The Dynamic Daily Newspaper of Navi Mumbai

Tuesday, 24 November 2020

VOL. 14 • ISSUE 141 RNI No. MAHEN/2007/21778 POSTAL REGN. No. NMB/154/2020-22/VASHI MDG POST OFFICE

Pages 8 • Price 2www.newsband.in

Navi Mumbai

An environmental group has called

for promoting mangrove safari at Uran on a co-operative basis, adopt-ing the Siundhdurg self-help group model.

A women’s self-help group has taken up a mangrove park and eco-tourism park in Sind-hdurg with the help of the Mangrove Founda-tion and aided by the UNDP.

Environment group NatConnect Founda-tion has requested the Mangrove Foundation to encourage similar

project in Uran as well to protect the sea forest and educate the people on conserving them.

Mangrove Founda-tion executive director

Virendra Tiwari re-sponded that he would examine the proposal and do the needful.

Greens call for mangrove safari at Uran on cooperative basis

Sunday Mass to resume in all churches from November 29Catholic churches

across Navi Mumbai are getting ready to re-start Sunday Mass on and from November 29, 2020 after receiv-ing consent from Car-dinal Gracias, Arch-bishop of Bombay…

(More on page 8)

Covid-19: NMMC prepares for

zsecond waveIn view of the ris-

ing Covid-19 cases at different places of the country after Di-wali, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is gearing up its machineries for the second wave. From this week onwards, the civic body claims to have increased their awareness drives. They have also asked their testing centers to increase the number of testing…

(More on page 2)

FIR registered against security

guard for beating a dog

A stray dog from Sector-22, Ghansoli was hit on the head with a stick by a se-curity guard. The dog succumbed to the injuries during treat-ment. Rabale police have registered a case against Indra Uday Bohra, 45, a security guard…

(More on page 3)

NMMC starts rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 at three

railway stations

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CONTINUED ON PAGE...2

By Pranab Jyoti BhuyanNavi Mumbai

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpo-

ration (NMMC) started conducting rapid anti-gen tests for Covid-19 at Vashi, Nerul and Be-lapur railway stations on Monday. This is for the first time they are taking such a step at the city railway stations.

The rapid antigen test for COVID-19 is a rapid point-of-care na-sopharyngeal swab test that directly detects the presence or absence of coronavirus antigen in the patient’s body. These tests are designed to de-tect a specific protein in the virus that elicits the body’s immune re-sponse.

Sanjay Kakade, addi-tional commissioner of NMMC said, “We have

started it at three rail-way stations at present. We may think of doing it at some other railway stations at a later stage.”

These tests are how-ever, a voluntary prac-tice. The NMMC offi-cials are not forcing the passengers to get the tests done.

Sudarshan Khurana, manager of Nerul sta-tion said, “On Monday, the NMMC officials re-quested a huge number of passengers to get the tests done at our station. However, most of them declined. They were scared of testing posi-tive. So till afternoon, the official could con-vince only 31 passen-gers for tests. From now on, the officials will continue with the tests at these stations every day.

Mangrove cell to examine Sindhdurg model to help fishermen

By Abhitash D.SinghNavi Mumbai

The Maharashtra Chief Minister,

Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday 22nd Novem-ber, 2020 addressed the people of the state through visual medium and shared his thoughts regarding the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the state. He appealed to all the people to act respon-sibly or get ready to face the worst as the second wave of Covid-19 will be more dangerous.

Uddhav Thackeray thanked the people for their cooperation dur-

ing Diwali as many re-frained themselves from using crackers during the celebration. He said it is really good to see that

people themselves fol-lowed the directives is-sued by the government and did not burst crack-ers and kept the festival simple.

"I really appreciate the gesture of the people of Maharashtra who cel-ebrated the festival re-sponsibly and kept the

festivities simple," said CM Thackeray.

He further added, "After request from

Act responsibly or get ready for the worst:

CM Uddhav ThackerayState could face many challenges in the

wake of second wave of Covid-19

2 Tuesday, 24 November 2020

Printed and owned by Kailash Shankarlalji Gindodia Published by Shiv Kailash Gindodia Editor: Varda Sharma Printed at Siddhakala Print Media & Publications Pvt. Ltd. Plot No. W-230, T.T.C. Ind. Area, MIDC, Khairane, Navi Mumbai – 400 710 and published at 1313/1314, 13th Floor, Real Tech Park, Plot No. 39/2,

Sec. 30A, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400 703. • RNI No. MAHENG2007/21778 • Postal Regn. No. NMB/154/2014-16/Vashi MDG Post Office • ABC Certificte No. 133/2106 Phone : 2087 0513 / 2781 5380 e-mail : contact@newsband.in website : www.newsband.in

ATTENTION READERS: While every effort is made to check the genuineness of party/parties inserting ads in this paper, we cannot be held responsible for the truthfulness of its contents. The publishers, Editor and/or the staff cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage due to transactions that they may en-ter into guided by the ads.

PUBLIC NOTICE THIS is to notify that my Clients have purchased the Apartment No.RH-VI/F-14, on the Ground and First Floor on Plot No.F-24, situated at Sector-6, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Tal. & Dist. Thane (said Apartment) from MRS NANCY ROHINI SOANS.The Original (i) Allotment Letter dated 17th March 1978 issued by the CIDCO in the name of MR ASHOK TALWAR, the Original Apartment Owner and (ii) Power of Attorney dated 12th January 1979, duly registered with the Sub-Registrar of Bombay (Mumbai) on 12th January 1979, under Serial No.63 of 1979 executed by MR ASHOK TALWAR in favour of his Father MAJOR PRAN NATH TAL-WAR for the terms and conditions mentioned therein, along with Registration Receipt in respect of the aforesaid Apartment has been lost, misplaced and are not traceable. The Complaint was lodged with Vashi Police Station, Navi Mumbai and recorded the same under Lost Property Registration Number 2175/2020 dated 19th November 2020.Any Person/s, Bank/s, Financial Institution/s, Organization/s, Company/ies or any other Govt. / Concerned Authorities having any right, title, in-terest, claim, demand etc. against or in the aforesaid Apartment by way of aforesaid lost documents and/or by way of inheritance, lien, mort-gage, possession, sale, gift, lease, charge, trust, maintenance, devel-opment, easement, transfer, licence, either agitated in any litigation or otherwise or any other right or interest whatsoever are hereby required to make the same known in writing to the undersigned within a period of (15) fifteen days from the date of publication hereof.If no claim is made or received as required hereinabove, my Clients will be at liberty to complete the transaction in respect of the said Apart-ment without any reference or regard to any such purported right, title, claim or interest etc., which shall be deemed to have been waived for all intents and purposes and not binding on my Clients. Sd/- Adv. GEETA V. PATEL Advocate High Court ADVOCATE G. V. PATEL & ASSOCIATES 25, Om Rachana CHS, Plot No.3, Sector-17, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400703. Tel: 27892953, 2235636922, Date: 24-11-2020 Mob. No.9820883474, 9594102831

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

GREENS CALL FOR MANGROVE SAFARI...

