Mumbai: Western Railway is exploring advanced construction techniques to rebuild the Bandra-Khar Road flyover within an intensive 45-day block period, significantly reducing the originally estimated six-month construction timeline and accelerating the critical Mumbai Central-Borivli sixth line project.A senior railway official said on Thursday that efforts are underway to adopt innovative methodologies that would allow the reconstruction to be completed in a much shorter duration while minimising disruption to Mumbai’s suburban rail services.The sixth line project, being implemented under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) Phase II in collaboration with the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), is a key capacity augmentation initiative for the city’s overburdened rail network. Spanning 30.04 km between Mumbai Central and Borivli, the project is aimed at increasing corridor capacity, improving punctuality, enabling additional suburban services and ensuring better segregation of suburban and long-distance train operations.Officials said the Khar Road-Borivli section has already been commissioned, with work now focused on the more challenging Mumbai Central-Khar Road stretch. The section involves complex engineering works amid dense urban development, along with land constraints, utility diversions and the construction of multiple railway structures.The project has made substantial progress on the planning and preparatory front. Land acquisition is almost complete, with only 88.6 square metres of govt land at Shakti Mill in Lower Parel awaiting final formalities. All five engineering sanction proposals have been approved, while utility shifting work has commenced, with 14 of the 29 identified utilities already relocated.Infrastructure development is also advancing steadily. Four of the five planned electric interlocking buildings have been completed, signalling and telecommunications works are underway under three sanctioned packages, and contracts for electrical foundations and overhead equipment works have been awarded.Western Railway has adopted a phased execution strategy involving the construction of 15 bridges, nearly 13.3 km of earthwork, new island platforms, foot overbridges, station facilities and track infrastructure. The project also includes rehabilitation of affected families in Bandra East, construction of new Platforms 7 and 8 at Bandra, modification of foot overbridges and relocation of railway structures and utilities at Mahim, Lower Parel and Mumbai Central.Officials said modern techniques such as precast segmental construction will be used wherever feasible to speed up work and minimise inconvenience to millions of daily commuters. Once completed, the sixth line is expected to substantially enhance operational efficiency and capacity on one of India’s busiest railway corridors.

Mumbai: Weeks after a pushback from the drone industry, BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik has urged IT minister Ashish Shelar to put the state’s drone policy on immediate hold until an inclusive and transparent review is conducted.Mahadik demanded that the state government initiate an inquiry into the conflict of interest of consultants involved in drafting the policy and remove them from the process.In his letter to Shelar, Mahadik said: “The recently released Maharashtra Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drone) Policy has caused severe anxiety among local MSMEs, drone training operators, and women entrepreneurs. Maharashtra has consistently championed youth empowerment, tech-led growth, and women’s entrepreneurship. However, the administrative process followed by the IT Department while drafting this policy has suffered from major procedural lapses and a non-transparent approach that directly threatens our state’s industrial interests. A policy that favors select vested interests over our local entrepreneurs risks forcing our vibrant MSME ecosystem and women-led startups to relocate to other states, which would be detrimental to Maharashtra’s economic progress.”He asked Shelar to direct the IT department to include all Maharashtra-based drone training operators and MSME stakeholders in all upcoming consultations and establish a drone industry task force directly under the minister to oversee a fair review and ensure robust implementation.Leading drone manufacturers and drone pilot training organisations had slammed the recently released Maharashtra Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drone) Policy saying the sector is facing a severe crisis due to its complete exclusion from the policy. Drone training companies had said that the policy does not address any of the 25 suggestions and demands requested by the sector.Following their complaints against the policy, Shelar had directed that joint meetings be organised between officials and industry representatives.Mahadik alleged that overlooking Shelar’s explicit instructions for a transparent, joint consultation, the meeting convened by IT secretary Virendra Singh on July 28 selectively included several companies based outside Maharashtra and completely excluded local drone training operators.“There was a fiery meeting on July 28 that saw tense, fiery arguments between the drone industry manufacturers, drone industry training operators and Singh. Major concerns were raised by drone industry representatives who spoke clearly about the conflict of interest of consultants who were hired to draft the policy. They pointed out that the drone industry in Maharashtra had suffered almost Rs 500 crore in losses due to the three-year delay in announcing the policy. They highlighted almost Rs 50 lakh daily loss being suffered by the industry due to the lack of a clear, coherent, industry-friendly drone policy,” said a representative who was present at the meeting.Singh did not respond to queries from TOI.BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik’s demands:* Place the current Maharashtra Drone Policy on immediate hold until an inclusive and transparent review is conducted* Initiate an inquiry into the conflict of interest in awarding the consultancy and remove current consultants from the policy process* Direct IT department to include all Maharashtra-based drone training operators and MSME stakeholders in all upcoming consultations* Establish a Drone Industry Task Force directly under the IT minister to oversee a fair review and ensure robust implementation

