No. M-20108861 dated 11 - 17 February 2021.

CHANGE OF NAME

3Thursday, 18 February 2021

By Abhitash D.Singh

The city bases ac-tivists, Tejas Patil

and Advocate Chetan Patil have alleged that the stay order that had been issued by the for-mer Chief Minister of Maharashtra, De-vendra Fadnavis on June 11, 2019 on the proposed Mus-lim burial ground on plot no.10 in Sector-18 Ghansoli is being flouted. The former CM had given stay order after the local villagers from Ghansoli raised objection on the proposed Muslim buri-al.

Social activist, Tejas Patil said, “On 11th Feb-ruary, 2021 a Muslim man died near Ghan-soli Dargah and there was news among the people that he was being

buried at the disputed land. Soon after get-ting the news, me and youth leader Advocate Chetan Patil along with our members reached the spot and informed

about it to the Rabale police station and Navi Mumbai Deputy Com-missioner of Police.”

He further added, "The former chief min-ister Devendra Fadnavis has given the stay order on the disputed land. However, from last few days, this order is be-

ing flouted. It has been learnt that the Muslim Trust has given the per-mission to bury the dead body at the said prem-ise. How can anyone enter the premise which

already has a stay or-der?"

When Tejas Patil met the senior police inspector Yogesh Gawde of Rabale and told about the mat-ter, Gawde assured to look into it and said, “If we find that permission has been

given by the Muslim Welfare Trust commit-tee board for the burial, we will warn them not to do so till the disputed matter is resolved."

Advocate Chetan Pa-til has warned to stage agitation if such activi-ties continue and the stay order is flouted.

Stay order on proposed Muslim burial ground in Ghansoli being flouted: City activists

By Ryhea George

With an aim to en-courage the resi-

dents to start compost-ing waste at source, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has started spreading awareness on composting in soci-eties as well as in pub-lic places. NMMC has also started distribut-ing compost bins to the people.

Speaking with News-band, NMMC commis-sioner Abhijit Bangar said, “The drive is being undertaken all around the city. The citizens are encouraged to process wet waste at the source itself. With the onset of Swachh Sarvekshan 2021, composting can be of great help especially if done at the individual

level. We are aiming at zero wet waste collec-tion from various areas of the city.”

He further added, “We have realised that while many citizens are willing to segre-gate waste at individual level, they do not know how to compost waste. Hence through such drives, we are trying to spread awareness about the procedure and the cost-effective way of doing it. Scientifically speaking, composting at the individual level can be hassle free for the citizens as well as the corporation.”

Rajendra Sonavane, sanitation officer, NMMC said, “Last Saturday, an awareness drive was held in Be-

lapur while on Sunday we conducted a session in Airoli in which the lo-cal authorities and ward officers participated. We distributed around 50 composting baskets in both the localities and even made the people take pledge on keep-ing the city clean. We explained the process of composting and also spoke about starting it in their homes itself.”

Marriamma Soman, a resident added, “It is important that along with the household wet waste, the waste from the gardens, like grass, leaves etc. are compos-ted together. The civic body should form the garden "help group" who can collect the waste from the gardens.”

NMMC spreads awareness on compostingDistributes composting bins to the citizens

Chetan Patil Tejas Patil

By: Crime Reporter

The suicide of Assis-tant Inspector of Po-

lice, Bhushan Pawar and Constable Santosh Patil of Navi Mumbai Po-lice within a short span of time has once again brought to the fore the immense stress that the police officers are fac-ing and its effect on their mental health. Both the suicides have been at-tributed to the growing stress on the police and growing incidents of de-pression among them.

Increased work re-sponsibilities, unsched-uled duties, financial insecurity as well as orders from senior of-ficers, are some of the factors, which is con-sidered to be impacting their mental and physi-cal health.

Police officials often have to be on their toes for long hours. This, say the mental health experts, results in dis-cord in the family as they are often unable

to give quality time to their children and other family members. In ad-dition, inadequate hous-ing facilities, lack of basic amenities in the area, children's educa-tion adds to their stress levels as well. As they do not get enough time to get rid of physical la-bour and mental stress, they automatically fall prey to addictions like tobacco, gutkha, alco-hol etc. When the situ-ation gets beyond their control, they try to end their lives to get rid of the various ailments and stress, both mental and physical.

Speaking about the issue, Dr. Vikas Deshmukh, Consulting Psychiatrist said, “There is a need to create more awareness about mental illness. If a person is suffering from mental stress, he should be taken to a psychiatrist imme-diately. The root cause of a person's behaviour needs to be identified

and addressed. Apart from that, it is necessary for the police officials to have regular stress planning work-shops, give time for leisure ac-tivities and try to make family life better. Simi-larly, in the same way as we do regular health check-ups, all police of-ficials should have get a psychological check-up done once in a year. Only then such suicide attempts can be averted”.

