Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu: CM Siddaramaiah calls for special emergency meeting on Sept 13
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for a "special emergency meeting" on September 13, following the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Tuesday recommending that Karnataka release 5,000 cusecs of water every day for the next 15 days to Tamil Nadu.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, ministers of the Cauvery basin region, former chief ministers of all parties, senior ministers of the state cabinet, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members will participate in the emergency meeting.
"The special emergency meeting will be held on 13-9-2023 at 12:30 PM at Vidhana Soudha's conference hall," the Chief Minister's office said in a statement.
Earlier today, Siddaramaiah held an emergency meeting regarding the next steps to be taken in view of the CWRC's recommendation. Shivakumar, several senior ministers and officials including Chief Secretary, and Chief Minister's Legal Advisor Ponnanna participated in the meeting.
After CWRC recommendation came out, Shivakumar said that the state is in no position to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu, as it doesn't have enough water storage, due to lack of adequate rainfall in the river basin region.
He said, the matter is next going to come before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), most probably by tomorrow, and Karnataka will vehemently put forward its stand before it.
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Mumbai Metro lines 9 and 2B open for commuters
Mumbai (PTI): Commercial operations on the first phases of Mumbai Metro corridors 9 and 2B began on Wednesday morning, a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the mass-transit routes, officials said.
While the Metro 9 marks the first direct connectivity between a suburb in Mumbai and a part of Thane city in the metropolitan region, the Line 2B will provide the first metro connectivity on the Harbour Line in Mumbai.
The 5.6-km elevated Phase 1 stretch of Metro Line 9 comprises four stations -- Dahisar East, Pandurangwadi, Miragaon and Kashigaon. The 5.53-km Phase 1 of Metro Line 2B has five stations, including Deshbhakt N G Acharya Udyan (Diamond Garden), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, Deonar, Mankhurd and Maharashtra Nagar–Mandale.
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According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Line 9 is expected to cut travel time between Mira-Bhayandar in Thane district and Mumbai to around 30 minutes from the current one to two hours. Built at Rs 6,607 crore, it will eventually provide seamless connectivity to south Mumbai through interlinking with other lines.
With the addition of the two new lines, Mumbai’s operational Metro network has expanded to six corridors, including Line 1 (Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova), Line 2A (Andheri West-Dahisar East), Line 7 (Dahisar East-Andheri East) and the underground Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra Kurla Complex-SEEPZ).
As per MMRDA, the revised timetable for Line 2A and Line 7 came into effect on Wednesday, aimed at improving frequency, predictability and overall commuter experience.
It said that with the inauguration of Line 9, Metro Line 2A will now operate as a standalone corridor between Andheri West and Dahisar East, with services from 5.50 am till around 11 pm and a peak frequency of about six minutes.
The integrated Line 7-9 corridor (Gundavali to Kashigaon), spanning 19.79 km, will operate from 5.50 am to 11 pm, with a peak frequency of under six minutes and 276 services on weekdays.
Metro Line 2B (Phase 1) services commenced at 6 am and will run till around 10.30 pm at intervals of approximately nine-and-a-half minutes, operating 209 services daily, according to officials.
MMRDA said the integration of Line 7 with Line 9 enables direct connectivity from Andheri East to Mira-Bhayandar, while Lines 2A and 7 will function as separate corridors.
A seamless interchange facility at Dahisar station will allow passengers to switch between Lines 2A and 7 without exiting the “paid” (ticketed) area.
