Political parties in race to welcome third wave in Mumbai

Even as the state government talks of a likely third wave of Covid19 and the Opposition acknowledges the looming threat the Shiv Sena and BJP are locked in an intense race to win public brownie points Both parties have been flagging off trains and buses under the pretext of festivals The number of special transport services this year is almost twice that of last yearSoon after he took charge as the minister of state in the rail ministry in July BJPrsquos Raosaheb Danve Patil first announced more special trains for the Ganpati festival in addition to the 72 services that had been already announced In August further announcements came in and the number swelled to 261 Authorities added 10 more services late on Thursday night taking the total to 271 These Ganpati specials will be run by Central Railway Western Railway They will run till September 20Raosaheb Danve Patil flags off a special train in the cityIf these were not enough BJP minister Narayan Rane went a step ahead and booked an entire 18car train trip from Dadar to Sawantwadimdashnamed Modi Expressmdashand allowed about 1800 passengers to hop onto it free of cost Danve flew down from Delhi to flag it off Last year for Ganpati festival the railways had arranged 182 trainsmdash162 on CR and 20 on WRAlso ReadMaha Political parties should set example avoid gatherings says CM ThackerayNot wanting to be left behind Senarsquos minister of transport and chairman of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation Anil Parab has announced over 2200 buses in addition to the thousands of regular ones already scheduled On Wednesday Parab flagged off about 110 buses from Parel bus depot to Konkan These thousands of buses and trains will return with all the crowds back to Mumbai by midSeptember something health experts fear could set off the third wave by end of this monthlsquoCoronavirus does not recognise politicsrsquoExperts slammed politicians for such decisions and called for restraint ldquoViruses do not recognise political compulsions Political leaders in fact should take the lead in making people understand that such activities could lead to the propagation of Covid and will be an invitation to the third wave The latest Delta variant is highly contagious and may affect people below 18 years of age who are lucky to have escaped the first and second waverdquo said Ajit V Shenoy a senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas SamitiPassengers pose for selfies next to the Modi Express to Konkan at Dadar on Tuesday PicSameer MarkandeldquoWe run the risk especially with the new variant We are providing a fertile ground for its spread by such rampant addition of buses and trains In any case to increase frequency we do not need to increase the number of buses but we need bus lanes for public transportrdquo senior transport expert and chairman of Mumbai Environmental Social Network Ashok Datar saidJitendra Gupta of Mumbai Transport Forum called the socalled initiatives ldquorisky decisionsrdquo ldquoFirstly they are least bothered if the numbers rise due to such easy public movement And then when cases increase they will put fresh restrictions hampering the economy and peoplersquos livelihood We need to draw a clear line on what is more important We all know that no one follows the protocols detailed in the guidelines and all these transport modes are crowded as it is physically and practically impossible to have social distance during such journeysrdquo he saidlsquoChecks will be conductedrsquoKonkan Railway officials said that they will be careful and mandating all tests for commuters ldquoUtmost care is being taken at railway stations to ensure the Covid19 protocols are being followed The temperature of passengers is being checked at the entry and exit of stationsrdquo said a spokespersonldquoIntensive ticket checking will be carried out at stations and in trains to curb unauthorised passengers For additional security extra railway security personnel are being deployed along with RPF at major stations Further RPF has been sensitised to respond quickly to messages received through Twitter and Rail Madad Helpline No 139rdquo he addedFree for all 2020 vs 20212020 For MSRTC reservations a negative RTPCR report was a must2021 No such rule tickets readily available2020 An epass was mandatory for entry into a new district by road2021 No such rule has been enforced this year2020 State govt had tightly regulated train movement till the beginning of festival2021 No such restrictions this time more crowds for launch of trains2020 Compulsory negative test reports and quarantine in Konkan districts on arrival2021 Compulsory RTPCR negative test report except for fully vaccinated and under18271No of festival specials organised this time