“Such incidents are definitely alarming and we are trying to ad-dress this. Various pro-grammes and activities like yoga, stress man-agement etc. are being implemented by the Navi Mumbai Police to alleviate their mental fa-tigue. In the future too, many other programmes will be implemented to relieve the stress on the police, including stress-free camps”, said, Bipin Kumar Singh, Commis-sioner of Police, Navi Mumbai.

Rising incidents of suicide among police officials: A cause for concern

By Abhitash D. Singh

One person was criti-cally injured

when a slab of an under-construc-tion building in Kharghar fell on Wednesday 17th February, 2021. All the nine peo-ple, who were trapped in the rubble have been rescued. All of them, including the critically in-jured person, have been admitted to Medicity

Hospital and are under-going treatment.

The incident took place in Kharghar Sec-

tor-20, Plot No-94 which belongs to Abdul Ganni

Dadani opposite Ram-seth Thakur School.

Slab of under-construction building falls in Kharghar

9 people rescued; one is critical

4 Thursday, 18 February 2021

Every dentist has only one goal: a clean and

disease-free mouth. But there are multiple paths to a healthy mouth. The tooth may be one struc-ture, but the health of all structures around and within the tooth is what keeps a tooth healthy and strong. Considering all these different struc-tures and various factors that govern the health of the tooth, different spe-cialties of dentistry have evolved. Each specialist masters a particular as-pect of saving the tooth while still knowing the basics of all dental treat-ment. So, what are the different types of dental specialties?1. General Dentist:

These are dentists who have earned a de-gree in Bachelors of Dental Surgery (BDS). They are adept to handle all general dental treat-ments such as fillings, root canal treatments, cleaning, etc. The BDS course is the stepping stone to further special-ization. Every dentist has a BDS degree which allows them to practice dentistry with help from specialists as and when needed.2. Endodontist:

They are the “Root Canal Specialists”. These dentists specialize

in root canal treatments specially for teeth with more complicated anato-mies. They are trained to do repeat root canal treat-ments also. They have specialized knowledge about how to treat teeth with infectious lesions, cysts, etc with the help of various medicaments and filling materials.3. Prosthodontist:

They are the “Den-ture Specialists”. Prost-hodontists, as the name suggests specialize in providing prosthesis to patients. When a patient has a single or multiple missing teeth, a prosthodontist steps in by providing the best treatment plan based on the amount of space, type of bone, number of teeth to be replaced, age of the patient, etc. They are trained to provide both removable or fixed prosthesis options to the patient.4. Pedodontist:

They are “Child Dental Specialists”. A Pedodontist specialises in treating dental prob-lems associated with children’s teeth from birth till the age of 13-14 years. It is well accept-ed that young children are sensitive to receiv-ing treatments and it is extremely important to provide a pleasant first experience to get rid of the fear of dentists in future. Pedodontists are experts at judging a

child’s temperament de-pending on their age and this helps them make the child comfortable and agree to dental treat-ments which otherwise may be a challenging task for others.5. Periodontists:

They are the “Gum and Bone Disease Spe-cialists”. A Periodontist is one that takes care of the gums and bone sur-rounding the tooth. The word “periodontium”

means what is “around the tooth”. Structures like the gums, bone and a ligament support the tooth and hold it in po-sition. If these structures are diseased, the support to the tooth is lost mak-ing it mobile and vulner-able to increased biting forces, further infection, and bone loss. Periodon-tists are trained to treat such kind of progress of gum disease, various swellings of the gums, bone grafting proce-dures, etc.6. Oral Surgeons:

They are the “Tooth Removal and fracture specialists”. An oral and maxillofacial surgeon specialises in all kinds of tooth removals includ-ing wisdom teeth and are also trained to repair fractures to the jaws and face following an ac-cident. These special-ists often work closely with hospitals and other medical practitioners be-cause of need for opera-tion theatres and general

anaesthesia setups.7. Orthodontists:

