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Jumanji gives Sony longest box-office win streak since 2001

THREE new wide releases battled three likely Oscar contenders for North American moviegoers’ attention this weekend, only for all six to lose to Sony Corp.’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

The reboot of the 1995 Robin Williams film brought in $20 million in US and Canadian theaters to top the box office for the third straight week, researcher ComScore, Inc. estimated Sunday in an e-mail.

Three new wide releases — Den of Thieves, 12 Strong, and Forever My Girl — vied against three awards-targeting movies that were expanding into more theaters this weekend: Call Me by Your Name, I, Tonya, and Phantom Thread.

The new Jumanji, which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is giving Sony its longest winning streak for a single film since Black Hawk Down, released in late 2001. The company could also be in contention for an Oscar with coming-of-age tale Call Me By Your Name.

Warner Bros.’ 12 Strong, featuring Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon, tells the tale of special forces soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It placed second with $16.5 million, handily beating a forecast of $12 million, according to analysts at BoxOfficePro. It split critics with 54% positive reviews, according to aggregator RottenTomatoes.com.

Den of Thieves, from STX Entertainment, is an R-rated crime drama featuring rapper 50 Cent and Gerard Butler, about an elite unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that faces off against the state’s most successful bank-robbery crew. It collected $15.3 million and landed in third place, compared with Box Office Mojo’s prediction for a $6-million debut. Critics gave only 33% positive reviews.

Forever My Girl, via Roadside Attractions, was panned by critics, securing only 19% positive reviews. Based on a novel by Heidi McLaughlin about a country music star who comes home to his childhood sweetheart, it came in 10th place with $4.7 million. — Bloomberg

Tom Petty died due to accidental drug overdose says LA coroner

LOS ANGELES — Rocker Tom Petty died in October due to “multisystem organ failure” brought on by an accidental overdose of seven medications, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said on Friday.

The coroner’s office attributed Petty’s death at the age of 66 to a “mixed toxicity” of fentanyl, oxycodone, generic Restoril, generic Xanax, generic Celexa, acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl.

The medical examiner’s report lists the manner of death as “accidental.”

Petty, whose ringing guitar riffs, distinctive vocals and well-wrought everyman lyrics graced such hits as “Refugee,” “Free Fallin’,” and “American Girl,” was found unconscious at his home in Malibu on Oct. 2 and died at a hospital later that night.

He had been engaged on a 40th anniversary tour of the United States with his band the Heartbreakers at the time and had just played three dates at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

“We knew before the report was shared with us that he was prescribed various pain medications for a multitude of issues including fentanyl patches and we feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident,” Petty’s wife, Dana and daughter, Adria, said in a Facebook post.

Dana and Adria Petty said that the veteran musician was suffering from emphysema, knee problems, and most significantly a fractured hip that he was treating with medication so that he could continue touring.

“On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication,” Dana and Adria Petty said.

A 2015 biography of Petty revealed for the first time that he was addicted to heroin in the 1990s.

Petty, who was born in Florida in 1950 and was best known for his roots-infused rock music, carved a career as a solo artist as well as with his band the Heartbreakers and as part of supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.

He and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, when they were described by organizers as “the quintessential American individualists,” capturing the voice of the American everyman.

The man considered by many to be rock music’s greatest songwriter, Bob Dylan, called Petty’s death “shocking, crushing news” in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine at the time. — Reuters

Washington forcing Beijing to accelerate South China Sea deployments, says China’s top paper

BEIJING — China’s top newspaper, decrying Washington as a troublemaker, said on Monday US moves in the South China Sea like last week’s freedom of navigation operation will only cause China to strengthen its deployments in the disputed waterway.

China’s foreign ministry said the USS Hopper, a destroyer, came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan island, which is better known as the Scarborough Shoal and is subject to a rival claim by the Philippines, a historic ally of the United States.

