Emergency services weren’t hit, but patients seeking OPD consultations and routine treatment faced inconvenience

Kalyan: Routine medical services and OPD consultations across all major civic-run hospitals and centres in Kalyan-Dombivli were suspended on Tuesday after their doctors, nurses and paramedical staff went on a strike to protest the assault of a hospital’s staffers by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, his supporters and a pregnant patient’s relatives, over purported delay in treatment the previous night. Emergency services weren’t hit.Based on a doctor’s complaint, Vishnu Nagar police filed an FIR against four men, including Mhatre, and a woman under relevant provisions of BNS and Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010.The protesters said their agitation will continue until the accused, including the corporator, are arrested. Indian Medical Association’s Kalyan and Dombivli units said if this action is not initiated by Wednesday, all private doctors affiliated with them will suspend their services in solidarity.The FIR against Mhatre was filed after protesters alleged that attempts were being made to lodge a case only against the patient’s relatives despite the corporator being seen in CCTV footage attacking the staff.A 33-year-old, Priyanka Ugmale, was admitted to Shastrinagar Hospital in Dombivli in an advanced stage of pregnancy late on Monday. Doctors found the umbilical cord had looped itself twice around the foetus and decided to perform a C-section. Hospital sources said doctors anticipated that the newborn would require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but as the hospital’s NICU was full, the medical team began contacting other hospitals to secure a NICU bed before proceeding with the surgery.Meanwhile, the patient’s relatives allegedly contacted Mhatre, who reached the hospital and confronted the doctors over the purported delay in treatment. The argument escalated. CCTV footage purportedly shows Mhatre assaulting a gynaecologist, following which his supporters allegedly attacked other doctors and hospital staffers.Sources said Mhatre was upset over the delay and claimed doctors did not respond to his phone calls. Doctors, however, maintained that they were busy arranging a NICU bed, which was necessary before performing the procedure.Following the attack, the patient was shifted to another civic facility, where doctors performed the C-section and the newborn was admitted to its NICU.After a meeting with IMA Kalyan president Dr Rajesh Raghav Raju, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) commissioner Abhinav Goel asked the doctors and staffers who were attacked to lodge a police complaint and assured them that strict legal action will be taken against all those responsible. He said the civic administration will strengthen security at all KDMC hospitals and urged the protesting staffers to resume services.

The bill seeks to end a practice that allows dance bars to operate by obtaining orchestra licences instead of permissions under the state’s Dance Bar Act, according to minister

Chaitanya.MarpakwarMumbai:The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Maharashtra Police Act and Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The bill, which amends the 2016 Act, brings live music performances in hotels and bar rooms under the ambit of the dance bar law, seeking to plug licensing loopholes that allowed illegal dance bars to use orchestra permits under the Maharashtra Police Act. The bill was introduced by minister of state (MoS) for home, Pankaj Bhoyar.The bill seeks to end a practice that Bhoyar said allowed dance bars to operate by obtaining orchestra licences instead of permissions under the state’s Dance Bar Act. The bill introduces “live music performance (orchestra)” within the purview of the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act and excludes licences of live music performance in hotels, restaurants and bars from the purview of the Police Act.Bhoyar said after the 2016 Act, the number of dance bars operating significantly reduced but bar owners found a way around the 2016 law by obtaining orchestra licences under the Police Act and using them to conduct dance performances. MLAs from the treasury and opposition benches questioned the govt over what constituted an ‘obscene’ dance. NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad asked who was going to decide if any dance was obscene and it was just a bill to please a particular section of society but instead looks to hurt a section of society and professions like Tamasha artists would suffer because of the misuse of such a law. BJP MLA Ameet Satam said that if this law is violated in the jurisdiction of any police station, then police officials must be taken to task since if responsibility is not fixed the law will have no impact. Satam said the local Senior Police Inspector must be held responsible for the violation and this amendment must be made part of the bill before it is passed. NCP MLA Anil Patil said that prominent singers and dancers must not be hurt by this new law and their performances must not be banned.BJP MLA Sudhir Mungatiwar said the definition of obscene was relative and subjective and each one views obscenity with their own lens. Many MLAs said this bill was introduced only keeping dance bars in Mumbai in mind and could hurt genuine singers and dancers who give live performances in towns and villages.Congress MLA Nitin Raut said the govt must clarify if women will not be pushed further into exploitation.Bhoyar said dance bars are currently regulated through the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working Therein) Act, 2016. The state mandates strict operating hours, written contracts for performers, and amended the Maharashtra Police Act to prevent bars from exploiting orchestra permits to host live dances.“It has been observed that, to evade the restrictions imposed on dance performances in hotel, restaurant or bar room under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) Act, 2016, live music performances (orchestra) licences granted under the Maharashtra Police Act are being used as an alternative for dance performances licences in hotel, restaurant or bar room under the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act. To curb this practice, the govt considers it necessary to bring live music performances (orchestra) within the purview of the Prohibition of Obscene Dance Act and to exclude the licences of the live music performances (orchestra) in hotel restaurant or bar room from the purview of the Police Act,” the Statements and Objectives of the bill state.Officials said some establishments were using licences for live music performances as an alternative to licences required under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working Therein) Act, 2016, to evade restrictions imposed on dance performances in hotels, restaurants and bar rooms.To plug this loophole, the bill proposes to bring live music performances (orchestra) within the purview of the 2016 Act while excluding licences for such performances from the ambit of the Maharashtra Police Act.