“Mangrove safa-ris do help in making people understand the importance of man-groves in protecting the coasts and the environ-ment as such,” said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Founda-tion. He expressed the hope that the proposed cooperatives of fishing community would defi-nitely help in protecting the mangroves.

School and college students could also be taken on these safaris to plant the seeds of en-vironment protection in their minds, he said and expressed the hope that

the project would make a huge difference in terms of preserving the bio-diversity.

The environmental groups have already been impressing upon the State government to accord the status of a bird sanctuary to Panje wetland. Coupled with the mangrove safaris, eco-tourism will help local socio-economic development, Kumar argued.

The local fishing community has lost their source of income in various projects as ONGC, NMSEZ and JNPT, said Tukaram Koli of fishing commu-nity forum Paaramparil Machhimar Bachao

Kruti Samiti. The gov-ernment has done noth-ing to rehabilitate or compensate us. “More-over, the various project proponents are prevent-ing us from fishing,” Tukaram said.

The Environment and Tourism Minister, the collector, the MP and MLA should all pool in funds at their disposal under various central and state welfare schemes and create em-ployment and income generating sources, Ku-mar said.

It has been officially confirmed that there has been a widespread de-struction of mangroves and wetlands in eco-sensitive Uran under the

guise of infrastructure project development.

Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, said man-groves over at least 20 acres, off NH 348, have been killed with the dumping of hundreds of truckloads of debris and earth. “Whoever is re-sponsible for this, how-ever mighty, must be brought to book,” he said.

Despite the State Government and the High Court appointed mangrove protection and conservation committee ordering the transfer of all mangroves to the forest department, not a single plant has been handed over so far, Ku-mar pointed out.

Covid-19: NMMC prepares for second waveBy Pranab Jyoti Bhuyan, Navi Mumbai

In view of the rising Covid-19 cases at different places of the country after Diwali, the Navi Mum-

bai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is gearing up its machineries for the second wave.

From this week onwards, the civic body claims to have increased their awareness drives. They have also asked their testing centers to increase the number of testing.

Sanjay Kakade, additional commis-sioner of NMMC said, “When it comes to keeping the number of cases under control, we are doing much better than several other civic bodies in the country. But we cannot afford to be complacent. Since the number of cases are increasing at different places after Diwali, we are already on our toes.”

“We have asked our testing centers at APMC mar-ket and MIDC areas to increase the number of testing. Now we have kept a target of 4,000 testing in a day. However, our officials are conducting more tests than the target. For example, on Sunday they conducted a total of 4,500 tests,” he said.

“Our officials have intensified the contact tracing

after Diwali. If a person tests positive, our teams put all their efforts to find out the people who might have come into contact with that person. Subsequently, our team also collects information about those contacts,” Kakade further said.

NMMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar has also directed the officers to stay alert, and if need be, to re-open the Covid care centers (which were shut) within a time frame of two days.

Kakade said, “We had tried to ensure social distancing among the city residents right from the beginning. To impose the other essential rules, we also introduced a vigilance team and they are also doing a good job. However, all residents are not following the norms sincerely. For exam-

ple, many of them violated the norms during Diwali and other such festival. We appeal to the residents not to take a chance and follow the norms properly for their own benefits.”

On Saturday, in Navi Mumbai, 91 people were found Covid-19 positive. On Sunday, the number in-creased to 117.

The recovery rate in Navi Mumbai is now 95% and fatality rate is 2%.

By Abhitash D.SinghNavi Mumbai

After reviewing the situation in their

respective jurisdictions, the Commissioners of both the civic bod-ies- the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the Pan-vel City Municipal Cor-

poration (PCMC)- have decided to keep the schools closed till 31st December, 2020.

All the schools in the state were closed soon after the announcement of the lockdown in the country by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on 22nd March,

2020. However, seeing a decline in the number of Covid 19 cases, a de-cision was taken to al-low the standards from 9th to 12th to re-open from November 23, 2020. But after Diwali, there has again been a surge in the cases. Hence, the state govern-

ment and local admin-istration has once again announced the closure of the schools till 31st December, 2020.

Speaking with the Newsband correspon-dent NMMC Chief Ab-hijit Bangar said, "On Saturday we studied the situation of Covid-19

cases in the city and fi-nally decided that all the schools should remain closed till 31st Decem-ber. In Navi Mumbai, there was a decline in the number of cases, but again, the cases have started rising above 150 from the last two days. While presently,

the cases are under con-trol in the satellite city, but the second wave of the virus cannot be de-nied. The way European countries are experienc-ing the second wave of Covid-19, same can be experienced here after Diwali and in the month

Schools under NMMC & PCMC jurisdictions to remain closed till 31st December, 2020