They are the “Braces Specialists”. An ortho-dontist is a dentist who specialises in correcting abnormally placed teeth and correcting the bit-ing pattern. They are re-sponsible for providing a perfectly aligned smile and boost the confidence in an individual. They often work closely with most of the other dental specialists considering that the treatment may be taken up in young children (requiring pe-

dodontist) and involves moving the teeth through bone (need for periodon-tist). The treatment often entails removal of teeth of realigning the jaws surgically (requiring an oral surgeon) and even multiple fillings and root canals (requiring endodontist) which may complicate treatment.8. Community health

dentists: These dentists play

an important role in calculating the num-

ber of people affected by various diseases that affect oral health. They play a key role in providing statis-tics and analysing the causes for occurrence of disease and provid-ing an objective analy-sis for the best suited treatment plan. These specialists most often work in rural setups and camps with lim-ited resources and are

also equipped to provide dental treatments in such setups with scarcity of resources.9. Oral pathologists

and microbiologists: They are the den-

tists who work “behind the scenes” to provide a final diagnosis in com-plicated cases where patients present with a tumour, cyst or any other questionable swelling. They work most often in labs and provide a diag-nosis by viewing tissue samples under the mi-croscope.

10. Oral radiologists: They are equipped

with knowledge of radi-ation equipment used for imaging the structures of the head and neck. They can read x-rays and scans and provide their opin-ion about the structure or lesion in question. They also analyse the width, height and type of bone in scans and provide an idea for dental implant placement.11. Implantologists:

The “Dental Implant Specialists”, have been mentioned separately as this is a field of den-tistry which is mastered alongside another spe-cialty. Most often, oral surgeons, periodontists and prosthodontists are trained to place den-tal implants. However, various implant courses are available and can be taken up by any other dentist to add to their skill set.

Now you know there is not just one but a lot many specialties of den-tistry and while every dentist is equipped to provide most of the den-tal treatments, there is need for specialists due the wide variety of den-tal problems that pres-ent in every patient. It is the minute details that makes one a specialist in their respective fields.Dr. Aditi Mahajani is Periodontist and Oral

Implantologist.Image source:

Internet.

Tooth Be Told: Different types of dental specialties and what they do?

By: Dr. Aditi Mahajani

By Chandrashekhar Hendve

Ghansoli resident who is Government

School Superintendent, Madhuri Lokhande cele-brated her birthday with the Adivasi students in Alibag recently.

“This year, due to Covid pandemic, situa-tion is grim everywhere. The rural and villages have also been greatly affected. Hence, I decided to make a feeble attempt

to spread happiness,” said Madhuri, who celebrated her birthday at Adi-vasi Ashram School in Kolghar vil-

lage in Alibag taluka, Alibag. Around 75 students are studying in ninth and tenth standards in this school.

Cake and food packets were given to the students and various social activi-ties were conducted. Senior teacher Chan-drakant Kale, teacher Irshad Sandi, superin-tendent Harish Arbat, Subhash Mhatre, Pra-dip Chaudhary, Har-ish Satane and staff

were present on the occasion.Multo-rudam dienam

City resident celebrates birthday with Adivasi students

5Thursday, 18 February 2021

By Ashok Dhamija

A dominating perfor-mance by Virat Koh-

li's Team India saw them register a record 317- run win over England in the second Test and level the four match series 1-1 at the MA Chidambaram Stadi-um, Chennai on Tuesday. In the process the host not only ended the tour-ist’s six-match winning streak in away Tests, but also saw them regain the second spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) table behind New Zealand.

Needing 482 for a win, the visitors found the going tough against the In-dian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav on a typical sub continental pitch and were dismissed for 164 in their second in-nings, with over a day and a half to spare, at venue where they had regis-tered an emphatic 227-run win over the host less than a week earlier.

Toss as usual became crucial, that for a change was won by Kohli on a rank turner. Electing to bat the Indian skipper himself bamboozled for a rare duck to off spinner Moeen Ali that saw the host being reduced to 86 for 3 before lunch on the opening day. A strokeful masterclass by opener Rohit Sharma of 161 on a dry wicket, follow-ing a series of low scores in Australia coupled with Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant’s useful contributions saw India score 329. England in reply barely managed to score 134 against the guile of veteran off-spinner of Ashwin who grabbed five wickets in-cluding that of their skipper Joe Root cheaply after a series of three 150 plus score in as many matches, while deb-utant Axar Patel and Ishant Sharma took two apiece. Wicket keeper bats-man Ben Foakes who came at 87 for 6 held one end for over two hours dur-ing his unbeaten knock of 42.