The housing society alleges that the developer and its directors sold several flats earmarked for rehabilitation to third parties without the consent of the tenants or the society

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police has launched a probe into the alleged Rs 42.96-crore fraud involving the redevelopment project of four buildings at Chinchpokli in Parel, in which a developer, its directors, a financial institute, banks and others are accused of illegally selling rehabilitation flats and raising huge loans against them.An FIR has been registered against Siddhivinayak Construction and its three directors and 21 others, including a few banks, under various sections of BNS and the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963.The complaint was filed by Pradeep Sawant, secretary of Shrimotanka Tenants Co-operative Housing Society. According to the complaint, the redevelopment of Shri Krishna Niwas, Kashinath Building, Mogre House and Tambawala Building was undertaken by Siddhivinayak Construction Pvt Ltd under a 2007 development agreement.The society alleges that the developer and its directors—Sachin Madhukar Khanolkar, Bindiya Sachin Khanolkar and Abhijit Vasantrao Kabir—sold several flats earmarked for rehabilitation to third parties without the consent of the tenants or the society.The complaint further alleges that financial institutions sanctioned loans totalling Rs 37.80 crore against 33 rehabilitation flats and three reserved areas, despite the properties being earmarked for existing tenants. The society has named several banks and financial institutions.The complainant has alleged that the developer also failed to pay around Rs 2.8 crore in transitional rent between 2014 and 2017 and approximately Rs 2.36 crore towards property tax, water bills and BMC-related dues, which society members allegedly paid.One of the allegations concerns flat number 704, which was earmarked for tenant Amogh Malvankar. The complaint states that the flat was allegedly sold multiple times and subsequently mortgaged to secure a loan of approximately Rs 80.91 lakh. Following default, the lender allegedly took physical possession of the premises, prompting Malvankar to approach the Debt Recovery Tribunal.The complaint also alleges that the developer benefited from FSI/TDR worth around Rs 15 crore arising from the redevelopment project. According to the complainant, the alleged irregularities, including the sale and mortgaging of rehabilitation premises, resulted in an overall loss of approximately Rs 42.96 crore to the tenants and the society.The matter was initially brought before the Mazgaon court following directions of the Bombay high court under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The court subsequently directed Kalachowki police station to register a case and investigate. The matter was later transferred to the EOW for further investigation.

MUMBAI: Western Railway is exploring advanced construction techniques to rebuild the Bandra-Khar Road flyover within an intensive 45-day block period, reducing the originally estimated six-month construction timeline and speeding up the Mumbai Central-Borivali sixth line project.A senior railway official said on Thursday that efforts are underway to adopt innovative methods that would allow the reconstruction to be completed in a much shorter period while minimising disruption to Mumbai’s suburban rail services.The sixth line project, being implemented under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) Phase II in collaboration with the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), is a key capacity enhancement initiative for the city’s overburdened rail network. Spanning 30.04 km between Mumbai Central and Borivali, the project aims to increase corridor capacity, improve punctuality, enable additional suburban services and ensure better separation of suburban and long-distance train operations.Officials said the Khar Road-Borivali section has already been commissioned, with work now focused on the more challenging Mumbai Central-Khar Road stretch. The section involves complex engineering work amid dense urban development, along with land constraints, utility diversions and the construction of multiple railway structures.The project has made significant progress in planning and preparation. Land acquisition is almost complete, with only 88.6 square metres of government land at Shakti Mill in Lower Parel awaiting final formalities. All five Engineering Sanction Proposals have been approved, while utility shifting work has begun, with 14 of the 29 identified utilities already relocated.Infrastructure development is also progressing steadily. Four of the five planned Electric Interlocking buildings have been completed, signalling and telecommunications work is underway under three sanctioned packages, and contracts for electrical foundations and overhead equipment work have been awarded.Western Railway has adopted a phased execution strategy involving the construction of 15 bridges, nearly 13.3 km of earthwork, new island platforms, foot overbridges, station facilities and track infrastructure. The project also includes the rehabilitation of affected families in Bandra East, construction of new Platforms 7 and 8 at Bandra, modification of foot overbridges, and relocation of railway structures and utilities at Mahim, Lower Parel and Mumbai Central.Officials said modern techniques such as precast segmental construction will be used wherever feasible to speed up work and minimise inconvenience to millions of daily commuters. Once completed, the sixth line is expected to significantly improve operational efficiency and increase capacity on one of India’s busiest railway corridors.

