Mayor says check migrants, CM says all are welcome

A verbal back-and-forth between Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Mayor Shraddha Jadhav overshadowed the inauguration of new outstation trains.

A verbal back-and-forth between Chief Minister (CM) Ashok Chavan and Mayor Shraddha Jadhav overshadowed the inauguration of new outstation trains.

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Chavan and Jadhav were at a function at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on Thursday to inaugurate the third Duranto Express between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and the Dadar-Varanasi Superfast Express.

Jadhav, in her speech, said more north Indian migrants would come to the city after the introduction of the Dadar-Varanasi Express and increase in the frequency of the Pune-Patna Express.

“The government should keep a check on the number of migrants coming by these trains,” Jadhav said.

Chavan responded saying, “Anybody can come to Mumbai. However, migrants should not encroach on land illegally and should not dirty the city.”

The issue of north Indian migrants has been a favourite with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena.

Chavan has objected to attacks on north Indians, but he has also said that the government would not ignore the sons of the soil. With the civic elections two years away, a battle between the Sena and Congress over the issue seems imminent as both will try to guard their Maharashtrian votes from the MNS.

Railway officials said security on stations throughout India would be improved.

“We have started installing closed circuit television cameras across stations and platforms and aligning them with the Internet Protocol device,” said A Goyal, member, Railway Board.

The railways will introduce an Automatic Warning System at stations, which would alert the control room about any threats.

The railways also announced Phase 3 of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project.

In Phase 3, the railways will segregate suburban train operations from the main line passenger and freight services. All trains running on the suburban lines will be 12-car rakes.

Eight hundred new trains will be introduced.