Rohit and young Shubman Gill warded off visitors’ spinner’s fine spells in the second innings with a 42-run opening stand, before Jack Leach trapped the later in front of wicket as the host finished at 57 for 1 at stumps on Day 2. The hosts however found

themselves in doldrums as they lost five quick wickets to the visiting spin-ners and were 106 for 6 at one stage in the opening session on Day 3. Local favourite Ashwin however mesmer-ized the thousands of his supporters on his home ground with the willow in the company of his skipper to turn the table back on England in their 100 plus partnership. Post Kohli's dismiss-al at 62 and brushing aside the demons on the pitch the 34 year all-rounder scored an historic fifth Test ton in the company of last man Mohammed Sir-aj in their 49-run association. Ashwin charmed innings however came to end to Mooem, not before he had smashed 14 boundaries and one six in his 148 ball stay at the crease which saw him score 106. England lost three wickets in their record chase to left arm spin-ner Axar Patel and Ashwin to finish at 53 at the end of Day 3. Joe Root's men were found wanting on resump-

tion as Axar’s unmatched precision ended the English resistance without a sweat post Lunch, after Ashwin had a well set Daniel Lawrence stumped by Pant of his very first ball of the spell on Day 4 and followed it up with the key wicket of all-rounder Ben Stokes. For Axar it was a golden double as he dismissed the English skipper on 33 post lunch for the second time in the match. Top scorer Moeen smashed three boundaries and five sixes in his 18 balls cameo, before being stumped by Pant off Kuldeep for his second wicket to ensure India’s mammoth win.

Action now will shift to the histor-ical venue in Ahmedabad which will witness international action after a gap of six years as the two sides square off in the final two Tests in search of su-premacy beginning with the Pink Ball contest from 24th February.

Man of the Match Ravichandran

Ashwin who has grown up in this stadium, play-ing cricket from the age of 9 shared that of the four Tests he has played at this venue, the one against England was his best and highlighted the importance of the mind games against opposi-tion that yielded posi-tive result both with the bat and ball. He further credited Ajinkya Rahane who helped him in getting

things sorted mentally regarding his batting ability along with the Indian batting coach and was really happy to get a century and fifer in front of his home crowd who in spite of the re-strictions wore masks and maintained discipline while cheering for the In-dian team.

The winning Indian skipper Vi-rat Kohli felt that the presence of the knowledgeable home supporters at the venue made a massive difference and added that his team showed the kind of grit and determination that they had shown in the recent past in the face of the challenging conditions (for both the teams). He further praised the ef-forts of Rohit Sharma, debutant Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin for their match winning performance and shared that Team Indian need to play their 'A' game to push England further, starting with the Pink-Ball Test which will be a challenging affair.

The English skipper Joe Roots credited the home team for a good performance as they were outplayed in all the three departments and felt that his team needs to learn from the Indians.

Brief scores: India - 329 (Ro-hit Sharma 161, Ajinkya Rahane 67, Rishabh Pant 58*; Moeen Ali 4/128, Olly Stone 3/47, Jack leach 2/78) & 286 (Ravichandran Ashwin 106, Vi-rat Kohli 62, Rohit Sharma 26; Moeen Ali 4/98, Jack Leach 4/100) beat Eng-land -134 (Ben Foakes 42* Ollie Pope 22; Ravichandran Ashwin 5/43, Ishant Sharma 2/22, Axar Patel 2/40) & 164 (Moeen Ali 43; Axar Patel 5/60, Ravi-chandran Ashwin 3/53. Kuldeep Yadav 2/25) by 317- run. Man of the Match: Ravichandran Ashwin (India).

India outplays England in 2nd Test, Regains No. 2 position in WTC

Indian wicket keeper Rishab Pant who stumped Daniel Law-rence early in the day also sent back England's Moeem Ali in a similar manner to end the proceedings. Indian fans cheer their team against England

Left arm spinner Axar Patel who took seven wickets in the match became the ninth Indian bowler to take a fiver in one innings on debut

All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin is all excited after scoring his fifth ton, his first against England (Photos courtesy BCCI)

Rohit Sharma set the stage with a scintillating 161 on the opening day, his seventh ton

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

FOLLOw COVID 19 RULES OR FACE...

na is applicable to all in the state and will be ex-tended for two months, the Chief Minister said. He also directed that a structural audit of the field hospitals for co-

rona treatment should be carried out and the local bodies should un-dertake disinfection of public places, toilets, bus stands, parks in rural and urban areas. “It is up to the people to de-cide whether to follow the rules or go back to

the lockdown,” said Mr. Thackeray.

While extending the Janarogya Yojana till March, the Health Minister instructed the administration to pay attention to control the crowds at public events in the areas where more

patients are being found. He directed the local bodies to observe the following:

Perform targeted tests in areas or areas where corona infection is on the rise, at least 20 contacts from a single patient must be found.

Create a health map of the state by imple-menting 'My Family My Responsibility Cam-paign'. The health work-ers should start question-ing the patients.

