Water woes, train problems overshadow Kasab verdict

MUMBAI - Mumbai’s water woes and protests by suburban train drivers were uppermost in the minds of most city residents on a day Pakistan’s Ajmal Amir alias Kasab was found guilty in the November 2008 terror attack.

The verdict came and went without seemingly affecting the bulk of Mumbai.

Despite the hype created by television channels, most people were not glued to their TV or radio sets.

Moreover, the verdict came in the post-lunch session when lakhs of commutters were more worried about how to reach home.

“I got an SMS from a friend that Kasab has been found guilty. That was good and he deserved it. The details I could always catch after reaching home,” said Venkat Iyer, a regional manager with a MNC.

The biggest worry for Suvarna Kamble, an office-goer from Borivli and working in downtown Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus area, was how to get home in view of the railway motormen’s protests that led to the cancellation of over 60 local trains during crucial evening peak hours.

An executive working in the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, one of the places attacked by the Pakistani terrorists, said the issue was barely discussed although people were getting messages or phone calls on the verdict.

At a small tea shop in suburban Kandivli, the discussion centred around the water crises in Mumbai and how the suburbs between Goregaon-Dahisar did not get any water supply Monday and how private tankers also did not supply water despite charging a huge amount.

“The verdict was generally expected, after all that Kasab had done and which we all saw live on TV two years ago,” said social worker P.V. Singh.