Connect with us
Saturday,29-March-2025
Breaking News

Maharashtra

Maharashtra achieves ‘Zero’ loadshedding: Energy Minister

Published

on

After two weeks of power cuts ranging from two to 10 hours in many areas barring Mumbai, Maharashtra finally achieved ‘zero’ load-shedding on April 28, Energy Minister Nitin Raut said here on Saturday.

From April 14, the state had experienced a shortfall of around 1,700 megawatt (MW) which necessitated the load-shedding in many areas, sparking an uproar as the state reels under an unprecedented heat wave, said an official from the Energy Department.

“However, the state has been able to bridge the gap and satisfy the full demand of 28,276-MW power from its 2.89 crore consumers across different categories. This was possible by buying electricity at higher rates from the markets and other measures,” Maharashtra State Electricity Workers Federation President, Mohan Sharma said.

Minister Raut said that since April 28, there has been no load-shedding, making it the only state among those hit by coal shortages to achieve the mark in just 14 days.

On April 27, the MSEWF had slammed the Centre for what it alleged were wrong policies that resulted in an ‘artificial’ power shortage in over a dozen states in India, first highlighted by IANS (April 27).

The opposition Congress on Friday reacted sharply to this by blaming the Centre for not making arrangements to transport coal to the power plants thereby leading to the ‘man-made’ power shortage crisis at the height of summer.

“Today the situation is that there are coal plants with 72,000-MW lying barren due to non-availability of coal. It’s not that there is no coal in the country, it is available, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t think it is necessary to transport it to the plants,” Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said.

He said that India is capable enough of producing electricity and also has raw material too, but the Prime Minister cannot even transport coal from the mines to power plants to help generate power.

As the heatwave tightened its grip the state, many parts of Maharashtra particularly the hinterlands, baked with the mercury scorching at Jalgaon, Chandrapur (46 degrees), Akola, Wardha, Yavatmal and Ahmednagar (45 degrees), Amravati, Nagpur and Parbhani (44 degrees).

As per the latest official data, the worst-hit states due to load-shedding are Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, with maximum power shortages running into double-digits.

Next in the list are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh reporting medium power shortfall running into single digits.

In the bottom order are Assam, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh with low shortages.

disaster

Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

Published

on

Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

Published

on

Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

Published

on

Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

Continue Reading

Trending