Navi Mumbai: Debris cleaning operation continued for the second day on the Mumbai corridor of the Mumbai-Goa highway in the Kashedi Ghat section, Ratnagiri. A collapsed hillock fell on the highway on Monday, resulting in complete closure of the highway for 12 hours on Monday. The Mumbai-bound traffic was diverted to the Goa-bound carriageway since 2 pm on Monday.Meanwhile, vehicular movement on the flooded stretches of the highway in Pen and Roha talukas, Raigad, was normalised from 5 am on Tuesday after rainwater receded after the rainfall took a break.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is executing the 84-km-long highway section between Panvel and Indapur, Mangaon taluka, Raigad. The remaining stretch from Indapur to Zarap in Sindhudurg via Ratnagiri is executed by the PWD-National Highway Division.The Goa-bound carriageway was restored for traffic movement on Monday. But the debris heap choked a 250m-300m-long stretch of NH-66. Excavators and other machinery were pressed into the debris-clearing work. No more landslides were reported.A PWD-NH Division engineer, Pankaj Gosavi, said, “The debris removal work on the Mumbai corridor continued throughout Tuesday but likely to be completed late evening.”A press release for the NHAI stretch on Monday said submergence was reported at Kharoshi Phata (Pen) due to swelling of the Patalganga River. The Amba River caused flooding at Wakan Phata, waterlogging was reported at Sukeli Khind due to heavy discharge of rainwater from the hill slopes, and flooding of the canal crossing the highway stretch at Khamb was reported with submergence.The Raigad stretch covering the NHAI section received 300-350 mm rainfall, including 250 mm in the last 24 hours (Sunday-Monday).NHAI regional officer Anshumali Srivastava said, “Our stretch of the highway is cleared for traffic movement.”More than 1,000 people, including tourists stranded in Kolad, Roha, left for their homes after a weekend trip to the Konkan belt.

Ashwini Bhide said strong winds over the past two days has caused extensive damage to the city’s green cover

Mumbai: It would be a “sweeping statement” to attribute tree-fall incidents solely to concretisation, BMC commissioner Ashwini Bhide said on Tuesday even as she announced that the civic body would engage expert institutions and arborists to study measures to strengthen roadside trees.The BMC will examine whether scientific pruning from an early stage can improve root systems, whether roots can be managed differently, and how trees can safely coexist with underground utilities beneath footpaths, Bhide added.She pointed out that trees crash every monsoon and the reasons vary, while admitting that this year’s green cover damage was significant as nearly 50% of the annual average of tree falls occurred in a single day. Bhide also announced that the BMC would revive its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tree pruning after consulting experts, besides inspecting all roadside trees and carrying out trimming wherever required.Speaking to mediapersons, Bhide said strong winds over the past two days had caused extensive damage to the city’s green cover. There were 655 tree crashes in 2022, 687 in 2023, 653 in 2024, and 855 in 2025. Higher numbers in some previous years were linked to Cyclones Nisarga and Tauktae. This monsoon, 830 trees have fallen so far — 350 in public areas or along roadsides and 480 on private properties. In addition, 1,238 branches have fallen — 529 in public areas and 709 on private premises.Referring to the 2018 tree census, Bhide said Mumbai has around 29.8 lakh trees, including nearly two lakh roadside trees.“Roadside trees, at times, become risky and vulnerable because of weather conditions. In many places, these trees stand on footpaths, while utilities also run beneath them. Now, how do we make the two coexist? We ensure the area around trees is open to allow water to percolate, but that alone is not sufficient because the root system spreads extensively underground. We are exploring additional openings with grilles to improve water percolation. This has been implemented at a few locations, but on a very limited scale. We want to do it in a better manner and have identified a system,” Bhide said.The BMC chief further said that she has consulted experts, including botanist and former Mumbai University vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh. The BMC has also sought support from IIT and will also seek support from other good institutions to guide it on protecting existing trees during infrastructure projects. “In many cases, roots become entangled with underground utilities. We are examining how trees can be safeguarded, whether early pruning benefits the root system, or whether roots can be managed differently. The civic body will immediately start this exercise by engaging expert institutions and arborists,” Bhide said.