by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Advocate Shamim Ahsan
Advocate Shamim Ahsan, Thane
Civilization made the human beings understand the utility, necessity, and importance of Rule, Ruler and Governance for controlling and to check the unrestrained human behavior and class war prevalent as a result of anarchy and lawlessness.
Resourceful entities with mussel power became the Rulers of tribes and groups within a vicinity that expanded as Territory and ruling class became Kings, Monarchs, Czars and Lords who thereafter became engine of oppression and exploitation of subjects.
Exploitation, oppression and misuse of power by rulers facilitated the emergence of revolt and revolution and the Power to rule got transmitted to Dictators who captured the authority to rule by force.
The history of mankind has experienced the cruel and inhuman administration by the Dictators and the autocratic governance by the Kings and Monarchs. Our past has also witnessed and has been the victim of atrocities by the Ruling Class with different names.
In a very long history of struggle for Power, the Rulers and their governance turned hostile to the masses with the cruel and inhuman laws and implementation thereof over the subjects.
In the circumstances that happened, Democracy as a system of Government was considered to be advisable and suitable for it being popularly called government of, for and by the people. Initially, the results of experiment of system of Government called Democracy indicated remarkable behavioural change in the nature of Rule as against the earlier systems of governance.
History, as is said, repeats. The democracy introduced a new “governing class” of wealthy and resourceful members of society who engaged themselves in corrupt practices, illegal and unethical means for acquisition of power. The new concept of “majoritarianism”. came to be endorsed and acknowledged in the name Democracy.The demerits and defects of earlier systems of Government stood legitimised gradually. Oppression and exploitation have again become the significant aspect of governance.
Disagreements with the policy or questions to ruling class for accountability are being treated as waging war against State. Shelter is being tried to be taken beneath the roof of Nationalism for the justification for misdeeds. The ruling class does not even recollect that it has the constitutional duties to be discharged as Ruler. Arrogance of power and ego of being in power has made this ruling class believe that they shall always stand justified for their misdeeds in the name of Nation and Nationalism with the theory of majoritarianism that supports the philosophy of the supremacy and primacy of majority.
We the electors and voters too are responsible for the rulers being re-elected and not punished for their arrogance and inherent corruption on their part.
The circumstances have again redirected us to the forgotten history and to the stage at which the idea of Democracy was conceived. The state of affairs is in fact critical. Governing people have remained unchecked to injure the very spirit of Democracy.
A noted political/ social thinker G. W. F. Hegel has however given a consoling and soothing effect by propounding a theory called ” Cycle of Political Change” according to which theory, every political system degenerates and gets perverted and this very phenomenon assures a new system or change in administrative behavior of Society.
Optimism supplies the ground for events to take place in positive order and form..Let’s hope for the events and changes to take place in the order that the Democracy, free from it’s evils as experienced, prevails over the system that is being erroneously referred to as Democracy…
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Quaid Najmi,
Mumbai : Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of Maharashtra for the fourth consecutive day on tuesday, severely affecting normal life and paralysing the lifelines — local train and bus services — in the state capital and leading the state government and civic authorities to sound a high alert.
Expressing concern over the rain situation in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of the state to “stay safe” and take all essential precautions while speaking to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take stock of the developments.
“The centre assures all possible support to the Maharashtra Government in mitigating the situation due to heavy rains in parts of the state,” Modi said in a series of tweets.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that in one hour, Mumbai recorded a staggering 70 mm rainfall, while it touched 100 mm between 8.30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Giving the figures till 3 p.m., the BMC said Mumbai received 106 mm rainfall in about six hours, while the eastern suburbs got 78.5 mm and the western suburbs notched 85 mm during the same period.
The state government has requisitioned the services of five disaster management teams, including three from Pune, and a holiday has been declared for all college and schools on Wednesday, said Education Minister Vinod Tawde.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast aceheavy to very heavy rains” for Mumbai and entire Konkan region during the next 24 hours owing to a “low pressure” area over south Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh, which was expected to be upgraded to a “deep depression”.
The BMC appealed to people not to step out of their home unless absolutely necessary, while the entire civic force — Mumbai Police, Fire Brigade and other agencies — were on high alert to combat the situation.
Since Tuesday morning, many parts of Mumbai and suburbs were inundated with up to three to four feet of water on the highways, main and arterial roads, bylanes, housing complexes, railway stations and even the Mumbai Airport.
However even with more than 180 trees and half a dozen walls collapsing in different parts of the city, flooding and waterlogging, there were no casualties.
