The Indian Express                        05.04.2013

BMC told to set up 242 new taxi stands

Accepting a long-pending demand of the taxi union, the state government directed BMC Thursday to open 242 new taxi stands in the city.

The stands will be opened in Colaba, Worli, Matunga, Tardeo, Mahim, Bhoiwada, Dongri, Byculla, Nagpada and Kalbadevi. Colaba, Worli, Tardeo and Mahim will get as many as 30 new stands each.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by transport secretary Shailesh Kumar Sharma, taxi union leaders and civic and traffic officials.

Encroachment and vehicular traffic have eaten up 1,200 of the 1,530 taxi stands in the island city.

"The state government conducted a survey of missing taxi stands. The transport secretary accordingly directed BMC to complete setting up of new stands within a month. He agreed to hold another meeting next month where the matter will be discussed. It will help not only commuters, but also taxi drivers who otherwise do not have enough place to park and are fined for parking on roads," said A L Quadros, general secretary of Mumbai Taximen Union.

The union had earlier decided its members would stand at Churchgate station on April 8 with a begging bowl to raise money to set up taxi stands in view of state reluctance to release funds despite several requests.

"However, after the meeting with Sharma we have decided to defer our decision of collecting money for the stands from the public to May 10," Quadros said.

Chain-snatching bid foiled by cops

TWO constables foiled an alleged chain-snatching attempt in Kurar, Malad East, Thursday. According to the police, the accused, Shivaji Shelke (27), allegedly accosted the victim, Naina Shukla (60) to Laxman Nagar. "Shelke approached Shukla from behind and grabbed her gold necklace. In the struggle, Shelke slapped her, pushed her and kicked her and fled. She raised an alarm," said Subhash Dafle, senior inspector, Kurar police station.

Fortunately for Shukla, constables Vijay Sankalp and Vilas Parab, who were patrolling the area, witnessed the incident and began to chase Shelke.

Dafle said: "He put the necklace in his mouth, but they figured that Shelke had put the gold necklace in his mouth. We will check if he has a criminal record." Shelke was booked under section 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code and will be produced before the magistrate Friday. Dafle added this was the fifth instance of chain-snatching in Kurar this year, of which three have now been detected.