CONTINUED ON PAGE... 7

3Tuesday, 24 November 2020

PUBLIC NOTICE THIS is to notify that my Client intends to purchase the Apartment No.D-4/0:4, on the Ground Floor in the Building No.D-4, on Plot No.4, situ-ated at Sector-1, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400 703, Tal. & Dist. Thane (said Apartment) from 1) MR BHOLANATH BHATTACHARYA and 2) MRS MANDIRA BHATTACHARYA.The Original (i) Allotment Letter, (ii) Possession Receipt / Letter, (iii) All payment made receipts, (iv) Deed of Apartment all issued, executed by CIDCO in favour of MR PRITHWANI HARI SINGH V., the Original Apart-ment Owner, (v) Registration Receipt in respect of the Deed of Apartment, (vi) Indenture of Deed of Sale dated 14th April 1976, registered with Sub Registrar Thane on 7th May 1976, under Sr.No.286(old no.210), Receipt No.72361, executed by/between MR PRITHWANI HARI SINGH V., and SMT NASEEMBANOO ABUBAKER MERCHANT, (vii) Transfer Charges Receipt issued by the CIDCO in the name of MR PRITHWANI HARI SINGH V., for transfer of said Apartment in the name of SMT NA-SEEMBANOO ABUBAKER MERCHANT, (viii) CIDCO permission is-sued from the name of MR PRITHWANI HARI SINGH V. to the name of SMT NASEEMBANOO ABUBAKER MERCHANT (ix) CIDCO permission bearing Ref. No.CIDCO/EO/CBD/AEO(V)/ 2010/657 dated 7th April 2010 issued from the name of SMT NASEEMBANOO ABUBAKER MERCHANT to the names of 1) MS. DIMPLE THACKER, 2) MRS MADHURI M. THACKER and (x) General Power of Attorney dated 30th August 2011, duly notarized on 30th August 2011, under Sr. No.22443 executed by MR BHOLANATH BHATTACHARYA in favour of his wife MRS MANDIRA BHATTACHARYA. in respect of the aforesaid Apartment has been lost, misplaced and are not traceable. The Complaint was lodged with Vashi Police Station, Navi Mumbai and recorded the same under Lost Property Registration Number 1881/2020 dated 16th October 2020.Any Person/s, Bank/s, Financial Institution/s, Organization/s, Company/ies or any other Govt. / Concerned Authorities having any right, title, interest, claim, demand etc. against or in the aforesaid Apartment by way of afore-said lost documents and/or by way of inheritance, lien, mortgage, posses-sion, sale, gift, lease, charge, trust, maintenance, development, easement, transfer, licence, either agitated in any litigation or otherwise or any other right or interest whatsoever are hereby required to make the same known in writing to the undersigned within a period of (15) fifteen days from the date of publication hereof.If no claim is made or received as required hereinabove, my Client will be at liberty to complete the transaction in respect of the said Apartment without any reference or regard to any such purported right, title, claim or interest etc., which shall be deemed to have been waived for all intents and pur-poses and not binding on my Client. Sd/- Adv. GEETA V. PATEL Advocate High Court ADVOCATE G. V. PATEL & ASSOCIATES 25, Om Rachana CHS, Plot No.3, Sector-17, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400703. Tel: 27892953, 2235636922, Date: 24-11-2020 Mob. No.9820883474, 9594102831

By Crime Reporter, Navi Mumbai

A private travel bus plying from Mumbai to Solapur caught fire

and was burnt to ashes. The incident happened at Sanpada on Satur-day at midnight. Fortu-nately, 50 passengers, who were in the bus got out on time and no casualties were re-ported. However, one passenger sustained minor burn injuries. Passengers' belongings were burnt in the fire. The municipal fire bri-gade rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control in an hour and a half.

Preliminary investigation reveals

that the bus caught fire due to a short circuit. Following the incident, San-pada police have registered a case of

negligence against both the owner of Akanksha Tours and Travels and the bus driver.

By Crime Reporter, Navi Mumbai

A stray dog from Sector-22, Ghan-soli was hit on the head with a

stick by a security guard. The dog succumbed to the injuries during treatment. Rabale police have regis-tered a case against Indra Uday Bohra, 45, a security guard. Police said the secu-rity guard has not yet been arrested.

The complainant in the incident, Manish Jais-inghani is a resident of Basant Apartment in Ghansoli Sector-22. Since Jaisinghani loves to keep cats and dogs, he used to feed 3 stray dogs around his home every night.

On October 21, Olu, an 8-year-old female stray dog, was near Bas-ant Apartment when se-curity guard Indra Bohra hit on its head with a

stick. The dog screamed and fell on the spot. Upon learning of the inci-dent, the Jaisinghani couple took the

injured dog to the doctor for treatment and later lodged a complaint against the se-curity guard, Indra Bohar at Rabale police station.

At that time, Rabale po-lice had registered NC (a non-cognisable offence). The Jaisinghani couple later admitted the injured dog at

a veterinary hospital in Lower Parel. Since the last month, the Jaising-hani couple was taking care of the injured dog at their home. However, the dog died on Friday after falling ill. After Jaisinghani lodged a complaint, Rabale police on Saturday registered a case against the secu-rity guard Indra Bohra under the Prevention of Torture of Animals Act.

Private travel bus from Mumbai to Solapur burnt to ashes

FIR registered against security guard for beating a dog

A case of negligence filed against driver along with the owner of travel agency

The dog succumbed to its injuries during treatment

35-year-old man falls from the

running trainBy Crime ReporterNavi Mumbai

An unidentified person fell from a run-ning train on Friday evening between Vashi and Mankhurd railway station on the Harbour Railway line and died on the spot. Vashi Rail-way Police have regis-tered an accidental death in the case and are trying to identify the deceased.

The deceased was around 35 year old. He fell on the track on Fri-day evening between Vashi to Mankhurd rail-way station. After get-ting information about this, Vashi police rushed to the spot and admitted him to the hospital. But the doctors declared him dead. It is being specu-lated that the man may have fallen from the running train. The Vashi Railway Police have registered an accidental death and are trying to identify the deceased.

Kharghar

The economic situ-ation of the people

has worsened during the pandemic and the lockdown. To add to this, they received in-flated electricity bills. To protest against this and demand waiving of the increased electricity bill, under the leader-ship of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Raigad district president, MLA Prashant Thakur, the members of the BJP or-ganized an electricity bill ‘Holi’ agitation by burning electricity bills

in Kharghar. Corporators and office bearers were present on this occasion.

In order to waive the increased electric-ity bill, BJP held ‘Holi’ agitation at 12 places in

Navi Mumbai and de-manded a waiver of the increased bill. BJP MLA Ganesh Naik tore the electricity bill in front of the MSEDCL office in Vashi and stage protest.

Kharghar and Panvel BJP supporters stage ‘Holi’ protest by burning electricity bills

By Chandrashekhar HendveUran

The annual fort com-petition, which was

organized by Sarde Vi-kas Manch received an overwhelming response. 44 contestants took part in the competition. The best 3 forts were honored. Ayush Ma-hendra Patil bagged the first prize. Sec-

ond prize was bagged by Suyog Patil. Raj Gharat Rohan Patil bagged the third prize in the com-petition. Hemalitai Mha-tre, Rohit Patil Alpesh Joshi, President of Suy-ash Classes Aware, Ni-vas Gawand were pres-

ent on the occasion. The program was moderated by Nagendra Mhatre.

Annual fort making competition receives overwhelming responseThe competition was organized by Sarde Vikas Manch

4 Tuesday, 24 November 2020

Ego a word which always says, I and Me and it is the main reason why relationships fail and marriages end up in divorce. It is said that marriages are made in heaven but keeping them and maintaining relations asks for adjustment between partners, and the first thing is to let go of egos.

