2011Governance: Prithviraj Chauhan completed an uneasy year as chief minister,under the cloud of earlier years misgovernance and with an aggressive coalition partner snapping at his heels. Chavan,under fire for taking inordinately long on every decision,began to candidly compare his government to those run by Mayawati or Narendra Modi. There,the chief ministers relationship with the deputy chief minister,his relationship with the administration,are all very different. CMs there have virtually dictatorial powers. and wield a disproportionate authority thats not there even in Delhi, he told reporters as he completed a year in office with a slew of policy decisions pending in departments he oversees. Infrastructure: Delays continued with Mumbais major infrastructure projects. The CM put his might behind a coastal road as a cheaper alternative to the Worli Haji Ali Sea Link,the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation insists that the consortium that bagged the contract start work on the sea link,while the latter has asked for clarity first on funding. Other projects remain stuck: redevelopment of Dharavi,water transportation along the eastern and western coastlines,the Pedder Road flyover,an elevated suburban railway. The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link was the only project for which tenders were called. Protests against the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power intensified,while Lavasa didnt get a breather with the Centre prevailing upon the state to file a criminal case. Terror: On July 13,three blasts within 11 minutes ripped Zaveri Bazaar,Dadar and Opera House,leaving 26 dead and 130 injured. Initial assessments of the manner of execution suggested the hand of the Indian Mujahideen. Five months on,there has still been no major breakthrough,with the ATS reluctant to even name the outfit responsible. Among other setbacks,courts have granted bail to two accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case (insufficient evidence) and all nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts,with the NIA not opposing the plea. J Dey Murder: On June 11,J Dey,journalist with Mid Day in Mumbai,was gunned down by bike-borne men while he was motorcycling towards home in Powai. The Mumbai Police have arrested 11 so far,including journalist Jigna Vora of The Asian Age. According to police,Deys murder was ordered by Chhota Rajan after his sources informed him that could leak information about Rajans location to a rival gang. Rajan allegedly paid Rs 5 lakh for the murder. Vora has been accused of passing on information about Dey to Rajan. Coastal Security: Three years after 26/11,Mumbai got another reminder about the vulnerable nature of its coastline. Two ships beached at Juhu in quick succession the behemoth MV Wisdom on June 11 and the much smaller tanker MT Pavit on July 31. Wisdom,which had broken free of a tugboat on her way to a ship-breaking yard in Gujarat,nearly crashed into the Bandra Worli Sea Link before altering course,while Pavit went unnoticed by three levels of security before beaching. The takeaway was clear: crucial aspects of a foolproof coastal security system are missing. Naxal Killings: Gadchirolis battleground saw many more civilians killed (40) than Naxals (6) or policemen (7),underscoring the fact that it is the poor tribals who are paying the price of the war between Naxals and the state. Of the 40 killed,34 were actually targeted while six got ambushed when Naxals bombed a civilian vehicle presuming it was a police one. Two civilians were killed in Gondia too. There were too broad motives. One,Naxals thought police were getting intelligence from villages; two,they were trying to cut off services supply lines to the police as was clear from the killings of some electrical or other repairmen. 2012BMC Polls: February 2012 will see the mother of all civic elections in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It is life and death for the Shiv Sena,which controls the BMC and derives its statewide prestige from that. The Congress-NCP will try to complete a seat-sharing plan for their best bet yet at seizing power in the municipal government that runs the financial capital. The NCP is newly aggressive after beating the Congress to the position of largest party in local body polls,where it showed a keenness to keep the Congress out of power wherever possible. The polls will also be a test for Prithviraj Chavan,with some whispers that he may be called back to New Delhi. Kasab Sentence: From January 31,the Supreme Court will start hearing the plea of Ajmal Kasab challenging his death sentence for the 26/11 attack. The court will also hear the state governments appeal against the acquittals of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed. A judicial commission from Pakistan is also expected to visit Mumbai in early 2012,to record the statements of four prosecution witnesses in the 26/11 case. New Projects: Two projects scheduled for a 2012 opening are the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro route and a part of the monorail route along Wadala,though the estimates committee of the state legislature has expressed doubts over meeting the 2012 deadline. The other infrastructure project that may see some movement by the end of 2012 is the Navi Mumbai International Airport,for which the request for qualification has been postponed repeatedly. A high-powered committee has now declared January 2012 as the deadline for initiating the first phase of tendering while a private developer will be picked by June 2012. Adarsh Report: The Adarsh Commission,comprising former High Court judge J A Patil and former chief secretary P Subraminian,is expected to wind up its probe into the housing scandal and submit its report by August. The report could assume great significance if it pins any blame on former CMs under the scanner. The panel was formed to probe alleged violations of laws in the construction of the 31-storey highrise. It is yet to examine Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh. Farm Crisis: With Sharad Pawar questioning the National Crime Records Bureau data that the maximum farmers suicides have happened in Maharashtra,the stage is set for a JPC probe. The new year could see a heated debate on a matter nobody wants to question as Pawar did. The state government has often said that while suicides are happening,only up to 20 per cent are due to reasons of agriculture. Activists have countered this,arguing that any suicide in the rural areas must be seen as a result of socio-economic distress caused by failure of agriculture.