It was the latest US naval operation challenging extensive Chinese claims in the South China Sea and came even as President Donald J. Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily said in a commentary that, with the situation generally improving in the South China Sea, it was clear that the United States was the one militarizing the region.

“Against this backdrop of peace and cooperation, a US ship wantonly provoking trouble is singleminded to the point of recklessness,” the paper said.

“If the relevant party once more makes trouble out of nothing and causes tensions, then it will only cause China to reach this conclusion: in order to earnestly protect peace in the South China Sea, China must strengthen and speed up the building of its abilities there,” it said.

The commentary was published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng,” meaning “Voice of China,” which is often used to give the paper’s view on foreign policy issues.

The widely read Global Times tabloid, published by the People’s Daily, said in an editorial on Monday China’s control of the South China Sea is only growing and it is well placed to react to US “provocations.”

“As China’s military size and quality improve, so does its control of the South China Sea,” it said. “China is able to send more naval vessels as a response and can take steps like militarizing islands.”

The Scarborough Shoal is located within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone but an international tribunal in 2016 ruled that it is a traditional fishing ground that no one country has sole rights to exploit.

The US military says it carries out “freedom of navigation” operations throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and that they are separate from political considerations.

The Pentagon has not commented directly on the latest patrol but said such operations are routine. — Reuters

Petron completes issuance of capital securities worth $500M

PETRON Corp. said it had completed the issuance of its $500-million undated unsubordinated capital securities, which were listed in Singapore on Monday.

The country’s largest integrated oil refining and marketing company expects net proceeds of approximately $498 million after the deduction of commissions with the issuance’s completion on Jan. 19.

The amount will be applied by the company “for the repurchase, refinancing and/or redemption of undated subordinated capital securities, the repayment of indebtedness and for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures,” it said.

“The securities are expected to be listed with the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited on Jan. 22, 2018,” it told the local bourse.

Petron’s senior perpetual capital securities, or debt that has no maturity date for the return of principal, pay an interest of 4.6% per annum.

Subject to applicable law, Petron may redeem the securities — in whole but not in part — on the “step up date” or any subsequent distribution payment date at the redemption price after giving not less than 30 and not more than 60 calendar days’ irrevocable notice.

The company set the distribution payment dates on Jan. 19 and July of each year starting on July 19, 2018. It placed the step up date on July 19, 2023.

Petron’s issuance comes after the company said last week that it would be buying its debt holders’ $401,957,000 worth of securities in a tender offer.

The figure was the total tendered through the offering and the final maximum acceptance amount determined by the company.

On Monday, shares in Petron rose 1.64% to P9.28 each. — Victor V. Saulon

‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’

The line above is from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet where Hamlet’s mother says it in reference to the protestation of a lady that she would not marry if her husband dies. The line has become a figure of speech which means that someone who is strongly denying something is hiding the truth or affirming what he is denying.

President Rodrigo Duterte vehemently denied ordering the Securities and Exchange Commission to shut down online news agency Rappler, pointing out that the corporate regulators who revoked its papers were all appointees of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III. During the inauguration of new air traffic facilities in Pasay City the President said:

“We never had a hand. I don’t give a shit if you continue or not. The SEC commissioners are all appointed by (former president Benigno Aquino). How can the decision be political? I don’t care about that. Now that you are under probe, you say it is harassment? P*******a. Kung kami magmura, mali? Pag kayo gumawa ng kalokohan, okay kayo? Press freedom is a privilege in any democratic state; you have abused this privilege. You are funded by foreign money; are you not ashamed of that?”

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque echoed the President’s denial. Said he: “We would like to deny that the state has infringed on the freedom of the press, particularly of Rappler or any of its reporters. Their reporters are not prevented from exercising their profession. This is not an attack on the press. If the President wanted to do that, he could have just sent the armed forces and padlocked them as done by other regimes.”

The President doth protest too much so doth his spokesperson, leading many political observers to believe he did trigger the shutdown of Rappler.

