Tur dal fight now reaches Mantralaya
As the Maharashtra government struggles to control the falling price of tur dal, the Opposition stepped up its protest to corner the Fadnavis government over the issue of a complete loan waiver for farmers in distress.
The Opposition met governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and demanded a special session to discuss the plight of farmers in the wake of rising suicide cases.
As farmers struggle to sell their tur dal stock, the state government announced it will buy the remaining stock lying at its procurement centres, but the process at many centres has halted because of unclear instructions by the authorities. The state will have to spend about Rs800 crore more to buy around 12 lakh quintal of tur dal at the the centres.
The state witnessed a bumper crop of 20.35 lakh tonnes, of which the government has procured 3.99 lakh tonnes at a minimum support price of Rs5,050 a tonne.
Meanwhile, members of the little-known Baliraja Shetkari Sanghatana staged a protest outside Mantralaya on Tuesday by throwing tur, bananas and onions to protest the government’s stand on falling prices of agricultural produce.
More than 20 farmers staged the protest by shouting slogans for about 15 minutes before they were detained by the police.
A 21-year-old Bachelor of Engineering student from Tamil Nadu slipped and drowned at Bandra Bandstand while taking a selfie with her sister and mother.
The incident took place around 3.30pm on Monday near Bandra Fort, the police said. Two hours later, her body was located near Bandra Worli sea link with the help of local fishermen and fire brigade officials.
After giving her final exams, Meenakshi Priya Rajesh had come to the city on April 30 along with her older sister, father and mother, the police said. Her family was staying in a hotel at Saki Naka in Andheri.
The family had hired a cab for the whole day, the police said.
An officer from the Bandra police station, requesting anonymity, said, “Meenakshi and her family visited several places and ended up at Bandra fort. Meenakshi said she wanted to take a selfie with her mother and sister at the edge of a rocky patch with the sea in the background.”
A sign board has been put up at the spot by the Mumbai police asking tourists not to take selfies after last year’s incident in which two people had drowned including a political leader, who jumped in to save one of the vic tims.
“Meenakshi’s father even warned her, but she ignored him,” added an officer.
A wave hit her and she lost her balance on the rocks and because it was high tide, she drifted away further into the sea the police said.
“They could only hear her scream for help, calling her father,” said an officer.