Transport minister Diwakar Raote declared on Wednesday that the city mayor would be allowed to use a red beacon on her car from now on.
Transport minister Diwakar Raote declared on Wednesday that the city mayor would be allowed to use a red beacon on her car from now on. The decision was taken after mayors across the state, including Mumbai's Snehal Ambekar, demanded that they be given the red beacon to carry out their official duties.
In a press briefing at Mantralaya, Mr Raote said that since Mumbai is the financial capital of the country and the mayor entertains dignitaries from around the world, the red beacon is a must for her.
Ms Ambekar has time and again refused to part with the red beacon in the past, and had actively participated in obtaining the permission for it. The Maharashtra Mayor Council (MMC) had not allowed her to use the red beacon officially, but that had not stopped her from using one all the same.
Law enforcement vehicles, too, will be allowed to switch from their current blue beacons to amber ones, thereby increasing the priority given to them. -"We have conducted a comprehensive review and thereby upgraded (the vehicles of) the mayor, law enforcement officials and judicial officers such as the judges of the high court,-" said Mr Raote.
In accordance with a Supreme Court order of December 2013, the state had on April 4, 2014 published a list of 34 high-designation officers who are allowed to use a red beacon on their vehicles as they hold constitutional posts.