Young professionals are increasingly embracing shared mobility options (Representative image generated using AI)

MUMBAI : India’s intercity travel landscape is witnessing a significant shift as young, working professionals increasingly opt for shared mobility over personal vehicles, according to the IntrCity SmartBus Intercity Mobility Survey 2026 conducted among 13,320 respondents across the country.The survey found that nearly three-fourths (74.3%) of respondents are aged between 18 and 43 years, while 65.9% are salaried professionals, highlighting how the country’s most active travellers are driving the transition towards organised and technology-enabled transport.Shared mobility has moved beyond being merely an economical option to becoming a preferred mode of travel.Nearly half (49.2%) of respondents said all five of their most recent intercity journeys were undertaken using shared transport such as buses and trains.The trend is expected to accelerate, with 76.3% anticipating increased use of shared mobility over the next three years and 63.7% reporting higher usage compared to five years ago.Premium bus travel is emerging as a strong contender against traditional modes of transport.Nearly 70% (69.6%) of respondents said they would prefer a premium shared bus over a personal car, train or flight for a 400-600 km journey if fares were identical.Comfort, convenience, digital accessibility and the ability to avoid the stress of long-distance driving were cited as major factors behind this preference.Technology has become central to the travel experience, with 82.4% describing it as very important.Improved onboard amenities (43%), easier online booking and digital access (42.5%), and reduced driving stress (40.5%) were identified as key drivers of adoption.Safety emerged as the most important consideration for travellers, cited by 43% of respondents, followed by affordability (42.5%) and comfort and cleanliness (40.5%).However, safety also remains the biggest hurdle, with 33% expressing concerns about it.The survey further revealed a growing preference for value over ownership.Although many respondents have access to personal vehicles, 30.4% of car owners said they still prefer not to drive for intercity travel.More than 71% indicated they would be willing to pay more for services that offer better safety, reliability and comfort, underlining a broader shift towards premium shared mobility solutions.

MUMBAI: The BMC’s proposal to replace Mahindra Scorpio-N SUVs with six new Toyota Innova Crysta vehicles for key political office-bearers led to a heated political exchange at Thursday’s Standing Committee meeting, with the opposition questioning the expenditure and the ruling BJP accusing it of going back on a decision that was taken unanimously by all political parties.Congress corporator and BMC party leader Ashraf Azmi objected to the proposed purchase, saying the civic body should avoid spending on expensive vehicles at a time when it is facing financial constraints. He argued that the BMC should focus on financial discipline instead of upgrading official vehicles.The BJP immediately hit back, claiming that the decision to replace the vehicles had been taken unanimously at a meeting attended by leaders of all political parties.BJP group leader Ganesh Khankar said the controversy was unnecessary as there had been consensus among all parties. “The next time such a decision is taken, I will ensure it is signed by all present and in agreement with such decisions before it is approved, so that such controversies do not arise,” he said.Standing Committee chairman Prabhakar Shinde also defended the proposal, saying opposition members were aware of and had agreed to the decision earlier. “It is incorrect to now create an issue over something that was discussed and accepted by all political parties,” he said.The discussion soon turned into a heated exchange, with ruling party members objecting to Azmi raising the issue as the proposal was not listed on the day’s agenda. They demanded that the chairman restrict the discussion to listed business. Azmi, however, maintained that he was highlighting the need for financial discipline in the BMC, which was essential at the present time.The controversy comes a day after the BMC administration proposed spending around ₹1.5 crore to purchase six Toyota Innova Crysta vehicles for the Deputy Mayor, Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition, and chairpersons of the Standing, Improvements and Education Committees.The civic administration said political office-bearers had requested more comfortable vehicles for long commutes across the city and official site inspections. The proposal follows the allotment of Toyota Innova Hycross Hybrid vehicles to Mayor Ritu Tawde and Additional Municipal Commissioners.