Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leaders on Monday travelled by the local trains to protest against restrictions levied by the state government.
MNS general secretary Sandeep Deshpande to Twitter and shared a video saying: "MNS's "savinay kaydebhang" (civil disobedience) protest succeeds."
Deshpande in a video message said the Maharashtra government has allowed common people to travel by state transport (ST) buses to reach their work places, but not in local trains, which is "ironical".
"We requested the government several times to allow common people to travel in local trains as they face hardships while travelling in ST buses which consumes a lot of their time," he said in the video clip, in which he could be seen travelling in a local train with some other party leaders.
Photo by BL Soni
MNS on Monday undertook the "savinay kaydebhangâ (civil disobedience) protest after its repeated demands to allow the general public to travel in local trains in Mumbai and suburbs.
Photo by BL Soni
With no local trains for general public, Mumbaikars are facing tremendous hardships due to limited transportation facilities. While, the state continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing demand among Mumbaikars for the restarting of local trains. The demand gained momentum, after Maharashtra government opened more offices.
The local trains were suspended for the general public since the lockdown began on March 22. The Western Railway and Central Railway resumed their Mumbai suburban services over mainline and Harbour line on June 15. These special suburban services were only for general passengers/public and were strictly meant for âessential staffâ as identified by the state government. Those working in private sector cannot use them, due to which most of them are struggling to reach their workplaces.