One of my friends is a marriage counsellor and she says that most of the cases which come her way are because of ego clashes between hus-band and wife. The term ‘irretriev-able breakdown' in the Hindu Mar-riage Act mostly mention ego as the root cause where the institution of marriage is concerned and this pro-vision is included in the act to make divorce easier as it is better to come out of the marriage if you have such differences .But it happens that some-times the differences are superfluous , in a majority of cases of marital dis-cord, it is the clash of egos that cul-minates in divorce after a protracted legal battle. What starts as an insig-nificant disagreement on trivial mat-ters snowballs into a serious issue, and it affects marital harmony and destroys family life .My friend told me about one young couple, well-settled in their professions and earn-ing handsomely ,who came to her for marriage counselling. They were frustrated with three years of mar-ried life and they were even mildly contemplating divorce. But they were willing to give a chance to their mar-

ried life.After counselling it came out

that husband was found to be having certain ‘irrational beliefs' coming in the way of their married life. These irrational beliefs, lead to unmanage-able anger, restlessness and avoidable stress. He was shocked as these facts were narrated to him, but he wanted to bring back his married life on track so he corrected himself and replaced his irrational beliefs into ‘rational be-liefs'. He got good control over his unhealthy emotions and its resultant destructive behaviour.

The term ‘irretriev-able breakdown' is, re-lated to your perception stemming from the ‘irra-tional beliefs', which are deeply embedded in the mind and it depends on person to person. What is normal and rational to someone may be some-thing unbearable to some other. Sometimes, lack of ‘compatibility' is often cited as a reason for matrimonial breakdown. The term ‘incompatibility' arise from certain irrational beliefs. There are many reasons which results in sepa-rations of loved ones which changes life of both the person involved. Some of prominent reasons of problems are jealousy, pride and ego, the most prominent one. Ego usually comes out of fear of losing control or when you want to prove yourself right or when someone is feeling insecure. People don’t even realize that they have ego problem and the result is

breaking up relations with their loved ones. In these situations, you’ll likely have an argument with your partner and all the nasty stuff comes up. But ego arguments can bring up clues on how to harmonise relationship. Once you manage to go beyond your ego, you can use these arguments for your advantage and learn from each oth-er’s fears and give appreciation and love.

So, we should ponder on how to avoid ego problems:

1.The first thing to keep in mind is never feel regret about your past or about your negative points. Nei-ther should you always think that you are best in any of your qual-ity. Every person has some nega-tive and some positive points. So, be balanced . You have to under-stand that your partner is equally intelligent and responsible as you are, you know some things bet-ter than your partner and your partner knows some things better than you.

2. The second thing to keep in mind

is, don’t always praise yourself. If you keep praising yourself in front of others it will not help much to impress them, but it will slowly increase your ego and will make you overconfident. If you have habit of telling others about your achievements every time when you converse with others then you can get easily trapped with ego problems. So, praise yourself but be in limits.

3. Try to keep your leg in other’s shoe because till you don’t think from other’s perspective you will think that you are always right, but this is not true. The fact is many times what we think is right, can actual-ly impact badly, so while discuss-ing with your partner about any topic, try to think the way he/she is thinking. You should not always oppose what your partner wants to say and don’t think that he/she is not enough mature to give you suggestions. This tendency in-creases your ego problem, so try to avoid it and develop a broader perspective.

4. Don’t always wait for compliments, because people generally make habit of listening only good things about themselves, which are sometimes fake and people want just to make you happy. When your partner says the right things about you, your ego hurts very easily and you react badly. So, be-ware of listening fake praise and keep yourself away from people who flatter you. This will increase your ego problem and you will find difficult to receive criticism.

EGO- THE MAIN CAusE Of MARITAl DIsCORD

This year Kartiki Ekadashi is on 25th

November. Kartiki (Prabodhini) Ekadashi also known as Devotthan Ekadashi, is the 11th lunar day (ekadashi) in the bright fort-night (Shukla Paksha) of the Hindu month of Kartik. It marks the end of the four-month period of Chaturmas, when god Vishnu is believed to sleep. It is believed that Vishnu sleeps on Shayani

Ekadashi and wakes on Prabodhini Ekadashi, thus giving this day the name “Prabodhini

Ekadashi” (“awakening eleventh”), Vishnu-prabodhini (“awakening of Vishnu”) and Dev-

Prabodhini Ekadashi, Deothan, Dev uthav ekadashior Dev Oothi ekadashi (“god’s awak-

ening”). The end of Chaturmas, when mar-riages are prohibited, signifies the beginning

of the Hindu wedding season. It is also known as Kartiki Ekadashi, Kartik Shukla ekadashi

and Kartiki.In Maha-

rashtra, Prabo-dhini Ekadashi is linked with the Deity Vith-hal – a form of Vishnu. Warkari sect is one of the main sect in Vaishnavas. It is said that keeping this

vrat (Vowed religious observance) on this day, bestows one with grace of all the Deities.

Kartiki (Prabodhini) Ekadashi celebration

By Chandrashekhar Hendve, Navi Mumbai

For the last two years, a variety of migrant birds have made wa-ter body near Ove, Murbi village near Cen-tral Park and Vastu Vihar in Sector-16, Kharghar their home. With the onset of cold weather, migratory birds like

gray Pintech from the US, European countries and ducks from Nepal and Tibet can be spotted

in large number. One can also spot black-tailed and long-legged Malguza birds.

As winter sets in migrant birds seen in city

5Tuesday, 24 November 2020

Reopening of schools and colleges will only add to the chaos that is building up every passing day as COVID-positive cases are on the rise all over again. Adding to the turmoil are con-cerns of a possible second or third wave. We have already witnessed instances in the recent past wherein COVID-positive cases have shot up significantly and schools / colleges had to be shut down. All said and done, our healthcare infrastruc-ture isn't capable of handling high number of covid-positive patients and reopening schools and colleges will only add to

the stress levels of parents, patients and the administration alike. Teachers and students have adopted to teaching and attending classes/ lectures online and it should continue for the balance part of this academic year as there is no pressing need to start physical classrooms as yet.

Ashish K Tiwari, Independent Business Journalist, Ulwe.