Talk to all the busi-ness organizations and associations and ensure

that the SOP is strictly enforced.

If anyone is found in the banquet hall without a mask, action should be taken against the hall owner.

Police permission re-quired for wedding cer-emony.

6 Thursday, 18 February 2021

EditorialISSUE: 214 18 FEBRUARY, 2021

When it comes to spending one’s hard earned money,

people generally spend or invest money very cautiously. All the worth is extracted out of every pen-ny spent. But it is seen that when it comes to utilizing of government’s funds, the various departments of the government make expenditures recklessly, without giving any value to hard earned revenues. It has been observed that attitude of the officials is indifferent and there is no con-sciousness whether the money spent is worth it. The meaning of the word “democracy” has been stretched be-yond logical limits and there seems to be no check on accountability of any action or policy.

In our system where most of the works are carried out through con-tracts, though the tendering process most of the times may be fair, but the product that is delivered is gen-erally deficient in quality and quan-tity ultimately resulting in loss to the government and the society at large. In this age when ethics seem to carry no meaning, the implementation of contract is abysmally poor most of the times and the acceptance stan-dards have come down so low that any and everything is acceptable without even a small prick on con-sciousness and self respect.

In our country where funds are meager affecting the capital works, most of the funds get drained as rev-enue expenditure for maintaining the assets created. Since the quality is poor, the maintenance expenditure starts early in life. Besides, the ser-

vice life itself gets shortened. This is resulting in non-adding of addition-al assets or improving/modernizing them apart from the existing assets getting deteriorated. Also it is seen that the concept of utilising of funds (budget) within the financial year so that they do not get lapsed, works are executed at unreasonably high speed because of which quality is the vic-tim. Sometimes even full payments are released before completion of works to book the expenditure and these never get completed. In other works like laying of pipe lines or cables, the re-filling and re carpeting of dug up portions are never done and separate tenders are invited for the job. Likewise, muck from drain cleaning exercise is not disposed off which again finds its way into the drains leading to infructuous expen-ditures. Similarly, Hesian screens are not put while doing external repairs to the buildings leading to scattering of debris etc. elements of which are many times included in the scope of work.

It is because of these practices of squandering funds and no check on accountability that the perfor-mance of most of the government departments is far from satisfactory leading to either painful closure of departments and retrenching of staff or privatization by way of disinvest-ment. It is high time that every of-ficial in the government realizes the need for positive change in their at-titude and working otherwise they won’t have any other to blame for but themselves for the consequences.

Need for positive change in attitude By Ashok Dhamija

Koparkhairane based Reliance Hospital’s

team of surgeons and healthcare workers, led by Dr. Kamlesh Jain a Cardiovascular Tho-racic Surgeon, saved the life of a 58 year-old Kharghar woman diag-nosed with Ventricular Septal Rupture (VSR) - a life-threatening condi-tion recently. The elderly patient, Seema Ramesh Mhatre who suffered a massive heart attack was admitted to the ICU fol-lowing the investigation that revealed that heart attack had left a hole inside her heart and needed a high risk com-plex emergency open heart surgery that lasted over five hours.

Dr. Jain, MS, MCH who has vast experi-ence of vascular cases on the occasion said “VSR is a rare but dev-astating life-threaten-ing complication and surgery is the gold standard treatment, which is very chal-lenging as the ruptured walls of the heart are too delicate to stitch. Since the condition also leads to overload-ing the other parts of the heart if not diagnosed and corrected immedi-ately, it can lead to heart failure and death, in particular the elderly, where the survival rate in such cases is very low. The said patient’s condition was deteriorating rapidly and we decided to operate on her immediately in the

wee hours of the night. The emergency cardiac surgery lasted for over 5 hours and was success-ful, post which she was transferred to the ICU where during her 5 day stay. Following her con-tinuous monitoring and nursing care she was fit to be discharged and at present is stable and con-tinuing with her regular follow up process”.

Mahendra Mhatre, son of the patient shared his experi-ence, “My mother never had any major ailments. As a family, we were always particular about yearly health check-ups and her results were normal, this condition came as a total surprise

for all of us. We were scared and wanted to do everything possible to provide the best care to my mother. Initially, she was admitted to a local hospital and we were recommended to admit her at Reliance Hospital, Navi Mum-bai because of the fa-cilities and doctor ex-

pertise. This hospital was one of the few hospitals who specialized in VSR (a highly complicated process that re-quires a high level of critical care, im-aging, interventional, and surgical ex-pertise) we were time-bound to take a decision. Dr. Kamlesh and his team were very professional and cordial throughout the process. They guided and assured us and we are grateful that the surgery was a success.”