After all, during his State of the Nation Address before the joint session of Congress last year, the President accused Rappler of being foreign owned. In October, he claimed Rappler was being funded by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa disputed the claim of the Duterte administration that it had nothing to do with the decision of the SEC. “That’s not true, that’s not what we have heard. Again, I think this is a war of attrition. What is publicly stated is not what is privately going on behind the scenes but that is what journalists do: we will shine the light,” Ressa said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

Ressa made clear that it was the Office of the Solicitor General that had questioned before the SEC Rappler’s ownership. “I have stated that this is about political pressure, and that we’ve been told in the same way that the SEC decision actually put on the record that it was the Office of the Solicitor General (behind the move).” She was mum on the alleged involvement of the President in the SEC decision but said that there was someone who was “running after the SEC on a daily basis for a decision that is adverse to Rappler.”

Mr. Duterte has on many occasions made known his extreme resentment of criticisms levelled against him by mass media entities, including Rappler, branding the criticisms as unfair, some even baseless. He has not been subtle at all about his resentment eventually turning into severe adverse action against those news organizations. The Philippine Daily Inquirer had felt the brunt of the fury of the piqued president. Now it is Rappler.

But as Ressa expounded, Rappler was “not against the government” and the role of the press in a democratic society is to “help the government come up with the right decisions.”

Perhaps the President can take counsel from the statesman Winston Churchill, who was voted No. 1 in a 2002 British Broadcasting Company poll of the 100 Greatest Britons of all time.

Churchill said: “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

In reaction to President Duterte’s lament that “critics are interested in my death, not in my health,” my fellow writer of this column, the recently departed Mario Lopez, wrote in this space on June 27 last year a letter addressed to the President. I quote here excerpts of that letter:

“No, Mr. President, not true. Many others and I are concerned about your health. I did not vote for you but accepted you as the duly elected president and give you the loyalty every responsible citizen owes his or her duly elected leader. More than give moral support, some of us actively help agencies of government think through, plan, and implement the programs you wish pursued.

“Part of this loyalty is that in all good faith, I must criticize certain acts, including pronouncements that I and many others find askew, inappropriate, or we think poorly thought out. Even as we do these, I and many others like me wish you and your administration success in practically all of your programs for our sake as a nation. I also ask you and your ardent followers not to mistake our criticisms of acts and statements as personal criticisms against you.”

Abraham Lincoln, who in surveys of US scholars ranking presidents consistently ranked in the top three, often as number one, said: “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

Mr. Duterte’s political allies who were in media prior and during the period of martial law like Teddy Boy Locsin would do well to advise him that shutting down media organizations critical of him would not suppress the truth about him. Somehow, truth will come out as it did during the martial law years.

President Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire country under martial law on Sept. 23, 1972. In the first hours of that day, a Saturday, soldiers went around Metro Manila padlocking the facilities of mainstream media that were critical of Marcos and his administration.

Among them were the newspapers The Manila Times, The Manila Chronicle, Evening News, the weekly news magazines Philippines Free Press and Weekly Graphic, broadcast networks ABS-CBN of the Lopezes, Associated Broadcasting Corporation of the Roceses, Republic Broadcasting Company of Bob Stewart, and Manila Broadcasting Company of Don Manolo Elizalde.

Prominent newspapermen like Max Soliven, Louie Beltran, Amando Doronilla, Teddy Boy’s father Teodoro M. Locsin, Luis Mauricio, and broadcaster Jose Mari Velez were detained on charges of subversion and other such crimes.

There was total news blackout that day. No newspaper hit the streets. The early editions had been confiscated by the soldiers before they could be distributed. Not even Bob Stewart’s Channel 7, which showed cartoons on Saturday mornings, went on the air that day.

It was only at about 6 p.m. that one station, Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto’s Kanlaon Broadcasting System’s Channel 9 went on the air. It showed Marcos telling the stunned Filipino people that he had placed the country under martial Law.