The education system this year has been badly disturbed due to this pandemic and the administration has partly succeeded in resuming education through the E-platform. How much effec-tive it proves only time shall tell. Sooner than later educational institutions have to be opened for the students by giving them adequate studying opportunities before their exams. However, the country is seeing a surge in Covid cases after the Diwali festival. Many teachers have also been reported to have been infected lately. Once the institutions reopen, it shall also have

a gathering of many people including non-teaching staff, security staff and other outsiders besides the students. Students may also visit stationary and other shops in the market in large numbers and increase the risk of contacting the disease.Students shall also be exposed to the over burdened road transport systems ev-eryday. Moreover due the strict control of the parents, the students were restricted to their respective homes for the last 7-8 months and they are likely to take ad-vantage of this new found freedom to mix in the crowd. All this may increase the chances of the students getting infected and in turn being turned into carriers of Covid and spreading it rapidly to the society. So far, we have been successful in containing the spread of the disease to the children and avoided their casualty. But by opening the Educational Institutions at this stage, there is a very high chances of them getting infected. Hence, I am firmly of the opinion that the schools and colleges should not be re-opened now and the government should wait for few more months to access the situation and take an appropriate decision in the matter.

Dr Pratap Mudaliar, Social worker, Vashi.

While students are patiently waiting to resume their education, their wait seems to be getting more longer. The city and the state is reporting the second wave and steady increase in co-rona patients after the Diwali season. No safe method to pro-tect the children traveling from home to the school or college has been formulated yet by the administration. No safe public mode of transportation for students and people connected to the education system is available at this juncture. The opening is likely to put pressure on the already stressed Public Trans-port System and also likely to increase the crowds in public places. Students are not expected to display adequate maturity or responsible conduct and may engage in casual approach everywhere. This may result in social distancing being com-promised. All this may increase chances of them getting infected by Covid 19. The majority of the parents are also not inclined to send their children to the schools or colleges to avoid unnecessary risk.In view of the uncertainties and risk factors looming around at this juncture, it is not advisable to re -open educational institutions at all.

Yash Reddy, Student, Nerul.

Schools and colleges provide the ideal environment for the spread of COVID-19. Studies have shown that children and teenagers can catch and spread COVID-19 just as easily as adults. Moreover, children, once infected, carry high viral and extremely contagious loads, which they can pass on to their parents and others. If schools were to reopen without the nec-essary Coronavirus precautions and protocols in place, it is highly likely that students would play a much larger role in spreading this pandemic than has occurred previously. Sec-ond, everyone needs to know the basics. The schoolcommunity — students, parents, school staff and all people these groups are connected to needs basic information on COVID-19 transmission and how to re-duce it through established procedures. Moreover, many Government schools do not have access to sufficient running water to ensure that thechildren can wash their hands frequently. In addition, there are a very limited num-ber of functional toilets in most Government-run schools. Who will ensure that the children are washing their hands frequently or wearing their masks all the time and maintaining social distancing? Which parent would like to take the risk of sending their son/daughter to school when the pandemic has not yet died down? The right time for reopening schools and colleges would be in January, once the winter is over and the expected surge of cases is on the wane. The Education Ministers of various States in the country should take a note of this.

Amit Rane, Pune, Maharashtra

QUESTION FOR NEXT WEEK

YOUR VIEWS ON ‘LOVE JIHAD’ BILL?

The pandemic is not yet gone and is still affecting the people. The decision on reopening the schools and colleges should not be taken in a hasty way. As minors can get infected easily and it's a very risky decision as the school and colleges are crowdy places. Government should re think and decide before taking such decision.

Tejas Patil, Social Worker, Ghansoli.

Readers desirous of contributing in this column may send their views along with their passport size picture

and address to contact@newsband.in

Covid-19 cases are still increasing in India. If schools and col-leges are opened, the students will not be able to maintain social distance inside their classrooms and thus all of them will be at risk. Therefore, the educational institutes should not be opened at this moment.

Aditya Puri, Service, Belapur.

NAVI MUMBAIKARS SPEAK SHOULD SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES BE REOPENED?

No, they should not at this time of the year even if the cases dip. Life is more precious than the academic year. The right time for reopening schools and colleges in Maharashtra should be any time after the New Year. Perhaps, January is the right time. Also, only those schools and colleges which are outside of containment zones should be allowed to operate. Students, teachers and employees living in the present containment zones should not be allowed inside the campuses. Employees who are at high risk, including elderly people, pregnant moth-ers, people having diseases should also not be allowed inside the campus.

Sweta D'Cruz, Dombivili, Mumbai

The online classes have limitations and all students are not equally benefitted from such classes. Therefore, if the schools and colleges are opened with some precautions, that will help students understand their text in a better way.

Sonu Pandit, Service, Ghansoli.

6 Tuesday, 24 November 2020

EditorialISSUE: 141 24 NOVEMBER, 2020

It has now become a common practice with the NMMC authori-

ties to act in haste and then repent in leisure. They first recklessly spend funds and then when it finally dawns upon them that construc-tion has not been according to the specifications or the utility quotient of the infrastructure is very poor, they mercilessly spend almost the same amount on their demolition. Whether it is the laying of sewage line, beautification drive, adding speed breakers or leveling of road, the works are carried out without proper survey. Error is realized only after the completion of the project resulting not only in loss of hard earned money of the citizens, but also the difficulties posed during the work to them.

Transparency, accountability, financial and technical viability- are some of the common jargons imported and incorporated in their speech by the political leaders, when describing a new project. These carefully crafted words are used only at the initial stage, till the funds or the budget sanctioned, but once that formality is complete, no one actually bothers to know how the money has been spent. The foun-dation stone laying ceremony takes priority over everything else with name of the politician engraved on granite stone in golden letters. Many projects end at this stage with even foundation stone going missing af-ter few years. Either the projects do

not see the light of the day or if at all are fortunate enough to start, they are marred with huge time and cost overruns. No check is maintained as to how the money is being utilized. Huge amounts have been spent on providing infrastructural facilities and then on maintaining them. Bud-get running into crores of rupees are prepared and passed every year, but the question as to where these funds are actually utilized is a ques-tion that hounds every conscious resident, who is otherwise a victim of excessive taxation in Navi Mum-bai. Usually the money is not spent on creating capital assets or value addition but in the so-called main-taining the existing ones. Existing pavements are dismantled and new ones are put in place without adding any fresh stretch, potholed roads are filled the year round to be washed away by the first showers, roads are dug up for laying cables alternately by one or the other department etc. These activities take place through-out the year and these activities in turn siphon-off the public money.

In a country, which still appears in the list of developing countries, to carryout development in real sense, it is very essential that every penny is spent judiciously and with utmost accountability. It is important for the NMMC to deal in a more ratio-nal manner and to improve its func-tioning if its very existence is not to be questioned by the conscious residents.