City based Reliance Hospital gives new lease of life to an elderly

woman diagnosed with VSR

Dr. Kamlesh Jain - Cardio-vascular Thoracic Surgeon

For Representational Purpose Only

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

KHARGHAR RESIDENTS RAISE...

“The farmers in the area claim it to be their land and hence they are farming in the area. They have illegally drained the pond with the help of a motor. This has de-stroyed several fishes as well as other aquatic life. Apart from this, many variations of migratory and local birds which used to visit the area for fish have now stopped visiting the pond as it is almost dried up,” points out Seema.

She further said, “We

have been raising this is-sue since almost a year. They are commercialis-ing the area by drying up the pond and killing the habitat in the area. We have found many dead fishes and the area has now turned into a barren land itself. They use the land for prawn and shrimp farming and over that they are also claiming that the area is their land, which is totally incorrect. They are destroying such a beautiful pond and the area’s ecology.”

Speaking about the issue PCMC officer

Vithal Dake, who had recently visited the area and inspected the activi-ties going around, said, “After inspecting the area, we found that the area does not fall under the planning author-ity of PCMC and it is a CIDCO property. We spoke to the farmers, who said that they have been doing shrimp farm-ing since a long time and no one has questioned them. We have written a letter to the officials of CIDCO regarding the issue and we hope they will take some action at the earliest”.

The beautification work near the equestrian statue of Chhatrapati

Shivaji Maharaj in Panvel city has been completed and will be inaugurated on 18th February.

The entire area is made of stone. The estimated cost was about Rs 2 crore. Opposition leader Pritam Mha-tre had demanded the beautification of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Panvel, the gateway to Raigad. In this context, he consistent-ly kept on demanding for the renova-

tion and beautification which has now come to reality.

“The work of sculpting Mavale (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Sol-

diers) and elephants here was started a few days back. The residents have ex-pressed happiness over the comple-tion of beautifica-tion of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

statue at Shivaji Chowk. A total of 22 sculptures have been erected,” said Leader of Opposition, PCMC, Pritam Mhatre.

Statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to be inaugurated on 18th February in Panvel

7Thursday, 18 February 2021

The ambitious port-based SEZ being de-

veloped by JNPT has no Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance, the State Gov-ernment response to an RTI application shows.

“As per records, the information (that) pertains to CRZ clearance to JNPT SEZ for implementing the SEZ project in Uran taluka of Raigad district is not available,” the commu-nique from the Environment Depart-ment said in response to environment NGO NatConnect Foundation’s RTI application.

“We sought the information on CRZ clearance as we have been no-ticing widespread destruction of man-groves due to the landfill for the JNPT SEZ,” said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation. The activist also sent photographs showing landfill on mangrove forests.

JNPT website itself says there are 900 hectares of mangroves (number-ing 900,000 sea plants) and their trans-fer to the state forest department is still pending despite the government orders to do so, he said. These mangroves have to be protected at any cost to save the coast and the JNPT project itself, apart from the scores of villages, from tidal water attacks and the plants serve as the first line of defense, Kumar said and stressed that "we are not against development, but it has to be balanced

with environment protection.”Kumar pointed out that the origi-

nal environmental clearance given to JNPT SEZ expired in December 2019 and the renewal was granted at the 195th meeting of the State Environ-ment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). He expressed surprise that the SEIAA website, as of February 12, 2021, does not have minutes of this particular meeting supposed to have taken place on March 14, 2020 though it posted the preceding and succeeding meetings. “We filed an RTI application seeking minutes of the SEIAA 195th meeting,” the activist said.

In a separate response to Nat-Connect’s another RTI application, the government said it has asked the Raigad District Collector to probe into the allegation of burial of mangroves under JNPT SEZ. In fact, state Envi-ronment Director Narendra Toke him-self asked the Collector to check viola-tion of the CRZ notifications.

NatConnect, and other groups such as Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan and tra-ditional fishing community forum

Paaramparik Machhimar Bachao Kru-ti Samiti also complained to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray against the mangroves and wetland destruc-tion under JNPT. They apprehended that the port officials could be filing false compliance reports. The CM asked the Environment Department to check these. NatConnect followed up with an RTI application. “Now, we are informed that the Environment depart-ment asked the Raigad Collector to check these too,” Kumar said.

The groups have also approached the High Court appointed Mangrove Protection and Conservation Com-mittee to order immediate halt to the burial of mangroves under JNPT SEZ and bringing the culprits to book.