In a few days Benedicto’s Daily Express resumed publication. Marcos brother-in-law Benjamin Romualdez took over the facilities of Andres Soriano’s Philippines Herald and put out his own newspaper which he called Times Journal. Hans Menzi, another Marcos crony, was allowed to resume publication of his Manila Daily Bulletin but under the name Bulletin Today.

However, those “crony” papers quickly lost their credibility. The people stopped buying them and turned to the “alternative press.”

Photocopying machines reproduced prodigiously New York Times, Washington Post, San Jose (California) Mercury News, and Far Eastern Economic Review articles critical of the Marcos regime. Video clips from the top 3 networks in the US and from BBC went the rounds furiously.

As the activists bragged then, “Sila may Daily Express at Times Journal, kami may Xerox machines at Betamax players.”

In this age of information and communication technologies, truth triumphs! Je suis Rappler.

 

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a member of Manindigan! a cause-oriented group of businessmen, professionals, and academics.

oplagman@yahoo.com

NCAA: Perpetual Help girds for titlist Arellano

THE Perpetual Help Lady Altas get tested today as they take on the defending champions and currently undefeated Arellano Lady Chiefs in the main women’s volleyball match for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 93 at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Set for 12:30 p.m., the Lady Altas, sitting at third spot in the standings with a 4-1 record, look to fortify their spot in the top half as well as spoil the Lady Chiefs’ unbeaten run.

Perpetual Help is coming off a win in its last game on Sunday, defeating the Jose Rizal University Lady Bombers, 25-21, 22-25, 25-14 and 25-21, despite an error-prone performance.

Maria Lourdes Clemente led the Lady Altas with 19 hits including 14 on kills and two on blocks while Cindy Imbo chipped in 18 points.

“We got to really improve our service, which was really bad in the first two sets especially in the second set,” said Perpetual Help coach Macky Cariño, whose wards committed 35 errors, the bulk came on services, against JRU.

“If we can do that, we’ll have a strong chance to this season,” he added.

Mr. Cariño went on to say that they have to give their best against Arellano in today’s game despite the short turnaround.

“We have little time to prepare [against Arellano]. But that should not stop us from doing our best,” the coach said.

Arellano (5-0), meanwhile, is off a win as well last Sunday, beating the Lyceum Lady Pirates in straight sets, 25-16, 25-17 and 25-11.

Rookie Necole Ebuen uncorked a match-high 11 points while team captain Mary Ann Esguerra, Regine Anne Arocha and Andrea Marzan added 10 each to help power the balanced Lady Chiefs attack.

Serving play in the opener in women’s play at 11 a.m. are the San Sebastian Lady Stags (2-2) and Mapua Lady Cardinals (0-4) — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Consumer group files challenge to TRAIN law before Supreme Court

LABAN KONSYUMER, Inc. (LKI), a consumer advocacy group, said it asked the Supreme Court to nullify the tax reform law, citing the “unwarranted increases” in excise taxes for coal, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, which are among the basic commodities Filipinos depend on.

The group is asking that Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law be nullified because it “negatively affects millions of Filipino consumers, particularly those from the low-income and poor families.”

In a statement, Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, LKI president and former Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary for consumer protection, said the commodities are necessary for subsistence and Filipinos have no choice but to consume them regardless of cost.

He said, the provisions in question should be struck down as they impose a heavy burden on Filipinos from low-income and poor families, who make up the majority of the population.

The group said it filed its petition for certiorari with an application for a temporary restraining order, writ of preliminary injunction and/or status quo ante order before the high court on Monday. It said the TRAIN law violates the Constitution, which prescribes that taxation must be equitable and progressive.

LKI also said the tax reform violates the due process and equal protection of the law provisions of the Constitution, the rules on the origin of revenue laws, and the rules on quorum.