Repent in leisure

PUBLIC NOTICE THIS IS TO NOTIFY THAT my client MR. SHAMSHER BIRBHAN SINGH is legally seized and possessed and otherwise sufficiently entitled to a Flat no. B-15, on the 3rd Floor, Neptune Co–operative Housing Society Ltd., on the Plot no. 17B & 17C, Sector – 4, Vashi, Navi Mumbai - 400 703, Tal and Dist – Thane, (hereinafter referred to as “the said Office Premises”). That my client have lost 1. Allotment Letter from Neptune Co–operative Housing Society Ltd in the name of Omprakash Vora pertaining to the said flat & 2. Original Agreement to Sell, between Mr. Omprakash G Vora and Mr. Krishnaraj Subramaniam, dated 19th April, 1985, pertaining to the said flat. In this respect, my client executed an Affidavit and on lodging the missing complaint for the same with Vashi Police Station, Certificate dated 23/11/2020 was issued by Vashi Police Station vide register no. 2213/2020. Any person(s) claim to have found the above mentioned Original and/or Xerox Document and/or intends to claim the Said Apartment by way of Sale, Purchase, Mortgage, Charge, Lien, Gift, Lease, Trust, Possession, Inheritance, bequest/ easement, development or otherwise howsoever, is hereby required to make the same known to the undersigned at our office address given hereinabove, along with the Original or Certified copies of the document pertaining to the claim, within a period of 14 days from the date of publication of this Notice, failing which my client will be at liberty to complete the transaction in respect of the said Apartment without any reference or regard to any such purported claim or interest which shall be deemed to have been waived for all intents and purpose and not binding on my client. Sd/- Adv. Swapna N Bhojane B.L.S. LLB. Office: C-2/4 0:1, Opp. Abbott Hotel, Xerox Lane, Sector 2, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400 703.Date: 24-11-2020 Tel.: 27823616 Mob.: 9892585852

By Crime ReporterNavi Mumbai

An unidentified rob-ber barged into la-

dies compartment of a local train plying from CSMT to Panvel and snatched a woman's mobile phone worth Rs 15,000. He then jumped out of a running loco-motive at Mankhurd railway station. Vashi Railway Police have registered a case of rob-bery against the robber and have started search-

ing for him.The complainant,

Komal Sutar, is a resi-dent of Panvel. On Sat-urday evening, she was traveling with her sister to Panvel in the wom-en's compartment in the local train from CSMT-Panvel on Harbour line. At around 5 pm, when the locomotive was on its way to Mankhurd railway station, a robber standing at the station entered into the coach and snatched the mobile

phone worth Rs 15,000 from Komal’s hand. He then jumped out of the running train and fled. Frightened by the inci-dent, Komal Sutar got down at Vashi railway station and lodged a complaint at the Rail-way Police Station. Po-lice have registered a case of robbery against an unidentified robber in the case. Also, the search for the robber has started from the CCTV footage of the railway station.

Railway police search for robber who snatched mobile phone from a woman's hand

By Ashok Dhamija

A over-enthusiastic Mumbai City FC

lost to a disciplined NorthEast United FC by the narrowest of mar-gin in their opening tie of the Hero Indian Su-per League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 campaign at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Saturday.

Dominating the pro-ceedings in the first half of the match, the island-ers came close to scor-ing in the 23rd minute through a well-timed volley by India interna-tional Rowllin Borges, that was thwarted by NorthEast’s goalkeeper Subhasish Roy. A mis-placed tackle by Moroc-can defensive midfielder MCFC Ahmed Jahouh in the 43rd minute resulted in him being handed the red card immediately by the referee.

Resuming after the goalless break, NEUFC earned a penalty four minutes into the second half after Borges acci-dentally handled the ball inside the box, that was

neatly converted by the Ghanaian striker Kwesi Appiah for the High-landers. High on confi-dence NEUFC made the most of a man advantage to dominate the proceed-ings while keeping their defence intact time again against their fighting op-ponents who were on the lookout for the equa-liser. Head coach Gerard Nus strategy in the end paid off as the Highland-ers walked away with maximum points.

In other league matches, debutant ATK Mohun Bagan made a winning start courtesy captain Roy Krishna’s 67th minute goal against

Kerala Blasters FC in the opening tie of the sev-enth edition of the ISL at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Friday.

While former cham-pions Bengaluru FC squandered a two goal lead against the host in a hard-fought and en-tertaining 2-2 draw at the Fatorda Stadium on Sunday. Cleiton Silva and Juan Antonio Gon-zalez Fernandez found the net on either side of the half that put Ben-galuru ahead. A brace by Spanish Igor Angulo in space of four minutes midway into the second half saw both the sides share the spoils.

Opening blues for Mumbai CityUndone by Kwesi’s penalty for NorthEast United

Action packed moment between Mumbai City FC and NorthEast United FC (Photo Court-sey ISL)

For inserting advertisements

in Newsband Divakar -

9867529915 Vijay -

9867529919 Rampreet -

9867659921 Off : 2087 0513 /

2781 5380

7Tuesday, 24 November 2020

PUBLIC NOTICE This public notice is hereby given to the public at large that my cli-ent MR.SANTOSH BABURAO BHOIR, residing at 527, Santosh Nagar, Pendhar, Post Navde, Tal- Panvel, Dist- Raigad, Maha-rashtra – 410208, have agreed to purchase the 1) Agricultural land bearing Gut No. 18 / 8, admeasuring about 0.10.50 out of 0.21.00, Assessment Rs. 0.54 Paise, at Koynavele, Tal. Panvel, Dist. Raigad, 2) Agricultural land bearing Gut No. 18 / 9, ad-measuring about 0.08.00 out of 0.16.00, Assessment Rs. 0.43 Paise, at Koynavele, Tal. Panvel, Dist. Raigad and 3) Agricul-tural land bearing Gut No. 18 / 14, admeasuring about 0.10.00 out of 0.20.00, Assessment Rs. 0.39 Paise, at Koynavele, Tal. Panvel, Dist. Raigad, (Total admeasuring about 28.5 Guntha) from MR. SANTOSH RAMDAS PATIL by an Agreement.If any person or persons, any financial institutions, firm, or company having any rights, title or interest or have any objection, claim, lien, charge, decree or attachment in respect of the Agricultural Plot of Land shall have to lodge their claim, objection or rights within 14 days from the date of the publication of this public notice in writing supported by document with me or with my client, failing which my client complete the transaction and thereafter no claim or objection in any nature what so ever shall be entertained or considered by my client which please note Sd/- Amit H. Yewale B.Com. LL.B. ADVOCATE HIGH COURT Off: 12A/13A, 1st Floor, Janta Market, Sector.4E/A, Near Bank of India, Kalamboli,Date: 24-11-2020 Navi Mumbai – 410218. Mob: 96994 95256 Place: Panvel Email: amityewale83@gmail.com

