Woman jumps into creek in Thane, rescued

THANE: A 27-year-old woman suffered injuries after she allegedly jumped off the Vitawa Railway Bridge near Thane station into the adjoining creek, officials said on Friday evening.
Avinash Sawant, chief at the Thane regional disaster management cell, said they were informed about the woman jumping into the creek around 6pm following which a team rushed to the spot.
Meanwhile, few alert locals and civic officials who had reached the spot managed to rescue the woman who had suffered injuries to her abdomen and rushed her to the nearby municipal hospital for treatment, Sawant said.
The woman is a resident of nearby slums in Vitawa and the reason why she took this step will be investigated after a police complaint is lodged, civic officials said.
Awhad demands judicial probe
Meanwhile, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad has demanded a judicial probe in the Maharashtra Bhushan incident at Kharghar last week that left 14 dead and many injured.
Awhad was talking to the media in Thane following the state decision to constitute a one-member committee led by bureaucrat Nitin Kareer to probe the incident.
“Although Kareer is hardworking and principled, it is unclear if he will be given the freedom while probing the incident. If the government is at fault, Kareer may face pressure or obstacles in concluding that the government was responsible for the deaths. It is important to ensure the investigation is fair and just and the committee is not influenced by political or external pressures. I personally feel he (Kareer) should decline from being part of the committee probing the incident that has now attracted global attention. Instead, a judicial committee should be appointed,” he said.
Mhaske offers to quit if...
Shiv Sena spokesperson and close aide of chief minister Eknath Shinde Naresh Mhaske has offered to quit active politics if the accusations that he is a partner in the event management company that handled the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony was proved.
Mhaske was responding to the accusations made by UBT deputy leader Sushama Andhare in Kolhapur that he was a partner in the company along with a Thane-based entrepreneur and a film-TV personality.
Andhare while addressing the media claimed that Mhaske as a partner in the company shared equal liability in the incident that claimed 14 lives and should be booked along with others.
“It seems that Andhare has either been misled or deliberately fed with wrong information about my involvement in the event management company. I have given her 24 hours to prove her accusations and if she’s proved right, I will retire from politics. If not then she and those who have misled her should also retire from politics,” he said adding that the company has been holding events for NCP leaders, MNS and even the UBT faction.
Stern compliance of fire safety needed
Two days after a major blaze gutted down a major portion of the Orion commercial complex along the Ghodbunder road, leaders have now demanded stern compliance of fire safety audit in all commercial structures in the city.
Shiv Sena UBT MP Rajan Vichare on Thursday wrote to municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar demanding that a proper audit and compliance of all fire safety modules be done of all commercial units and residential structures to ensure a repeat of the Tuesday inferno doesn’t happen.
“The Tuesday fire took over 150 staff from various agencies including Mumbai to douse the blaze. It took them nearly 10 hours to control the fire which is surprising and need a thorough investigation into the cause. There are several high-rises coming up in the city and it needs to be ascertained if they have the necessary fire safety okays. The Tuesday incident would have been uglier if the incident occurred when there were staff and people inside the commercial complex and the mall. The corporation needs to take stern steps,” said Vichare.
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad also lashed out at the 'ill-equipped' corporation for failing to control the blaze in time.
"There seems to be complete mismanagement in the fire brigade operations. If we can't handle fire in such five storye buildings, imagine what would be the plight in multistoreyed structures," said Awhad while speaking to reporters on Friday.
Meanwhile, commissioner Bangar said he has already asked for a report in the incident.
“It is unusual for the fire to not come under control despite such sustained fire fighting which was done Tuesday night. We will investigate if there was any inflammable material stocked illegaly inside the structure. A fire audit and its compliance in all commercial structures will also be done,” he said.