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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Uddhav tears into BJP’s claim

Mumbai:  Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday launched a blistering, wide-ranging attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments at the Centre and in the state, targeting what he termed as a ‘toxic political climate’, rising crimes against women, and a ‘hire-and-fire’ culture hurting workers. Addressing the 58th annual general meeting of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, Thackeray delivered a strong political cocktail laced with jibes, concerns over labour rights, women’s...

Uddhav tears into BJP’s claim

Mumbai:  Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday launched a blistering, wide-ranging attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments at the Centre and in the state, targeting what he termed as a ‘toxic political climate’, rising crimes against women, and a ‘hire-and-fire’ culture hurting workers. Addressing the 58th annual general meeting of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, Thackeray delivered a strong political cocktail laced with jibes, concerns over labour rights, women’s issues, unemployment, and governance priorities. Attacking Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his recent remarks about ‘tearing the burqas’ of the Opposition, Thackeray questioned sarcastically: “We are Hindus… So what ‘burqas’ are you going to rip off? Were you even present in the Lok Sabha?” Referring to atrocities on women, Thackeray sharply questioned the government’s priorities saying while the CM is campaigning in other states, women are being molested right here, fake babas are multiplying and drug rackets are flourishing in the state. On BJP’s claims of commitment to women’s reservation, the SS (UBT) chief asked “why the President (Droupadi Murmu) was not invited to key national events such as the inauguration of the new Parliament building or the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya”. “This is not a new issue. We are ready… Implement women’s reservation today,” Thackeray asserted. Veering to national politics, Thackeray said that the BJP today lacks personalities of (the late) Arun Jaitley’s stature, and described West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee as “a fighting tigress who is bound to win”. He claimed that ‘two lakh CRPF personnel’ were deployed in West Bengal while barely 20,000 were stationed in the violence-hit Manipur. “Security forces were once used by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for integrating states into the Union, but now they are being used to win elections,” Thackeray said. On the alleged misuse of central security agencies, Thackeray dared the BJP to ‘set aside the CBI and ED’ and face the elections in a fair fight. “You deploy security forces to ensure your party wins as you lack the capability to win on your own merits, or unleash the ED-CBI. It is better to live like a tiger for one day than as a goat for 100 days,” said Thackeray. Alluding to the debates triggered by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s views on population, he asked: “Encouraging more children is fine - but who will feed them? What about unemployment problems?” Thackeray expressed concerns over delimitation based on population, warning it could skew political representation. “Some states are implementing family planning programmes quite effectively… Is practicing family planning now considered a crime?” Turning to the distress faced by the working classes, he flayed the current employment model as a ‘constant cycle of hire-and-fire’, with the government ignoring the security of workers. “Why are workers being compelled to leave the state, or even the country, for employment. They are the architects of the nation’s destiny. Now reports emerge that workers from north India are being employed in Dubai. The country is calling them to ‘return’. They ignored the calls, preferring to die by a bomb rather than returning to India only to die of unemployment,” said Thackeray, in a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He compared the current bout of global tensions, including the ongoing Iran-United States war, as a repetitive spectacle, triggering multi-fold domestic economic anxieties.

Seamless link to redefine Mumbai-Pune mobility

MMRDA advances Atal Setu connector

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is advancing a critical infrastructure link that promises to fundamentally transform connectivity between Mumbai and Pune. The under-construction corridor connecting the Atal Setu with the Mumbai–Pune Expressway is emerging as a strategic intervention aimed at eliminating long-standing inefficiencies in regional travel and logistics.


While construction progress has been steady, the larger importance of the 7.35-kilometre, six-lane elevated corridor lies in its ability to create a seamless, signal-free route between two of Maharashtra’s most vital economic centres. At present, commuters and freight traffic exiting Atal Setu must navigate circuitous and often congested routes to access the expressway. The new connector, routed via Chirle and Palaspe, will remove this bottleneck, enabling uninterrupted high-speed travel across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).


Urban planners view this project as more than a routine road development. By directly integrating the trans-harbour link with the expressway network, the corridor effectively stitches together key transport infrastructure, creating a unified mobility spine. This is expected to significantly reduce travel time variability—one of the most persistent challenges for both daily commuters and commercial transport operators.


The implications extend beyond mobility. The connector is poised to accelerate the de-centralisation of economic activity away from Mumbai’s saturated island city. Faster access to Navi Mumbai and peripheral growth centres is likely to make these regions more attractive for residential, commercial and industrial development. In turn, this could ease pressure on core urban areas while promoting more balanced regional growth under the broader “Mumbai 3.0” framework.


A major strategic advantage of the project is its integration with the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport. Once operational, the corridor will provide direct and efficient access from Mumbai to the airport, while also strengthening onward connectivity to Pune. This is expected to expand the airport’s effective catchment area and improve its competitiveness as a major aviation hub. For industries reliant on time-sensitive logistics, such connectivity could prove particularly valuable.


Economic Centres

The corridor also has the potential to reshape the relationship between Mumbai and Pune as economic centres. With reduced travel times and improved reliability, intercity commuting could become increasingly viable, allowing professionals to live in one city and work in another. This increased fluidity is likely to deepen economic linkages, enhance labour mobility, and support the emergence of a more integrated regional economy.


Speaking on the project’s significance, Metropolitan Commissioner Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee emphasised its role in simplifying everyday travel. “This connector will enable Mumbaikars to access the Mumbai–Pune Expressway without any signal interruptions, creating a faster and more seamless travel corridor through Atal Setu,” said Mukherjee. “It will significantly benefit students, working professionals and those commuting between Mumbai and Pune—making it easier to live in one city and work or study in the other.”


He added that the project aligns with MMRDA’s long-term vision of integrated infrastructure planning. “This is exactly what Mumbai 3.0 and ‘Mumbai in Minutes’ aim to achieve—bringing regions closer and making everyday journeys simpler, quicker, and more efficient,” Mukherjee said.


Scheduled for completion by early 2027, the connector is expected to deliver benefits that extend well beyond its physical footprint. By addressing a critical missing link in the region’s transport network, it underscores a broader shift toward strategic, network-driven infrastructure development—where the focus is not merely on building new assets, but on maximising their collective impact.

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