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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This...

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This development, confirmed by high-ranking party insiders, follows the realization that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) effectively ceded its claims on the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to protect the alliance, facilitating a “Mumbai for BJP, Kalyan for Shinde” power-sharing formula. The compromise marks a complete role reversal between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Both the political parties were in alliance with each other for over 25 years before 2017 civic polls. Back then the BJP used to get the post of Deputy Mayor while the Shiv Sena always enjoyed the mayor’s position. In 2017 a surging BJP (82 seats) had paused its aggression to support the undivided Shiv Sena (84 seats), preferring to be out of power in the Corporation to keep the saffron alliance intact. Today, the numbers dictate a different reality. In the recently concluded elections BJP emerged as the single largest party in Mumbai with 89 seats, while the Shinde faction secured 29. Although the Shinde faction acted as the “kingmaker”—pushing the alliance past the majority mark of 114—the sheer numerical gap made their claim to the mayor’s post untenable in the long run. KDMC Factor The catalyst for this truce lies 40 kilometers north of Mumbai in Kalyan-Dombivali, a region considered the impregnable fortress of Eknath Shinde and his son, MP Shrikant Shinde. While the BJP performed exceptionally well in KDMC, winning 50 seats compared to the Shinde faction’s 53, the lotter for the reservation of mayor’s post in KDMC turned the tables decisively in favor of Shiv Sena there. In the lottery, the KDMC mayor’ post went to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribe candidate. The BJP doesn’t have any such candidate among elected corporatros in KDMC. This cleared the way for Shiv Sena. Also, the Shiv Sena tied hands with the MNS in the corporation effectively weakening the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s alliance with them. Party insiders suggest that once it became clear the BJP would not pursue the KDMC Mayor’s chair—effectively acknowledging it as Shinde’s fiefdom—he agreed to scale down his demands in the capital. “We have practically no hope of installing a BJP Mayor in Kalyan-Dombivali without shattering the alliance locally,” a Mumbai BJP secretary admitted and added, “Letting the KDMC become Shinde’s home turf is the price for securing the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow for a BJP corporator for the first time in history.” The formal elections for the Mayoral posts are scheduled for later this month. While the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—led by the Shiv Sena (UBT)—has vowed to field candidates, the arithmetic heavily favors the ruling alliance. For Eknath Shinde, accepting the Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai is a tactical retreat. It allows him to consolidate his power in the MMR belt (Thane and Kalyan) while remaining a partner in Mumbai’s governance. For the BJP, this is a crowning moment; after playing second fiddle in the BMC for decades, they are poised to finally install their own “First Citizen” of Mumbai.

Food Waste: The Hidden Cost of Every Bite

Every discarded meal wastes more than just food—it wastes water, energy, and land.

Hello readers,


In my last article, I introduced the basic concept that when we throw or discard food from our plates, we are not wasting only that portion of food, but in fact, we are wasting more precious natural resources like water, land, energy, etc. used in producing that food by the farmers in the beginning.


Wasting food isn’t just a humanitarian or social issue - it’s also an environmental one. The food cycle doesn’t just end at our trash can. From our trash cans, this waste food finally reaches the dumping grounds and rots. This produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2. The food waste in landfills is responsible for roughly 8 percent of the global emission of methane.  Methane is one of the major greenhouse gases responsible for the warming of our planet, that is, global warming with subsequent changes in the climate, monsoon patterns, and so on. As far as water is concerned, the following table will give you a rough idea of how much water is used to produce some of the commonly eaten food items.


This table shows the average water consumption required to produce food from both animal and plant sources.  The list of water requirements for food production is extensive. With this in mind, you can now estimate your own water footprint each time you discard food.


For instance, when you discard a chapati, have you considered its water footprint? Beyond this, energy consumption is another crucial factor. You either purchase wheat grains and have them ground at a flour mill or buy ready-made wheat flour—both processes require significant electricity. Then, cooking the chapati involves additional energy, whether from LPG, PNG, or other fuel sources.


Nowadays, fully automatic roti makers are available in the market—you simply add the required flour and ingredients, and the machine prepares chapatis in no time. However, operating these machines also consumes electricity.


So, the takeaway is this—when you throw away a chapati simply because it’s extra or for any other reason, you’re wasting valuable resources. Be mindful. Think not just once or twice, but a hundred times before discarding food.


More on this in my next article. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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