MNS stalls projects in support of unions

Mumbai: Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday disrupted ongoing works for the Coastal Road and Metro-3 projects to express solidarity with striking workers of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

A group of MNS workers briefly stopped the Coastal Road project work in Worli this morning, while a similar protest stalled the Metro-III work in the Aarey Colony near suburban Goregaon for the entire day.

Meanwhile,  the Raj Thackeray-led party was left red-faced when some of its workers halted the buses run by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) near suburban Chembur in east Mumbai, and forced passengers to get down.

With the BEST bus strike entering its seventh day, the general feeling among employees of the transport undertaking and the commuters is ‘enough is enough’.

A senior BEST official expressed hope that a compromise will be reached in the meeting of state government-appointed high-power committee to resolve the issue.

“We have pinned our hope on the HC which will again hear this case on Tuesday. With the HC intervention, we are hope for a solution,” said a senior BEST official.

The committee comprises chief secretary D.K. Jain, transport secretary Aashish Singh and urban development secretary Manisha Mhaiskar.

Shashank Rao, president of the BEST Workers’ Union, said, “We have already put forth our demands before the committee. We are now awaiting the verdict in the HC.”

Earlier on Monday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke over the phone with Shiv Sena chief Uddhave Thackeray asking him to find a solution to the stir.

The telephonic conservation took place after a meeting in Mantralaya between striking BEST union functionaries and Mr Jain failed to break the deadlock.