PUBLIC NOTICE Late Mr. Jethalal Dharamshi Chandarana, a member of the Skylark Co. Op. Housing Society, Plot No.8-B, Sector -6, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai-400 614 and holding Share in Flat No. 102 in the building of the Society died on 23/09/2020 Without making any nomination.The Society hereby invites claims or objections from the heir or heirs or other claimant or claimants / objections or objects to the transfer of the said shares and interest of the deceased member in the capital / property of the Society within a period of 15 days from the publication of this notice, with copies of such documents and other proofs in support of his / her / their claims / objections for transfer of shares and interest of the deceased member in the capi-tal / property of the Society. If no claims / objections are received within the period prescribed above, the society shall be free to deal with the shares and interest of the deceased member in the capital / property of the Society in such manner as are provided under the bye-law of the Society. The claims / objections, if any received by the Society for transfer of shares and interest of the deceased mem-ber in the capital / property of the Society shall be dealt with in the manner provided under the bye-laws of the Society. A copy of the registered bye-laws of the Society is available for inspection by the claimants / objectors in the office of the Society / with the Secretary of the Society between 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. from the date of pub-lication of this notice till the date of expiry of its period. This Public Notice is issued in terms of Bye-laws No. 37 (Appendix – 16). Sd/- For and on behalf of Skylark Co. Op. Housing Society. Sd/-Date: 23-11-2020 Hon. Chairperson / Secretary

By Dinesh Pawar, Uran

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) carried

out a statewide agitation on Monday (November. 23) against the state government for not giv-ing any concession to the people in the state on the increased elec-tricity bill. Uran Taluka Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of MLA Mahesh Baladi held an agitation at Ganpati Chowk in Uran city.

On this occasion Uran taluka BJP presi-dent and corporator Ravi Bhoir, mayor Sayali Mhatre, deputy mayor Jayvin Koli, BJP Uran city president, and cor-porator Kaushik Shah, Uran city youth presi-dent Nilesh Patil, Ma-halan division president Mahesh Kadu, corpora-tor Janvi Pandit, cor-porator Rajesh Thakur corporator Dhananjay Kadve, Uran City Wom-

en President Sampurna Thali, BJP Uran Taluka General Secretary Sunil Patil Uran Taluka Youth President Shekhar Pa-til, Shekhar Tandel, District Vice President Neelkanth Gharat, Uran Taluka Vice President

Shashi Patil, Milind Pa-til, Jasim Gas, Hitesh Shah., Manan Patel, for-mer corporator Rajesh Koli, Hastimal Mehta, Manohar Sahatia, Swap-nil Kasare, Madan Koli and BJP workers were present.

Uran taluka BJP stages protest against inflated electricity bills

of January. And it is learned that the second wave can be more dan-gerous. We will need to take adequate precau-tion."

S u d h a k a r Deshmukh, Commis-sioner of PCMC while

speaking with the News-band correspondent said, "On Friday we thought that we will be able to re-open the schools in our jurisdiction from 23rd November, 2020 for 9th to 12th standard students. However, after we reviewed the situa-tion and after state tour-ism minister Aditi Tat-

kare requested to keep the schools closed till 31st December, 2020, the decision was taken We will be following the state guidelines re-garding Covid-19 in each and every aspect."

Meanwhile, on Sat-urday Aditi Tatkare said that all the schools in PCMC jurisdiction

would remain closed till 31st December, 2020. But the Collector of Raigad District Nidhi Chaudhary while speak-ing with the News-band clarified that only PCMC jurisdiction in Raigad has decided to postpone the reopening but no other schools in Raigad are restricted.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...2

SCHOOLS UNDER NMMC & PCMC...

Nilesh Bankhele Airoli Mara-tha Sangharsh Yatra staged protest at a chowk in front of Apple Hospital. All the Mara-tha people gathered at the venue and shouted slogans against the state government. Nilesh Bankhele told the administration that the agi-tation would intensify if the right decision on reservation policy is not taken soon. (By: Chandrashekhar Hendve)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE...1

ACT RESPONSIBLY OR GET READY FOR THE...

the devotees, we have opened the religious places in the state. How-ever, it is mandatory for everyone to strictly fol-low the Covid-19 pro-tocols while visiting the shrines. However, it is observed that the crowd at many religious plac-es is rising, which is a matter of great concern for us. I will request the people not to take coronavirus lightly. The Covid-19 crisis is not over yet. Many Euro-pean countries and states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajast-han are facing the sec-ond wave and their chal-lenges have increased. Same way Maharashtra could face challenges due to the second wave. We are making each and every effort to ensure that Covid-19 spread is controlled and curbed. All the health machiner-ies are in place, but the cooperation by the citi-zens is imperative."

"I have seen and also learned from many sources that people are flouting the norms set by the state government and local bodies. I am very disappointed by the people who are put-ting their lives in danger along with that of the

others. We need to take precaution on a daily basis and also respect the efforts put by the es-sential workers for our betterment. The experts have found that a large section of the youth is being affected now with the new wave and it is eventually spreading the infection among the el-ders too. Very soon the vaccine will be launched but people need to focus on their care because it will take some time for the government to ensure the availability of vac-cines to nearly 25 crore people. Experts have also noticed that despite people recovering from the infection there are cases which have shown post Covid-19 side ef-fects and we need to take necessary precautions for it. The government is taking all possible steps like initiating ‘My Fam-ily, My Responsibility’ campaign which helped us in successfully curb-ing Covid-19 cases. This was all possible due to the contribution of the people and all the essen-tial workers who gave their best in the fight against Covid-19" said Uddhav Thackeray.

During the address he said, "We are working towards resuming daily life in Maharashtra, but due to the increase in the

number of cases, many officials are not able to give us permission for several activities. Many people have asked for the operation of local trains for all but the per-mission will be given only after a thorough un-derstanding of the crisis. I also urge everyone not to step out of homes un-less it is necessary. All the equipment, medi-cines and other safety aspects are in place. But we have one concern and that is an increase in the number of patients in comparison to the num-ber of healthcare staff. The government, in the days to come, will study the situation and will take some strict deci-sions, but as of now, we are not keen on impos-ing another lockdown for the betterment of the citizens."

