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By:

Minal Sancheti

2 May 2026 at 12:26:53 pm

Tussle between BMC, WR leaves Dadar dry

Mumbai: Dadar is the only railway station in Mumbai that has no authorised water connection. This, as per the sources, is due to an ongoing dispute between the Western Railway and the BMC. The tussle between the BMC and the Western Railway has led to a strange situation. The Western Railway is asking the BMC to pay Rs 338 crore for way leave charges, and the Western Railway has to pay Rs 22 Lakh to the BMC. The tussle has been going on for 12 years and remains unresolved. As per the sources,...

Tussle between BMC, WR leaves Dadar dry

Mumbai: Dadar is the only railway station in Mumbai that has no authorised water connection. This, as per the sources, is due to an ongoing dispute between the Western Railway and the BMC. The tussle between the BMC and the Western Railway has led to a strange situation. The Western Railway is asking the BMC to pay Rs 338 crore for way leave charges, and the Western Railway has to pay Rs 22 Lakh to the BMC. The tussle has been going on for 12 years and remains unresolved. As per the sources, due to this, the BMC has not given any new connections to the Western Railway, which needs the connections because of the increase in the capacity of new coaches. Currently, the Western Railway is facing a water shortage of 20 per cent for train operations. Thus, the water is being filled at the next train stops like Surat and Valsad, or wherever the train halts. The dependency on water tankers has increased because the Western Railway did not have enough water connections from the BMC. This has caused more expenditure for the Western Railway. For Dadar terminus, the Western Railway uses 40 water tankers, each water tanker of the capacity of 10,000 litres, which comes down to four lakh litres of water every day. Around eight water tankers of the capacity of 10,000 litres, which comes down to 80,000 litres of water, are required for Dadar station. In total, the Western Railway incurs expenses on 4,80,000 litres of water every day. BMC PRO Tanaji Kamble has denied that there was no water connection at Dadar Railway Station. “Every station has BMC water connection,” he said. Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Western Railway Vineet Abhishek said, “All efforts are being taken to ensure there is no inconvenience to our passengers.”

Mumbai’s Demolished Kingdom

Updated: Nov 15, 2024

Milind Deora

Earlier this year, January sprang a surprise in political circles when Milind Deora, a former Congress Member of Parliament bid adieu to the party to join Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. The ideologies were in sharp contrast and for the sauve South Mumbai-bred Milind, the Shiv Sena’s rough and tough politics seemed like a striking departure from his career graph.


The relationship between the Deoras and Gandhis has been legendary with Murli Deora known for his close relationship with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia. He joined the Congress in 1968 and then presided over the Mumbai party for 22 years. Hailing from a Marwari family with close connections with the business world, Murli was the bridge between the Congress and the captains of the industry. He enjoyed a good rapport with heads of states from different parts of the world and used his diplomacy to attract investment. He was also known to raise funds for the Congress through the business houses that he maintained warm relations with, making him a key asset for his party.


Murli bhai, as he was known in Mumbai and in the party, began his political career as a corporator and then became a mayor in 1977 with support from Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. He led the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee for two decades and effectively strengthened the party in Mumbai. Being elected from the same constituency for seven terms is no mean feat and is a reflection of his popularity in the South Mumbai which he represented in Parliament. He won widespread recognition when, through his efforts, the Supreme Court banned smoking in public places in 2001.


His son Milind entered electoral politics as a Member of Parliament in 2009 and the father-son duo were part of the Manmohan Singh-led government. The senior Deora was the minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas for a long time while his son was a junior minister for shipping. Milind’s brother Mukul, however, has stayed away from politics and is a musician and a film producer.


A three-term Member of Parliament, Milind was once known to be close friends with Rahul Gandhi but relations between the two families seem to have soured with Milind quitting the party. Now a Rajya Sabha MP, he was tasked with managing the Congress’ election campaign for Worli during this year’s Lok Sabha polls. As the two sections of the Shiv Sena fight each other in Worli, Milind is pitted against incumbent MLA Aditya Thackeray. The contest in Worli will see the heirs of two prominent political families fight to win this constituency.

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