Mr. Dimagiba said LKI made its stand because “if not restrained now and later nullified,” the provisions of TRAIN “betray the very purpose for its enactment which is to provide, as much as possible, an equitable relief to a greater number of taxpayers and their families in order to improve the levels of disposable income since a tax on staples is a tax on the right of individuals to live.”

He also said the law, which took effect this year, “with its provisions authorizing the increase in excise taxes on kerosene, diesel, coal and LPG will only equalize any possible gains of the rationalization of personal income taxes, or worse, further beset those belonging to the poor and low-income families.”

He said the “inequity of the revised personal income taxation scheme” benefits only the higher income brackets at the expense of those earning P250,000 and below. He said in the old system, high-income earners enjoyed personal exemptions of only P50,000.

LKI said corporations or private entities will not be the ones to bear the new taxes as they would pass these on to consumers. It said “there is no hiding the fact that the increase in excise taxes will hit low-income and poor families the hardest.” — Victor V. Saulon

Japanese-led coffee project gets BoI nod as 1st MSE under IPP

PISTACIA MINDANAO Coffee Export, Inc. (PMCEI), AN 80%-owned Japanese firm, has been given the nod by the Board of Investments Extension Office (BEO) Davao for its P1-million coffee growing project, the first micro and small enterprise (MSE) project approved under the Export Activities of the 2017 Investments Priorities Plan (IPP). The project, according to a statement released by the Board of Investments (BoI), involves the production and manufacture of fermented coffee and cacao beans with an annual capacity of 2,250 kilograms (kg) and 750 kg, respectively. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin this month and all output will be exported to Japan. PMCEI specializes in producing high-quality agricultural crops, especially fermented coffee and cacao beans sourced from smallholder farmers. It would provide end-to-end support to smallholder farmers with access to technology and market. The project will be located in Barangay Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur. — Mindanao Bureau

City planning office still awaiting hearing date on building height limits

CITY PLANNING and Development Office (CPDO) head Ivan Chin Cortez said they are hoping that the city council will schedule soon the initial hearing for the proposed rule that will set building height limits in the city. The rule banning high-rise buildings in parts of the city was targeted to be finalized last year. “If I can have it my way, I want it done today. We are still waiting for the official advise and notice from SP (Sangguning Panlungsod). I’m expecting a hearing within this month,” Mr. Cortez said in an interview. The CPDO was directed by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to come up with a policy on building heights. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) sets requirements only in areas that directly affect flight paths to and from the airport. — Maya M. Padillo

Scandal, the show that Twitter built, bows out

LOS ANGELES — ABC’s prime-time political soap Scandal launched mid-season with little fanfare in the spring of 2012, to tepid reviews and disappointing ratings.

Following the exploits of Emmy-nominated Kerry Washington as Washington, DC crisis manager Olivia Pope and her team of problem-solving “gladiators,” the show didn’t immediately take off and it looked destined to be strangled at birth.

As it nears its finale six years on, however, it bows out as a bona fide hit that changed the way we watch TV, ushering in the era of live-tweeting shows, known as “double-screening.”

Its army of vocal Twitter fans, who also call themselves “gladiators,” helped ratings for Scandal soar more than 50% to 12.7 million an episode by 2014.

Much of its success was driven by the goodwill it engendered as an intriguing Washington, DC political story of sex, murder and double-dealing starring a strong black female character.

But its pioneering showrunner, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, has been credited with the insight that stars and producers live-tweeting episodes along with fans makes a difference in ratings.

From the earliest days, she would diligently connect with her Twitter followers, who have expanded during the show’s lifetime from 350,000 to 1.7 million.

“Gladiators: Scandal would not have the opportunity to be on magazine covers without all of you watching. Thank you for making it happen!” she would tweet, giving fans a feeling of belonging that they’d never had before.

‘I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL’
Rhimes would offer personal insights into production and the scriptwriting process and, most importantly, rope in the cast to post their own thoughts in real-time.

