Mumbai News Live Updates: Local trains to resume from August 15 for those who are fully vaccinated, says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

A total of 45 cases of the Delta plus variant of coronavirus have been reported in Maharashtra during genome sequencing, the state health department said on Sunday, adding one patient had died.

In the first phase, those who are fully vaccinated and have completed 15 days after the vaccine will be allowed to travel by trains from August 15. "There will be an app for this where the person can get the pass to travel. There is also a system for those who don't have smartphones.. We will have an offline system too. We are also making this appeal to offices -- to stagger work timings and allow those who can WFH to continue," Uddhav Thackeray said. Read story here

The chief minister said that Covid hasn't gone. "It's still here. We have seen Covid waves too. What we have learnt is that if we need to arrest the spread, we have to follow Covid protocols and increase vaccination. We have a capacity to vaccinate up to 15 lakh in a day too as we have already vaccinated 8 lakh people in a day. We are improving on our health infrastructure. We have taken steps to prepare for a possible third wave. There are 34,507 ICU beds today and 13,500 ventilators.We still haven't dropped to the levels of last year in terms of Covid numbers. The virus is also changing. Delta is now globally a big concern," he informed.

Addressing the state, Uddhav Thackeray said, "When I met PM Modi along with my other cabinet colleagues, I appealed to him to give states the right to relax the 50% cap on reservations. Till that happens, we will not be able to accommodate the issue of reservation of Marathas. I'm confident the PM will help us out."

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 5,508 new Covid cases and 151 fatalities. The infection tally in the state rose to 63,53,328 and death toll to 1,33,996. As many as 4,895 patients were discharged from hospitals, pushing the number of recoveries to 61,44,388. The state currently has 71,510 active infection cases now.

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) vaccination centres on Monday will operate between 9 am and 5 pm. Only second dose of Covaxin will be administered to those in the 18-44 age group and those above 45 years of age at General Hospitals in Vashi, Nerul and Airoli. The healthcare workers and frontline workers can also take their second jab. The three centres within the civic body limits in the region have been allotted 250 doses each. Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai on Sunday reported 66 new positive cases and three deaths.

The Central Railway (CR) has decided to plant grasses and trees to prevent landslides in the Matheran ghat section, along the railway track. Local species of grass and trees, including Rock Banana, Vetiver Grass/Khus grass, Wild Date Palm and Karonda (Carissa),.are being planted between Neral and Matheran. Read story here

Piped Gas service to hundreds of domestic consumers in Majiwada area has been suspended after a supply line was damaged by an excavator involved in tree transplant. The supply will be restored in two hours, informed Thane Municipal Corporation's regional disaster management cell (RDMC).

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said unless the 50 per cent cap on reservations is relaxed, the constitutional amendment on allowing states to prepare their own OBC list will not help and the Maratha quota cannot be restored. Talking to reporters here after meeting Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Raut said he discussed the issue and developments regarding it in Parliament with the CM. Read story here

The slum colony of Dharavi in Mumbai did not report a single Covid-19 case in the past 24 hours, a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said. Dharavi's infection tally stands unchanged at 6,990, while the active caseload is 35. Read story here

A 4-feet Ganesha idol, made by Jadhav Arts at Lalbaug, depicts that Almighty will kill coronavirus. TOI photo: Sanjay Hadkar

The residents of Nehru Nagar in Kurla East have raised an alarm with the railway authorities on the hazard that the slums along the Trombay-Kurla railway tracks are posing to the safety of thousands of people in the area. Read story here

Here is good news for Mumbaikars. Around 60 per cent of eligible Mumbaikars (18-plus group) have been given the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of this, around 20 per cent of people have taken the second dose too. In other words, every 5th eligible Mumbaikars has already been given both doses of vaccine. Read story here

Power tariff of more than 30 lakh consumers of Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) will be reduced in 2022 once the mid-term review (MTR) of multi-year tariff (MYT) is approved by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). The reduction in power tariff may be in the range of 10-20 per cent and the actual benefit to the consumers will be clear when the MYT will be presented to MERC for final true-up. Read story here

Mumbaikars thronged meat markets on Sunday morning to prepare for the Gatari Amavaysa feast. Today is the beginning of the holy month of Shravan when many people don’t consume meat and alcohol. The evening before Shravan begins is traditionally celebrated with a feast.

As a precautionary measure, residents of 20 to 25 houses in the area were shifted to a civic school in Gholai Nagar. TOI Photo: Anil Shinde. Read story here

Central Railway has decided to attach a Vistadome coach, having a glass domed ceiling, in the CSMT-Pune Deccan Queen Superfast Express special train from August 15.This is the second Vistadome coach being introduced on this route. The first was introduced on the CSMT-Pune-CSMT Deccan Express special train on June 26. CSMTMadgaon Janshatabdi Express runs with a Vistadome coach on Konkan Railway. CR’s chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said, “There has been an overwhelming response to the Vistadome coach on Deccan Express. Hence, it was decided to attach one in Deccan Queen Superfast Express special train.”

After a massive surge in Covid-19 cases during the peak of the second wave in April-May in NMMC areas and in view of a possible third wave, the civic body has chalked out plans to expand its RT-PCR testing facility at Nerul’s Meenatai Thackeray Hospital. NMMC hopes to carry out more than double the daily tests. It plans to conduct tests of over 5k samples in a 24-hour cycle and the additional laboratory is likely to come up by the monthend. NMMC received CSR funds for the project.