A notice prohibiting the entry of heavy vehicles into Thane has been issued by the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate due to the VVIP movement on the routes leading to Thane on October 5. The notification will go into effect between Friday and Saturday at midnight. Heavy vehicles traveling through Navi Mumbai on their way to Thane are prohibited. In order to facilitate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit, the Kasarvadvali-Ghodbunder road would be free of traffic.

According to a traffic official, the installation of traffic diversion was crucial because of the anticipated strong traffic flow from Konkan, Pune, and Goa to Navi Mumbai due to the upcoming Navratri festival.

Heavy vehicles going to Nashik will need to take the JNPT Junction-Karjat-Murbad-Shahpur-Kasara-Igatpuri route, according to the notification released by the Navi Mumbai traffic department. The JNPT junction-Karjat-Murbad-Shahpur-Wada-Manor Toll Naka route is the one that those traveling to Gujarat must use. To get to the required location, one can alternatively take the JNPT-Pune expressway to Chakan, Nagar, and Nashik highways.

The prohibition will not apply to cars transporting necessities. “To ensure that no heavy vehicles heading towards Thane enter our city limits, we would have bandobast at all naka bandi points,” stated Tirupati Kakade, Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic).

Kharpada, T Point, Rabale, Taloja, Mahape-Shilphata, Chandni Chowk at Nhava Sheva, Uran, and Gavhan Phata are the locations for the naka bandi.

Shiv Sena stakes claim for Airoli assembly seat amid political shifts.

The Seat

The Shiv Sena (UBT group) has formally declared its intention to run for the seat, which is presently occupied by BJP MLA Ganesh Naik, in a major development in the Airoli Legislative Assembly. Following the Naik family’s switch to the BJP, where Sandeep Naik served as the MLA for two terms prior, this action was taken. There are rumors that Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may shortly resign this seat.

All of the office bearers in the Airoli constituency have written to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray to convey their want for the party to run in the next elections. Their argument was strongly supported by the Airoli constituency’s excellent result in the most recent Lok Sabha elections. Despite having the most corporators in the last elections, the office bearers said, the constituency was given to the BJP, allowing Ganesh Naik to win a sizable victory.

According to the Shiv Sena office bearers who spoke with party leaders, the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition would most likely win if Airoli were given to the Shiv Sena because of the party’s ranks of seasoned leaders.

Important leaders like City Chief Pravin Mhatre, District Chief Dwarka Nath Bhoir, and a number of other well-known party members attended the meeting and expressed their confidence in the party’s ability to win the next elections.

Former Corporator Prashant Patil threatens hunger strike over encroachment issue in Ghansoli node.

The Strike

A hunger strike has been threatened by former Corporator Prashant Patil in protest of the continuous encroachments in the Ghansoli node.

On December 14, 2016, the Ghansoli node, a burgeoning Navi Mumbai neighborhood, was formally turned over to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC). The transfer agreement was signed by NMMC Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe and Bhushan Gagrani, the VC and MD of CIDCO at the time, at CIDCO Bhavan in the central business district of Belapur. Plots of various public utilities have been turned over to NMMC, although other plots are still reserved by CIDCO. The node is 474.72 square meters and has 30 sectors. Patil claims that without any significant action from CIDCO or NMMC, “Land Mafias” have illegally taken numerous CIDCO plots and built high-rise structures on them.  As the construction goes on, he claims, “authorities are just doing show-off actions, demolishing parts of buildings.”

He drew attention to the developer Kailas Baban Pokharkar’s continued illegal construction at House No. 105 in Jijamata Nagar, alleging that the building is being constructed up to the fourth storey on CIDCO property without the required permits. “The developer has no legal claim to the land, which is worth around Rs. 15 crore, and they are still building without any accountability. There is a serious risk of collapse due to the poor construction quality, Patil cautioned. Patil also voiced worries about the frequency of illicit activities on CIDCO property, such as openly pouring alcohol and unregistered dhabas, and claimed that nothing has been done to address these infractions.