In a related development the Envi-ronment Department informed Nanda-kumar Pawar of Shri Ekvira Aai Prat-ishtan that the MCZMA has not given any clearance for road development

on mangroves at Ulwe and landfill at Sawarkhar. Pawar said JNPT has been doing this landfill and the government asked the Collector to check these violations.

The EC given for ex-pansion of JNPT container terminal clearly stipulates that the project proponent must adhere to all court orders and CRZ rules and clearly to stay 50 metres away from mangroves.

But in all the cases at Dhutum and Ulwe, tonnes and tonnes of earth has been dumped straight on mangroves as if the law protecting the sea plants does not exist, the activists said.

Meanwhile, the traditional fishing community forum offered to take the government inspection teams to show the “glaring violations” of earlier ECs granted to JNPT including the shut-ting of the fishing routes and burials of mangroves. “We can show the extent of destruction by guiding the team by land and sea routes which will amply prove our charges,” said Dilip Koli of the Kruti Samiti.

The High Court appointed panel has earlier imposed a penalty of Rs one lakh on JNPT for destroying 4,500 mangroves during construction of the port’s fourth container terminal. The forest department filed a case in a Pan-vel court.

JNPT SEZ has no Coastal Zone clearance: RTI responseState environment dept asks Raigad collector to check mangrove destruction under JNPT

Mangrove burial - JNPT SEZ

Creating a desert in destroying lush green mangroves - JNPT

By Ashok Dhamija

Railways will run fully reserved weekly special trains between

Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Mumbai and Agra Cantonment / Habibganj to clear the extra rush of passengers until further advice as per details given below:

A) Mumbai- Agra Canton-ment Weekly Special

Train no. 02161 Special will leave LTT, Mumbai every Fri-day at 16.25 hrs with effect from 19th February, 2021 and arrive Agra Cantonment at 15.05 hrs next day. On its return journey Train no. 02162 Special will leave Agra Cantonment every Saturday at 19.45 hrs with effect from 20th February, 2021 and arrive LTT, Mumbai at 16.15 hrs next day. The above Special will consist of O ne AC-2 Tier, Four AC-3 Tier, 12 Sec-ond Sleeper Class and Three Sec-ond Class Seating coaches. Halts

en-route includes Thane, Kalyan, Nashik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Harda, Timarni, Itarsi, Habibganj, Bina, Jhansi, Dabra, Gwalior and Morena stations.

B) Mumbai- Habibganj Weekly Special

Train no. 02153 Special will leave LTT, Mumbai every Thurs-day at 16.25 hrs with effect from 18th February, 2021 and arrive Habibganj at 05.50 hrs next day. On its return journey

Train no. 02154 Special will

leave Habibganj every Friday at 18.00 hrs with effect from 19th February, 2021 and arrive LTT, Mumbai at 07.25 hrs next day.

The above Special will con-sist of O ne AC-2 Tier, Four AC-3 Tier, 12 Second Sleeper Class and Three Second Class Seating coaches. Halts en-route includes Thane, Kalyan, Bhusaval, Khand-wa, Harda (for 02154 o nly), Itarsi and Hoshangabad stations.

Reservation for fully reserved Special trains no. Train no. 02161 and Train no. 02153 o n normal fares have commenced from Tues-day 16th February, 2021 at all computerised reservation centres and o n website www.irctc.co.in.

Only passengers having con-firmed tickets will be permitted to board these Special trains and are advised to adhere all norms, SOPs related to COVID19 during the boarding, travel and at destination.

Weekly special trains on Mumbai - Agra Cantonment / Habibganj routes to commence this week

For Representational Purpose Only

By Abhitash D.Singh

Citing the rising cases of Covid 19 cases, a

social activist from Nerul, Manoj Meher in a letter written to the Maharash-tra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray has requested him to postpone the Navi Mumbai Mu-nicipal Corporation (NMMC) elections.

Speaking with the Newsband corre-spondent Manoj Meher said, "From the last few weeks the cases of coro-navirus is increasing in Mumbai. The death toll too is rising. The positive Covid-19 cases which were below 50 is increas-ing to 80-90 cases daily

from the last four days which is really a mat-ter of concern. I have written a letter to the Maharashtra Chief Min-ister Uddhav Thackeray

requesting him to postpone the NMMC elec-tions. I think if the people turn out in large numbers to cast their votes, then

the Covid-19 cases are likely to surge further."

The NMMC election was earlier scheduled to be held in April 2020 but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was post-poned further. The elec-tion is likely to be held in April 2021.

Nerul social activist urges CM to postpone NMMC electionsCites rising cases of Covid 19 in the letter to CM

8 Thursday, 18 February 2021

By: Chandrashekhar Hendve

Minister of State for Public Works,

Dattatraya Bharane said that necessary measures will be taken to repair accidents at Khadipool, maintenance of under-passes and maintenance of street lights to pre-vent accidents on Sion Panvel Highway.