Around 6.30 a.m. the rains triggered a landslide in adjoining Thane district, leading to derailment of 10 coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express but there were no casualties.
The torrential rains have hit the immersion ceremonies on the fifth day of the Ganeshotsav on Tuesday, with many marquees deciding to postpone it by two days.
Suburban local trains were massively hit with disruption in services due to flooding on the railway tracks at several places.
The Central Railway mainline was completely suspended for over four hours, Harbour Line was completely down, the Western Railway worked slowly and erratically, besides disruptions on the Konkan Railway.
Lakhs of commuters including students, were stranded in trains, railway stations or at bus stops. Many failed to reach their destinations and were compelled to return to their homes on foot, walking scores of kilometres from various points in the city.
All the gurudwaras, several Hindu and Jain temples, Ganeshotsav marquees, mosques and dargahs, churches, NGOs, charitable organisations, housing complexes and individuals made arrangements to offer food and beverages to the weary and stranded commuters, and arrangements to rest for the night.
Waterlogging has been reported from Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Vile Parle, Santacruz, Bandra, Matunga, Dadar, Elphinstone, Mumbai Central, Mazagaon, Lalbaug, Parel, Sion, Wadala, Kurla, Bhandup and other areas.
The rains affected normal operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with flights getting delayed by around 35 minutes mainly on account of low visibility.
Seven incoming flights were made to go around till landing permission was granted while three flights were diverted, though operations continued.
Domestic and international passengers bound for the airport to catch their flights faced huge problems in reaching on time due to massive traffic snarls on the highways and main roads.
Mumbai IMD head K.S. Hosalikar said that in three hours since 8.30 a.m., Mumbai suburbs recorded a whopping 86 mm of rains, while Colaba recorded around 16 mm of rains.
“It’s not a July 26, 2005 type situation as the cloud cover over Mumbai is not that thick. However, we have issued weather warnings to the disaster units of Maharashtra government and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation,” Hosalikar told media persons.
He said the IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rains for at least the next 24 hours all over Maharashtra, especially over coastal North Konkan, Mumbai and other parts of the state.
The IMD warning says “intense precipitation likely to occur over Mumbai city, suburbs, Dahanu and Raigad during the latter part today (Tuesday)”.
In Mumbai areas which recorded the heaviest rains are: Matunga 253 mm, Parel 230 mm, Wadala 260mm, Bandra 210 mm, Vile Parle and Santacruz A212 mm, Worli -235, and Kurla 208 mm, said a BMC Disaster Control official.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, News
Thane, (IANS) At least five workers were killed and around 125 others injured when in a massive blast when a boiler at a private chemical company in the MIDC industrial complex here on Thursday morning, police said.
The blast in Probace Enterprises around 11 a.m. caused a devastating fire at the factory, located in the Phase II of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) complex, on the outskirts of the Dombivali city, said an official of the Manpada police.
The fire was quickly brought under control and as smoke dissipated, it revealed the entire factory building had collapsed. The huge blast and blaze also caused huge damage to two other adjacent plants – belonging to the Herbert Brown Pharma & Research and Acharya Group.
So severe was the blast, which some eyewitnesses compared to a bomb explosion, that it was heard even four-five km away.
The shock wave shook buildings, shattered glass windows of several residential and industrial buildings, moving or parked vehicles, injured pedestrians, vehicle drivers and even cattle in the surrounding vicinity for almost two kms.
It also disrupted mobile communication and television cable services in the area for a few hours.
Many locals mistook it for an earthquake and dropped everything to flee their homes to open places for safety.
Fifteen fire-tenders and water tankers from Dombivali, Thane, Kalyan and other surrounding towns, as well as National Disaster Response Force teams from Thane and Pune, and the National Security Guard team from Mumbai, rushed to the spot to tackle the emergency, said District Collector Mahendra Kalyankar.
Kalyankar said arrangements were made for augmenting blood supplies for the injured victims who were admitted to nearby government or private hospitals and other relief measures.
Taking a serious view of the incident, Industry Minister Subhash Desai announced that all chemical industrial units in and around Dombivali would be shifted to alternate locations for which suitable legislative change would be effected.
He also announced that all such chemical industries in the city shall be shut down for a week to carry out an inspection and combing operation to ascertain implementation of various safety and security measures.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed anguish over the tragedy and assured for relief and rehabilitation measures for the victims. He also visited the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the evening.
The district authorities have ordered a probe into the blast’s cause and will carry out a safety review of all the 900-odd industrial units located in the sprawling MIDC area in Dombivali.