It is a common tactic these days but no one was really doing it — certainly on a regular, reliable basis — before Rhimes.

By the second season, Scandal was drawing 119,000 tweets per episode and ratings began to climb, particularly among the millennial age group that advertisers covet.

The show is in its final run of 11 episodes after returning last week from a mid-season break and finishes for good on April 19.

Tony Goldwyn, who plays ex-president Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant, Pope’s longtime love interest, told journalists at a recent set visit in Hollywood how the cast had embraced Rhimes’s ground-breaking strategy.

“It completely transformed my perception of social media. I was very skeptical and judgmental about it, and just thought… it was irrelevant to me,” said Goldwyn.

The 57-year-old actor figured that no one would be interested in his opinions but was staggered when thousands of people began following him and responding to his tweets.

“It’s kind of like being in a Broadway theater with 1,000 people there and you’re talking to them,” he said.

“I was really awed by the impact of it and the fact that you can literally communicate one-on-one with people or a group.”

Other networks have begun to catch up but Scandal still finished ninth across broadcast stations last year in the social media charts, with 5.2 million interactions.

‘YEARNING FOR CONNECTION’
The cast makes sure to live-tweet for audience in both the east and west coast time zones, said Cornelius Smith, Jr., who plays White House communications director Marcus Walker.

“It’s a lot of fun and it’s a really different kind of way to communicate and connect. I think people are really yearning for connection in this world, especially today,” he told reporters.

Jeff Perry, who plays vice-president Cyrus Beene, joked that the only negative reaction to the live-tweeting had come from other actors in Hollywood.

Though they can be full of praise, he said that “a little more often they’re (annoyed) at us. ‘You guys made that work and now I have to tweet all the time.’”

Social media aside, Scandal has an equally important reason to be proud of its reputation for pioneering TV, — its commitment to diversity.

All the characters in the most powerful roles are women, and the show has always been committed to reflecting the racial diversity of modern-day America.

“When we first aired most of the questions I received centered around the fact that there had not been a black woman as the lead in a television drama in my lifetime,” said Washington, 40.

“It was not something I grew up seeing… and that is certainly not the case now. You’d be hard-pressed to find a network that does not have a show with a woman of color at its center.” — AFP

TFC subsidiary to invest in Kombi Land

A UNIT of PTFC Redevelopment Corp. (TFC) will be subscribing to P60 million worth of shares in Batangas-based Kombi Land, Inc. (KLI), in a bid to improve its financial standing.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange last Friday, the listed property developer said its wholly owned subsidiary Baesa Redevelopment Corp. (BRC) will subscribe to a total of 49,000 shares in KLI.

To complete the transaction, KLI would have to secure approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission for an increase in its authorized capital stock. Upon closing, BRC will hold 19.68% of KLI’s outstanding capital stock.

“BRC’s investment in KLI is expected to improve the financial standing of BRC,” TFC said in the disclosure.

Following the disclosure, the Philippine Stock Exchange has implemented a suspension on the trading of TFC shares, citing that the transaction falls under the description for substantial acquisitions and reverse takeovers. The trading suspension started on Monday (Jan. 22) and will continue until the company is able to comply with PSE rules for such transactions.

Shares in TFC were priced at P35.95 apiece prior to the trading suspension.

Incorporated in 1951 originally as the Philippine Tobacco Flue-Curing and Redrying Corp., TFC changed its primary purpose to that of a real estate company in 2014, in the process changing its name to the present one.

The company now operates commercial, industrial, mini and personal storage spaces in the country. TFC offers a total of 75,000 square meters (sq.m.) in Quezon City and around 10,500 sq.m. in Ilocos Sur for warehousing and office rental needs.

BRC, on the other hand, was formed in 1992 and has since completed a commercial complex called Baesa Town Center (BTC) in Quezon City. BTC offers office, retail, commercial, and mini self-storage services.