A meeting was held at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Mr. Bharne, Minister of State for Public Works, regarding the problems on this road. On this oc-casion, Chief Engineer, Public Works Depart-ment, Mumbai Division,

K. T. Patil, Superinten-dent Engineer L. San-deep Patil, Chief Engi-neer, Public Works and Electricity Department, Baliram Netke from Kharghar were present.

There is a demand for repair of transmis-sion joints to prevent accidents due to road congestion at Jui Khadi Pool and Taloja Khadi Pool on Sion Panvel Highway. In this con-nection, the work should be completed immedi-ately by giving techni-cal approval, Minister of State Shri Bharne di-rected.

Due to improper

work of underground footpaths on Sion Panvel Highway, a large amount of water is stored in it. As it cannot be used, the road is being crossed on the main highway and the risk of accident increases. Also, lifts have not been installed for pedestrian bridges for senior citizens. The fact that a large num-ber of street lights are off on this highway also increases the risk of ac-cidents, etc. were raised in the meeting. Mr. Bharane stressed that positive efforts will be made to solve all these problems.

Necessary measures will be taken to prevent accidents on Sion-Panvel Highway: Minister of

State for Public Works Dattatray Bharne

By Chandrasekhar Hendve

Union Minister of State and the leader of Republican Party of

India Ramdas Athavale, met former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss various issues in view of the upcoming Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) and Vasai Vi-rar Municipal Corporation’s elections.

They also discussed election strategies for Kalyan Dombivali and Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Zilla Parishad which will be held next

year. During the meeting the alliance of BJP-RPI was discussed.

The Republican Party of India will be holding a state-wide convention on May 21 in Jalgaon in the presence of Minister Ramdas Athavale.

Kakasaheb Khambalkar, Nation-al Vice President of RPI; Mumbai President Gautam Sonawane; Suresh Barshing; Chandrasekhar Kamble; Parashuram Wadekar; Balasaheb Jan-rao; Sanjay Sonawane and other office bearers were present.

NMMC election: Union Minister of State Ramdas Athavale meets former

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

A crocodile was spotted in the Seawoods area close to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) Headquarters. Citizens are asked to be vigilant, especially the mangrove soldiers who conduct clean up drives frequently.

Crocodile spotted near NMMC Headquarters

Agro society garden members

Basanta Utsav at Agro society garden

By Indrani Basu

Basant Utsav 2021’ which was held on

Sunday at Agro Society Garden in sector 9, CBD, Belapur evoked huge re-sponse from the citizens. This year Basant Utsav, the annual event hosted by the members of Agro Society garden was more of an awareness and edu-cative event amid fun and frolic. More than 300 people came to at-tend the event and also took part in butterfly and vegetable garden trails at the society’s fully bloom vegetable and fruit gar-den.

“This year’s Basant Utsav was somewhat different from the pre-vious years because we involved our society children not only as par-ticipants but also to orga-nize and host the events, to coordinate and also for policing,” informed Juee Khopkar, from the orga-nizing team.

Children of the Agro Garden Society were divided into few small groups and were as-signed tasks as per their interest. Few were as-signed for policing the place and to take note of every account of activi-ties. ‘Scifi story telling’ was one of most interest-ing events conducted by the children namely Vid Merchant, Geeth Chavan and Amal Modak.

Amal shared, “Three of us had evolved the idea and topic for the Scifi sto-ry. We had penned down the story and then, on the day of Basant Utsav, we read out in front a large gathering. We were ap-plauded by the guests.”

Vid Merchant told, “It was really an amaz-ing experience for us. We usually take part as par-ticipants, but this is the first time we had an op-portunity to get involved as active hosts. We were even stall-in-charge and

sold our farm fresh veg-etables.”

Besides storytell-ing, workshop on stone painting also received a good response. Under the guidance of Son-ali Modak, nearly 30 children attended the workshop. They were overjoyed while taking along their stones after finishing the painting with acrylic paints. The society children, too, put up a street play enacting and sharing the message

on proper disposal of plastic waste. Visitors enjoyed workshops on pot the plants, pottery, gardening, nature’s trails and many such educa-tive activities. Around ten stalls were put up for selling variety eco-friendly items for util-ity, home décor. Finally, every one gobbled their food including herbal tea, home- made healthy snacks and some of them even had home- made lunch from food stalls.

Agro Society Garden's Basant Utsav evokes good response from citizensVarious nature related activities were organised