‘Ending water shortage key to ending migration of Bhiwandi’s tribal population’

Your area has a sizeable tribal belt,which is yet to see development. Problems like unemployment and malnourishment among tribals still exist in this belt.
Water is the root cause of the problems here. If the area gets its share of water,tracts of land can be cultivated throughout the year. This will directly give them employment and put an end to migration of tribal people. The urban and semi-urban belt,which includes areas like Bhiwandi,Kalyan,Badlapur,Titwala and areas beyond,has its own problems,especially related to railways.

What is your agenda for the rail commuters here?
I would work for getting five new stations — one between Badlapur and Ambernath,two between Badlapur and Vangini and two on Kalyan-Kasara section — as the distance between these stations is more. This is hindering the development here.  Plus,platforms four and five on Kalyan station need to be extended as this would help in better dispersal of crowd during the peak hours. The issue of making Kalyan a terminus will also be taken up. Apart from it,the issue of starting a railway line from Murbad to Ahmednagar via Malshej ghat also has to be taken up. Myself and preceding MPs like Rambhau Mhalghi,Ram Kaps. Prakash and Anand Paranjpe have been taking up this issue but the government is still to take a decision on this.

Bhiwandi city has its own set of problems. The Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) is the only corporation in the MMR,which does not receive the JNNURM funds. City’s infrastructure needs to be upgraded immediately. The power loom sector has also been badly hit due to load shedding. How do you plan to find a solution to these problems?
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) is also responsible for upgrading the infrastructure and it has recently announced funds for infrastructure development in other cities in the MMR. I would see to it that Bhiwandi city gets enough funds for infrastructure development from the centre and the MMRDA. In the case of the power loom sector,the issue would be taken up to minimise load shedding. A central government scheme enables the replacement of existing power looms with new ones and offers a subsidy of 25%. If elected,I will press for implementation of this scheme in Bhiwandi. But the problem with Bhiwandi power looms is,one party owns the land and the second party runs the power loom,so implementing this policy would also be a bit difficult.