The State Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar hinting at another lockdown said that, "If the cases increase in the state then after 8-10 days, a review of the situation will be taken and based on that we will check if another lockdown is re-quired. The aim is not to scare the people but to make them understand how important it is to follow Covid 19 proto-col as the second wave can be more dangerous."

8 Tuesday, 24 November 2020

Navi Mumbai

Environmental ists have expressed hap-

piness that the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has lifted the sluice gates at Panje wetland in Uran.

Panje, the destina-tion for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, has also been cov-ered by a massive com-pound wall which the green groups wanted to be demolished and free the bird sanctuary from all restrictions.

Both the sluice gates and the wall are illegal as the project propo-nents do not have per-missions from the Ma-harashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) which is a prerequisite as the man-grove-filled area falls under CRZ-1.

The wetland has been going dry for most of the time as free flow of tidal water has been restricted by the sluice gates on the one side artificial bunds built by vested interests on the other, Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ek-vira Aai Pratishtan, said.

Panje has been under attack and birds have stopped landing here and started flying helter-skelter, said B N Kumar,

director and CEO of award winning not-for-profit NatConnect Foun-dation.

NMSEZ has also started an illegal land-fill here and a dumper truck driver was caught red-handed. The district administration filed a police case against the truck driver.

“The State Environ-ment Minister Aditya Thackeray halted con-

struction at Panje fol-lowing our complaints,” said Kumar.

Environmentalists and local fishing com-munity forum Paaram-parik Machhimar Bachao Kruti Samiti have been pleading with the State government to accord the status of Bird Sanctuary to Panje and save it from converting into a concrete jungle.

Bombay Natural

History Society (BNHS) has long ago obtained assurance from then Chief Minister Deven-dra Fadnavis that Panje would be protected as a bird sanctuary.

Ignoring all these, CIDCO has recently drawn up a development plan (DP) for Dronag-iri node literally gob-bling up Panje and other wetlands and mangrove zones without any clear-

ance from the MCZMA, Kumar said.

Now that the sluice gates have been lifted the government must immediately declare Panje as bird sanctu-ary and protect the bio-diversity, Kumar said in a fresh appeal to the State.

Persistence pays, said activist Sunil Agarwal joining the campaign to save Panje wetland.

By Indrani BasuNavi Mumbai

Catholic churches across Navi Mum-

bai are getting ready to restart Sunday Mass on and from November 29, 2020 after receiving consent from Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay. The churches will allow public to at-tend Mass from fol-lowing Sunday on No-vember 29 which also denotes the beginning of new Liturgical year.

Father Henry from Sacred Heart Church informed, “We have re-ceived the circular and also have been advised by the Cardinal to fol-low standard operating protocols set up by the state government to pre-vent any further spread of Covid 19. We are tak-ing all safety measures including sanitization of the church before each service, not per-mitting too many followers inside the church at one time to ensure health safety of the devotees as well as parish-ioners. Without mask no one will be allowed, safe distancing will be maintained throughout the Mass.”

Father Henry also added, “Only 100 people at a time will be al-lowed inside Our Sacred Heart Church during Mass respecting the ad-vice of Cardinal which means only one third of the church capacity or less. Only two persons will be allowed to sit on every alternate pew (bench) with an aim to maintain safe distancing. Elderly persons above 65 years and children below 10 are advised to avoid attending Mass.”

Similarly, Our Lady of Visitation Church, Nerul will follow the

mandate ensuing a safe gathering of Sunday mass after restarting it on November 17. Fa-ther Arul Manickam informed, “Ensuring a safe congregation, we will make every possi-ble arrangement follow-ing the SOPs laid down by the state government. We will not allow per-sons above 65 years of age and children below 10 years. Provision for washing hands and feet is already in place at the entrance of the church.

We won’t allow flow-ers or touching the Holy statues or Frames in the Church. Face mask, hand sanitization, 6 feet distancing, Arogya setu apps in mobile are some of the essential rules devotees as well as pa-rishioners would have to follow.” The church has already put a pub-lic notice in front of the main building narrating all safety measures to avoid any spread of the

disease. Father Velancio from

St. Joseph Church, CBD Belapur has put up a catchy poster in front of the church asking devo-tees to ‘maintain safe distance from each other but no distance from the Lord.’ He informed, “We plan for additional services to limit the number of parishioners and that is why we will invite zone wise devo-tees to take part and will keep the maximum number up to sixty.

Apart from that, whatever rules are set up by the state government will be followed with complete sincer-ity.”

T h e r m a l checking is must before entering into the Church. Father Velancio is quite apprehensive about the upcom-ing Christmas cel-ebration and told, “The churches have reopened af-ter a long time, so we have to watch the circumstances

of the pandemic closely. After assessing the situa-tion, we will take a deci-sion. Whatever Standard Operation Protocols are mandated we would like to advise our parish-ioners and devotees to follow all those during celebration.”

In early December, parishes will review the arrangements and will take decision for forth-coming Christmas cel-ebration.

Panje tidal water blockade lifted Sunday Mass to resume in all churches from November 29CIDCO removes sluice gates on Mangrove Committee order

Our lady of Visitation Church, Nerul

CBD ChurchBy Pranab Jyoti Bhuyan, Navi Mumbai

To check the bike racing and risky stunts spree performed by the

youngsters on the Palm Beach road, the traffic department has decided to conduct special drives on that road in the early mornings.

According to the traffic officials, bikers enter the road between 5 am and 7 am and perform stunts. They also participate in bike racing as the road remains empty during that time.

Arun Patil, assistant commissioner of police (traffic) said, “We have been receiving a lot of complaints against such bikers. The youngsters should un-derstand that the road is for intra-city transportation and not for racing and

stunts. Because of their foolishness in-nocent people may have to pay with their lives. Therefore, we have decided to conduct special drives on that road between 5 am and 7 am.”

“We will deploy our officials at all important junctions of the road such as under the bridge at Vashi, near Moraj circle, TS Chanakya junction, NMMC headquarters among others before 5 am. As soon as the errant bikers enter the road. The officials will penalize them. We may conduct the first drive on coming Sunday. However, the final decision has not been taken yet. If we conduct the drive continuously for a few day, the bikers will stop entering the road.”

Traffic department to conduct early morning drive on Palm Beach road