The Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (MRICL) has been appointed to ensure that the overbridge is completed on time. (Representational/File)Mumbai News Live Updates: The demolition of the 120-years-old Elphinstone Rail overbridge falling in alignment of the Sewri-Worli connector is awaiting approval from the Mumbai Traffic Police, officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). SVR Srinivas, Commissioner of MMRDA, said, “An alternate route plan has been given and we are waiting for traffic block permission from the police. Once it comes, the demolition will be taken up.” According to the MMRDA, the demolition may begin next year considering the time required by police among other related issues.
In other news, earlier this month, Mumbai City DCP N Ambika’s request for central deputation was approved. Headed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB), she is the 21st IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre currently on central deputation. These 21 officers do not include IPS officer Shirish Jain, who had returned from central deputation last month. Sources said that one or two requests of deputation are pending before the Union government and the number could go up. According to the 2018 Union government notification, in all, there are 172 senior duty posts in the state eligible for deputation. As per service rules, the maximum number of police personnel who can be sent for deputation from a state is 40 per cent of the total officers, which in case of Maharashtra is 68.
Meanwhile, days after a project to build a manufacturing zone for power and renewable energy went to Madhya Pradesh for which Maharashtra was also a contender, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP on Saturday accused the Shinde-Fadnavis government of losing yet another project to other states. In April, the Union Ministry of Power had sought expression of interest (EOI) from the states for setting up a manufacturing zone on a pilot basis for power and reenewable energy Equipment. The last date for submission of EOI was June 8, when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. Eight states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telengana – had submitted EOIs to the Centre.
Few may know that Mumbai, a city perhaps best encapsulated by its massively congested urban sprawl and towering skyscrapers, is actually home to the second largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world.
Salman Rushdie, in an essay for the book Bombay Meri Jaan, says that the style was such an integral feature of his conceptualisation of the city that he thought it originated across the seven islands. “I actually grew up believing Art Deco to be the ‘Bombay style,’ a local invention, its name derived, in all probability, from the imperative of the verb to see,” he writes, “Art dekho, Lo and behold art.” Read more.
Mumbai's Air Quality Index improved to the 'Moderate' Category after staying in the 'Poor' stage for a week.
Popular actor Siddhaanth Surryavanshi, who passed away after suffering a heart attack, was cremated in the presence of his family and friends at Mumbai's Santacruz crematorium on Saturday.
The 46-year-old actor was best known for featuring in shows such as "Kkusum", "Kasautii Zindagii Kay" and "Ziddi Dil Maane Na".
His last rites were held at 1:30 pm at the Santacruz Electric Crematorium in suburban Mumbai.
On Friday afternoon, Surryavanshi was taken to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital after he collapsed in the gym. He was declared dead there.
Surryavanshi is survived by his wife, model Alesia Raut, and a daughter from his previous marriage. He married Raut in 2017. She also has a son from an earlier marriage. PTI
Full-service airline Vistara will start non-stop flights between Mumbai and Muscat starting from December 12.
"The airline will operate daily flights between the two cities using its A320 neo aircraft and will be the only airline to offer the choice of premium economy class on the route, in addition to business and economy class," it said in a release on Saturday.
Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said the airline was excited to expand presence in the Middle East with the addition of Muscat as the fourth city in the region.
The airline has a fleet of 54 aircraft, including 41 Airbus A320, five Airbus A321neo, five Boeing 737-800NG and three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. PTI
As the work on the Navi Mumbai International Airport goes on in full steam to meet the 2024 deadline, the residents of Wahal village near the airport boundary alleged that the blasting operations during the construction work are damaging their homes.
Kesarinath Dapolkar, a resident, claimed that almost all houses in the village developed cracks due to the ongoing blasting work.
On November 4, the village sarpanch Pooja Patil wrote a letter to the City & Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) stating the problems being faced by villagers due to blasting activity and the damage these explosions are causing to the houses. In the letter, Patil claimed that despite instructions to carry out controlled blasting, the contractor is conducting bore blasting causing problems for the residents.
Sweety Adimulam reports
The Marathi film Har Har Mahadev has created controversy in Maharashtra, with the arrest of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad by the Thane police on Friday (November 11) for forcible shutting down the screening of the film in Thane’s Viviana mall earlier this week. Why has this film on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj courted controversy in Maharashtra? Alok Deshpande explains
A day after getting bail in the Patra Chawl money laundering case, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, known to be a staunch BJP critic, did something uncharacteristic. He praised Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, adding that he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon, setting off a chain of speculations.
On Thursday morning, Raut told reporters: “I will not criticise or speak against anyone, be it central agencies or the government. My party and I have suffered. We won’t oppose anyone just for the sake of opposing. If they have done good work, we will appreciate and welcome them. The current dispensation has also done some good work.”
He added: “Those decisions that are good for the country or the state should be welcomed. I welcome the decisions taken by (Deputy Chief Minister) Devendra Fadnavis. I will meet Fadnavis very soon. I will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah soon as well.”