TFC saw an 8% decline in its attributable profit in the three months ending November 2017 to P14.9 million, amid a 19% increase in revenues in the same period to P54.1 million. — Arra B. Francia

New Mumbai metro to beat traffic, but at what cost?

MUMBAI — A new underground metro is expected to ease the burden on Mumbai’s notoriously congested roads and railways, but not everybody in India’s sprawling financial capital is happy about the multibillion-dollar project.

Announced in 2014 with much fanfare, the Metro 3 line has been hailed by backers as essential to help solve the city’s traffic woes and finally provide a link to its airports.

But campaigners are angry at the felling of thousands of trees, and say it could desecrate temples and lead to the destruction of an urban forest tribal groups call home.

The scheme has faced considerable opposition in court, delaying completion and highlighting the complexities of undertaking major infrastructure work in the world’s largest democracy where people have the right of redress.

“This is one of India’s biggest projects. It has faced immense difficulties and challenges of different types,” says Ashwini Bhide, managing director of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation.

The 231-billion-rupee ($3.6-billion) line will link Mumbai’s popular tourist destination of Colaba in the historic south to SEEPZ, a special economic zone situated 33.5 kilometers (21 miles) north.

It will boast 27 stops servicing the coastal city’s busiest business districts, including Bandra Kurla Complex and Lower Parel, where 23 people died during a stampede at a railway station last year.

The line is scheduled to be finished by December 2021.

“Congestion on the road will be substantially reduced because of this corridor,” Ms. Bhide told AFP, estimating that 650,000 vehicle trips could disappear from the roads daily.

‘MUMBAI IS UPGRADING’
Metro 3 also aims to ease the load on Mumbai’s creaking railway lines where an average of more than nine people lose their lives every day, often falling off overcrowded carriages.

Seven million people use Mumbai’s railway daily. Ms. Bhide says the new metro will carry 1.7 million passengers per day, freeing up space on overground trains.

“The quality of commute, ease of traveling and speed of traveling will increase,” she says. 

Mumbai effectively shuts down when trains cannot run, as is often the case when tracks flood during the four-month summer monsoon. The underground will ensure the city keeps running, advocates say.

Work began in October 2016 and large areas of the city have been dug up to bore tunnels, which will be up to 22 meters (72 feet) deep.

Barriers shielding construction work boast the tag line “Mumbai is upgrading” but while most people support the project, several groups are angry.

Thousands of Parsis signed a petition calling for the route to be changed so trains do not pass under fire temples where Zoroastrians worship, claiming it would pollute the “holy fire” and force nature to exact its revenge.

Environmentalists unsuccessfully went to court to stop the destruction of thousands of trees, and also object to plans for a depot and station on a 33-hectare (82-acre) site in Aarey Colony, a biodiversity hot spot.

The area borders Sanjay Gandhi National Park, home to leopards, birds and other animals.

‘WE DON’T WANT CHANGE’
“It’s a beautiful forest in the heart of Mumbai, an oxygen cylinder for the city that needs to be protected,” Stalin Dayanand, director of the environmental non-profit organization Vanashakti, told AFP.

“Once the shed and station come up, it opens the door for real estate developers to construct properties there,” he added.

Some 7,000 indigenous Indians — the Warlis — also live across Aarey, which at more than 1,200 hectares is a green oasis in the teeming city.

The animists worship wildlife and are famous for their simple paintings depicting nature.

Prakash Bhoir, a tribal leader, says the area, where Warlis have lived for centuries, has witnessed severe encroachment in recent years.

“The destruction of the forest is happening at an alarming rate. We don’t want change or development here. Let it stay the way it is,” he told AFP.

The Bombay High Court is hearing a petition against the depot but Bhide claims Aarey is the only suitable place for it in space-starved Mumbai.

She says legal challenges have put the underground line’s completion date back by around 10 months.

“Probably these kinds of problems may not be faced in a country like China. Although there are a lot of challenges, we have to complete the metro project as early as possible.” — AFP