1. Mumbai Air as Bad as Delhi’s
Mumbai woke up to grey skies on Monday, 3 December, as the air quality in the city slipped into the ‘very poor’ category bringing it on par with the national capital. The city has been experiencing poor air quality for the past week but this is the first time it has slipped so low this year.
“In the northern and western regions, the temperature has witnessed a sudden drop giving rise to a cold wavelike situation which has impacted the air quality as the boundary layer comes down due to the cold,” said Gufran Beig, Program Director, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And
Research (SAFAR) at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. He said that the resultant phenomenon leads to the trapping of pollutants thereby causing a dip in the quality of air.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Fire Breaks Out at Aarey Forest
A fire broke out at Aarey forest near Infinity IT Park in Goregaon on Monday evening. No loss of life was reported till the time of going to press. “We have dispatched 10 fire engines and over a hundred personnel to the spot. A fully equipped emergency medical van is also on the spot to deal with any emergency,” said a BMC official.
The threat level of the fire, which was initially considered to be a minor one (level zero) when the firebrigade first received the call at 6:20 pm, was escalated to level two within an hour and later to level three. In fire brigade’s parlance, level three is the secondhighest threat level, which is decided by the number of fire tenders sent to the spot
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. Mumbai: IPS Officer ‘Brags’ of Filing False Cases Against Dalits, Muslims in Video
In the five-minute clip, a woman in denims and a black shirt is seen seated on a chair with a group of men on plastic chairs opposite her. The woman is heard saying she has filed false cases against 21 Dalits who filed complaints under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at her police stations. She is also heard saying that she has filed cases under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC against Muslims, ostensibly so that they are unable to procure bail easily...She goes on to disclose her interrogation techniques, including, apparently, beating up Dalits.
Narrating another incident, the woman says while she was posted in Pimpri near Pune city, she didn’t arrest accused Marathas in a case for three days and instead told them to file a false case against the Dalit in question.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Nearly 56% of Bulk Waste Generators Flout BMC Rule
A year after the BMC launched its waste segregation and processing drive to reduce the load on dumping grounds, 56.3 percent of the bulk waste generators are not following the rule book. To encourage compliance, the BMC now plans to appoint ward officials, who will be called ‘Friends of Cleanliness’, to interact with housing societies that are not treating wet waste at source, understand the challenges they are facing and help them overcome the hurdles.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. 10% Water Cut in Mumbai to Continue, Stock in 7 Lakes to Last Till June
Residents would have to deal with water scarcity till next monsoon. In the civic body’s review meeting held last month, it was decided that the 10 percent water cut implemented in the city, will continue till June 2019. However, the water cut is unlikely to increase. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also said that the city will have enough water stock till June-end.
The 10 percent water cut was officially imposed from November 15. Currently, the seven lakes supplying potable water to the city only have 69 percent of stock left. Last year around this time, the city had an 86 percent water stock.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Fire Safety Norms in Mumbai: In 3 Years, Only 36 Housing Societies Prosecuted for Non-compliance
Over three months since August, the BMC’s fire department has served notices to 84 housing societies across Mumbai for allegedly flouting fire safety norms. Of the 911 societies inspected from August to October, 826 were found to be complying with safety norms.
After inspection by the fire brigade’s officials, 84 housing societies were served notices to comply with fire safety rules within a stipulated time. If the housing societies fail to comply with the rules, the department will send a prosecution notice. However, over the last three years, the BMC has prosecuted only 36 such building owners.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Maharashtra Govt to Seek Legal View on Referring Adani Electricity Tariff Hike Issue to Regulator
Amidst the growing debate and unrest over inflated power tariff recovered by Adani Electricity in the Mumbai suburbs, the state government sought legal opinion on Monday on whether it can refer the representation made by city BJP unit in this regard to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). This is necessary as the government has no powers under the Electricity Act, 2003 to directly refer to MERC any representation or memorandum concerning the tariff. The government also cannot give direction to MERC under section 108 of the Act, involving the private distribution company.
(Source: DNA)
8. Mumbai Hospital Refuses to Admit Mental Health Patient Who Attempted to Kill Self
Early on Friday, a Santacruz resident woke up to a choking sound. To her horror, she realised it was her severely depressed husband trying to strangle himself with a bed sheet. Without wasting time, the family put him in their car and rushed him to a Bandra hospital, where they were allegedly not only refused admission, but also the immediate service of a psychiatrist...The 53- year-old patient’s son, requesting anonymity, alleged that the doctor-on-duty at Lilavati Hospital didn’t show any urgency in attending to his father or summoning a mental health doctor.
“He straightaway refused to admit my father, saying psychiatric patients are not hospitalised there. From 5am to 8am, we requested the doctor to summon a psychiatrist, but he said that couldn’t be done,” said the 32-year-old entrepreneur, who said Lilavati has been their family hospital for 15 years.
(Source: The Times of India)
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