While initially the move seemed an attempt to reconcile with the BJP, it could also be a strategic move to keep the Central probing agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (EC) at bay and avoid confrontation with the BJP, with his case still being open. Vallabh Ozarkar writes
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and five members of his team were stopped by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the customs department at a private terminal of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai early on Saturday for carrying an Apple iWatch and six other high-end cases of watches, officials said.
The authorities revealed that the total value of the goods was Rs 17.86 lakh and the actor, along with his team members, were allowed to leave after they paid Rs 6.88 lakh in customs duty, which is 38.5 per cent of the value of the goods.
According to sources in the AIU, Khan and his team members landed from Sharjah at the general aviation terminal of the international airport. “There is no red channel or green channel at the terminal meant for private planes. Every luggage undergoes screening at the general aviation (terminal),” said an official. Sagar Rajput reports
More from Cities
A 12-feet-tall metal sculpture of Maratha Mawla who is blowing a ‘Tutari’ (a musical instrument) gives a royal welcome to the passengers who arrive at the elevated Kandarpada metro station at Dahisar in Mumbai. The artwork is a replica of an ancient Maharashtrian culture of welcoming Maratha kings. Though at first glance it may appear to be just another piece of art on the street, what grabs one’s attention is the varying appearance of the installation from different angles, along with a disappearing effect.
But as commuters come closer they see flat metal sheets taking the shape of a man, just like a cut-out. As one walks past, the cut-out takes the shape of a solid sculpture. Once you are right in front or at the back of the artwork, the sculpture partially disappears as you look through the gap in the artwork. All those who witness this effect end up circling the sculpture in wonder!
Pallavi Smart reports
The Thane police on Friday arrested Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad in connection with an FIR registered against him on Tuesday for forcibly shutting down the screening of the Marathi film Har Har Mahadev along with his supporters at Thane’s Viviana mall.
His lawyer has now filed a bail application which is likely to be heard in some time.
A 34-year-old woman was injured in an attack by a leopard at Aarey Colony in suburban Goregaon, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday evening, they said.
"Sangita Gurav, a resident of Aarey Colony, was returning home from her workplace when she spotted a leopard in the area and started running to save herself, but fell down. After that the leopard pounced on her," a police official said.
The woman sustained injuries on her neck and back, he said, adding that the feline then disappeared into the forest.
After being alerted, the police and forest officials rushed to the spot and shifted the woman to a hospital with the help of local people, he said. She is out of danger and responding well to the treatment, he said. (PTI)
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) Friday hit out at the BJP-led Centre through an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ and said there is no rule of law in the country and the central probe agencies have turned into “slaves”.
The accusations came two days after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut got bail after remaining in jail for over 100 days. The editorial said the lawlessness was evident from the way Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut was arrested in a money laundering case by the ED. (Read More)
The Thane police on Friday arrested Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad in connection with an FIR registered against him on Tuesday for forcibly shutting down the screening of the Marathi film Har Har Mahadev along with his supporters at Thane’s Viviana mall.
On Monday night, Awhad led several NCP supporters inside the theatre and asked the patrons to leave, asserting that the movie allegedly “distorted Maratha history and such movies would not be allowed to be released in the state”. (Read More)
A tweet by senior Maharashtra Congress leader Ashok Chavan has generated intense interest triggering a discussion on whether his daughter Shreejaya will carry his political legacy forward.
Chavan, 64, had tweeted a video of his daughter walking by the side of Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, a day after his “Bharat Jodo Yatra” entered Deglur in Nanded district of Maharashtra from Telangana.
Shreejaya, a law graduate, handles the office of her father, a former chief minister. (Read More)
The Supreme Court decision on Monday to uphold an April 2019 Bombay High Court order invalidating three standards to determine the ‘capital value’ of land where construction is yet to begin under a new property tax regime has come as a great relief for developers in Mumbai.
A Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice Bela Trivedi said that only “the existing physical qualities and state of the land and building” can be considered to determine ‘capital value’ and not “the prospects of the land”. (Read More)
A day after being released from jail, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Thursday he welcomed the good decisions taken by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Raut also said he will soon meet Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to convey what he has faced in the past 100 days. (Read More)
A 62-year-old doctor recently fell prey to cyberfraud after she responded to a message on her phone purportedly sent by the electric department asking her to update her bill details and tricked her into revealing her credit card details which were used to siphon off Rs 2.24 lakh from her bank account. (Read More)
An 11-year-old boy died and a teenager injured after part of a bus depot's compound wall collapsed on them at Jawhar in Palghar district of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred around 8.30 pm on Thursday, when a bus being moved in a reverse direction hit the wall, an official said.
A video of the mishap has gone viral on social media.
"The driver was reversing the bus when it hit the compound wall of Jawhar depot, due to which a portion of the wall collapsed on those who were standing close to it. While an 11-year-old boy died, another boy aged 15 suffered injuries in the incident," inspector Sudhir Sankhe of Jawhar police station said. (PTI)