1. At 203 mm, City on High Alert
Fourth time this season, heavy rains paralysed the city as most areas went knee-deep under water. Road traffic came to a halt in Sion, King’s Circle, Dadar TT, Parel and floodprone Khar, while several trains on Central, Western and Harbour lines were running late owing to waterlogging. Monday, in fact, saw the highest rainfall of the season so far in 24 hours – 203 mm. While Colaba recorded 190 mm of rainfall, Worli received 180 mm and Versova 140 mm until 6.30 pm on Monday.
Amidst mayhem, the city witnessed 20 short circuit incidents, eight tree fall incidents and five wall collapses. Luckily no casualties or injuries were reported. Even as the authorities ordered high alert for National Disaster Relief Force, fire brigade department and other agencies, the Indian Meteorological Department predicted continued heavy downpour in Mumbai and Thane till Thursday. With a high tide warning for the entire week, a high alert situation has been predicted for Wednesday and Saturday.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Amit Shah’s ‘Mission 32’ for 2019
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president, Amit Shah, who is known to be a hard taskmaster, has set a target of winning at least to 32 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, in case the party’s alliance with the Shiv Sena does not work out.
The Sena, which is a junior partner in the BJP-led governments both at the Centre and in the state, announced in January this year that it would contest all future elections on its own.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. Wall Collapse at Sandhurst Road Station: 65 Families Face Eviction Threat
Sixty-five families living metres from Sandhurst Road stationfear losing their homes after a section of the railway retaining wall next to their compound collapsed on tracks on Monday. The incident occurred around 10 am, disrupting Kalyan-bound slow services for 45 minutes.
Central Railway is likely to ask housing authority MHADA to vacate the families from the compound, comprising three low-slung buildings (27 E, 27 F, 27 C), for a brief period so it can reconstruct the wall, which has suffered a series of collapses since 2010. Rail authorities had made a similar demand in April.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
4. Tribunal Upholds Mistry’s Sacking, Finds No Merit in Allegations Against Tatas
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday dismissed pleas of Cyrus Mistry challenging his removal as Tata Sons chairman, as also allegations of misconduct on the part of Ratan Tata and the company’s board.
A special bench of the tribunal held that the board of directors at Tata Sons was “competent” to remove the company’s executive chairperson.
NCLT bench members BSV Prakash Kumar and V Nallasenapathy said Mistry was ousted as chairman in October 2016 because the Tata Sons’ board and its majority shareholders had “lost confidence in him”.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
5. Godrej Wants 8.6 Acres in Vikhroli out of Bullet Train Project, Moves HC
A fresh hurdle has cropped up for the government’s ambitious bullet train projectbetween Ahmedabad and Mumbai, with the Godrej Group moving the Bombay High Court to challenge the proposed acquisition of its prime property in suburban Vikhroli for the project.
The conglomerate has sought a direction for the authorities concerned to change the project’s alignment so that it can get nearly 8.6 acres of land belonging to its infrastructure arm Godrej Construction out of the plan.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
6. Mumbai Metro Will Increase Services During Peak Hours
With the daily ridership on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro line increasing, there has been a growing demand for two additional coaches. Now, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) — the 26% stakeholder in the project —wants Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) to add the two coaches to its rakes to increase the carrying capacity.
RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “We had asked them to increase the coaches earlier, and in the recent meeting too, I asked them to increase it.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Motorbike-Bound Couple Hit a Perilous Pothole
As city’s potholes get bigger and deeper by the day, the people who run maximum risk of landing in hospital are riders of two-wheelers.
During Monday’s incessant rain, a Borivali couple on motorcycle hit a pothole on the Western Express Highway, near Mahindra flyover, escaping death by a whisker.
Hemal Master and his wife Karuna sustained multiple limb injuries and were admitted to MM Hospital in Borivali. Hemal was travelling towards Bandra Kurla Complex on his motorbike with his wife Karuna when the two-wheeler skidded around a deep pothole.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
8. Slabs of P D’Mello Road FOB Declared Unsafe, BMC to Decide Whether to Repair or Demolish It
Early on July 5, the police control room received a phone call from a slum-dweller at P D’Mello Road, saying concrete slabs from a foot overbridge connecting the walkway to Yellow Gate were falling off. The police alerted the Fire Brigade, which reached the spot along with BMC officials from ‘B’ Ward, including an executive engineer who identified himself as R Dange. The executive engineer told this correspondent, who was at the spot, that a safety audit of the FOB was carried out six months ago, and it had concluded that the FOB was “dangerous” and in need of “immediate repairs”.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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