1. Gas Leak Reported Across Mumbai
A gas-like smell across western and eastern suburbs from Powai to Mira Road created panic among Mumbaikars living in these areas for a brief while late Thursday.
The Mumbai police received complaints from Powai, Chembur Chakala, Goregaon, up to Mira Road.
As the news spread over social media, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Disaster Cell chief Mahesh Narvekar said that they were still checking the source of leakage. The smell had begun to abate after about 30 to 40 minutes.
Source: Indian Express
2. Govt Says PIL Raises Issues Already Dealt With in HC
Refusing to deal with the issues raised by the first of the four PILs on Aarey, the government on Thursday said that all such matters have already been dealt with and rejected by another bench of the Bombay High Court and, therefore, the PIL to declare Aarey a forest should be dismissed at the outset.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni animatedly argued before a division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nanadrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre that the petitioners in the current PIL have already appealed against the earlier order of the high court in the Supreme Court and that the plea should not be entertained.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. BEST Workers’ Union to Go on Strike From October 9
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) workers’ union have announced an indefinite strike from October 9 to protest the BEST administration’s alleged failure to fulfil employees’ demand of a minimum Rs 10,000 salary hike.
In a letter sent to the BEST administration, the workers’ union has said it will not sign any agreement with BEST administration till they concede to give a minimum hike of Rs 10,000 to employees. The union has also demanded an equivalent salary hike that had been paid to BMC employees between 2016 and 2019.
Source: Indian Express
4. 22 Students Detained for Protesting Outside Bachchan’s Juhu Bungalow
Armed with banners and placards, a group of students from schools and colleges on Thursday staged a protest outside megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s residence over his tweet supporting the Mumbai Metro project. Twenty-two students were detained when they squatted on a road near Bachchan’s bungalow in suburban Juhu and engaged in sloganeering, police said.
The 76-year-old Bollywood icon, himself a face of several environmental campaigns, is drawing flak from several quarters for coming out in support of the Metro project.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Maharashtra Adds Over 7.69 Lakh Voters Since Lok Sabha Polls
The poll-bound Maharashtra has added nearly eight lakh voters since the April-May 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The overall increase in the number of voters in Maharashtra compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls is 7,69,165, said an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The voter tally has gone from 8,86,77,046 at the time of the Lok Sabha elections in April-May to 8,94,46,211 now, he said. “The figures issued are the part of official electoral data compiled till August 31. The electoral data will continue to be revised till 10 days before the filing of the nomination forms by candidates (for upcoming assembly polls).
Source: PTI/Mumbai Mirror
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