Sena (UBT) MLC demands helipad on Atal Setu after Expressway traffic chaos
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) Member of Legislative Council Milind Narvekar has demanded the provision of a helipad and emergency facilities on the Atal Setu, which connects Mumbai and Raigad district, citing the recent 33-hour traffic congestion on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Narvekar highlighted the chaos on the high-speed carriageway between Mumbai and Pune after a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section earlier this week.
The MLC said he also got stuck on the Expressway when he went to Pune to meet the family members of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash on January 28.
ALSO READ: 14-year-old Rohingya refugee stabbed to death after violent argument
It is necessary to hold a review of the emergency arrangements on the Atal Setu, formerly Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, or MTHL, he said. With Atal Setu, the travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai has been reduced to just 20 minutes, and this has led to an increase in vehicular traffic on the sea bridge, he said.
According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the Atal Setu facilitated the movement of 83,06,009 vehicles over the past year.
Narvekar called for an urgent emergency plan to deal with situations arising from accidents such as the one on the Expressway or from natural calamities.
“There should be an emergency plan and a helipad (on the Atal Setu) on an urgent basis,” Narvekar said.
The Atal Setu, which links Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai, was thrown open to the public in January 2024. Of its entire length of 21.8 km, 16.5 km runs over the sea.
Earlier, an industrialist had said that he took a helicopter to return to Pune after being stranded for eight hours on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway due to the massive traffic jam
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mohali schools receive bomb threat emails, Fortis Hospital also mentioned
Chandigarh (PTI): Some schools in Punjab's Mohali received bomb threat emails on Tuesday, which also mentioned Fortis Hospital, prompting police to launch search operation, officials said.
"The bomb threat to schools also mentioned the Fortis Hospital in Mohali, where we conducted anti-sabotage checks. Non-essential services were kept on hold while essential services continued," a senior police official said in Mohali.
He said the police were conducting checks in the schools.
Security had already been strengthened in and around Fortis hospital in Mohali after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was admitted there. Chief Minister Mann was re-admitted in the hospital on Monday evening, hours after he was discharged from the health facility. Mann was admitted again after he experienced exhaustion, said sources.
On Wednesday, sixteen private schools in Mohali had received bomb threat emails, triggering evacuation and prompting detailed anti-sabotage checks by police.
However, after detailed inspection, no suspicious or explosive material was found at any of the locations.
The latest scare comes close on the heels of similar threats in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Haryana schools. All threats turned out to be hoaxes.
