Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured that 14 acres of land of Thane Mental Hospital will be handed over to the Central Railway within a month
The extended Thane station will soon be a reality for more than 6 lakh commuters.
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The Thane station sees over 6 lakh commuters every day. File pic
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured that 14 acres of land of Thane Mental Hospital will be handed over to the Central Railway within a month. The promise came at a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his party whips on Monday night at the CM’s official residence.
This move is expected to pave the way for the R150-crore project that has been in the pipeline for the past 10 years. Thane’s guardian minister and Sena group leader in the assembly Eknath Shinde and MLA Pratap Sarnaik raised the issue, asking for fast-tracking the land transfer.
“The CM told us that the 14-acre land will be transferred within a month’s time to the railways. The suburban trains between Thane and Mumbai CST will operate from the new facility,” Sarnaik told mid-day.
Shinde said Sena minister Dr Deepak Sawant, who heads the public health department, has already agreed to release the hospital’s land. “Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu cleared the plan during his visit to Thane. A project report has also been submitted by the railway officials,” he said, adding that a special officer was deputed to grant clearances from his ministry.
CM promises aid
Ahead of the BMC elections, Thackeray and Fadnavis tried to address to a long-pending demand of the Sena legislators that developmental works in their respective constituencies should be approved on a top priority. The Sena leaders have been complaining that BJP ministers, who head all important departments, were ignoring the Sena’s proposals.
The meeting was significant because the two parties are preparing to fight the civic elections separately. It would be interesting to see if the BJP really wants to help the post-poll alliance partner in the state government, or it is just wooing the Sena to stabilise the government.
The meeting also underlined a tacit understanding between Thackeray and Fadnavis, who have met on many occasions in the past two months just to send out signals that the alliance would continue despite continuous squabbling between the partners.
At Monday’s meeting, the BJP and the Sena decided to form a coordination committee comprising leaders from both parties. One such committee will look after Mumbai’s housing problems and issues related to the new development plan.
It was decided that the CM and Thackeray should meet Sena ministers and legislators at regular intervals to take stock of the situation.
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