Another key point in the policy was Regional Transport Authority (RTA) fixing a base fare per km per student. The fees decided by school bus operators cannot exceed or fall below the RTA fare by more than 10% and this will keep in check any arbitrary fare hikes

Mumbai: School bus operators on Sunday opposed the mandatory seat belts and panic buttons under Maharashtra’s newly notified School Bus Policy, citing practical challenges in implementation.At the same time, parents have voiced concerns about older buses remaining on the roads, with the new rule extending the permissible lifespan of school buses from 15 to 20 years, saying this could compromise bus and student safety. Mumbai, which is in BMC limits, however, has a rule of strictly phasing out school buses after eight years as per court orders. The 20-year rule applies to districts such as Thane and Navi Mumbai.Another key point in the policy was the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) fixing a base fare per km per student. The fees decided by bus operators cannot exceed or fall below the RTA fare by more than 10% and this will keep in check any arbitrary fare hikes.On mandatory seat belts, the School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) said it is difficult to design seat belt systems suitable for all age groups. Ramesh Manian of SBOA pointed out that existing regulations permit four children below the age of 12 to occupy seats designed for three adults and three children on seats meant for two adults. “Seat belts designed for adults cannot practically accommodate children ranging from pre-primary to Class X. A belt suitable for a class V student may not be safe for a preschool child or comfortable for an older student,” he said.SBOA president Anil Garg echoed the concerns, saying school buses carry students of widely varying ages and sizes. “Besides, students may misuse seat belts, play with them or get into fights using the belts, which could cause injuries.”Operators have also expressed reservations about the mandatory installation of panic buttons. Manian said authorities should first ensure adequate infrastructure, monitoring systems and response mechanisms (from police) for a panic switch before enforcing the provision. He noted that most school buses already have GPS tracking systems costing between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000, allowing parents to track vehicles in real-time.School bus operator Radhakrishnan Nair warned that panic buttons could trigger frequent false alarms if accidentally pressed by children. “Before introducing new rules, authorities should address blatant violations already visible on the roads, including overcrowded vans carrying as many as 18 children,” he said.On the bus lifespan being extended from 15 to 20 years outside Mumbai, Pratima Dey, a parent from Thane, said that older buses could be in bad condition and unsafe for students. “Who will guarantee that the buses are properly maintained after 15 years,” she asked.Bus operators, however, backed the government decision. Garg said school buses undergo rigorous fitness checks. “Most buses cover only around 3.5 lakh kilometres in 15 years against an engine life of nearly five lakh kilometres. Annual fitness tests are mandatory and even minor defects are not overlooked by RTO authorities,” he added.Maharashtra’s School Bus Policy# Fare Regulation: Regional Transport Authority will fix a base fare per km per student# Digital Safety Monitoring System: GPS tracking, CCTV cameras, integration with the state’s monitoring platform, parents to receive live bus location and CCTV access through certified apps# 30-Day CCTV Footage Storage: Schools must preserve CCTV recordings for at least 30 days; footage to be provided to transport, education, or police authorities when required# Seat Belts & Panic Buttons: Seat belts for all seats, vehicle location tracking device, panic button, fire detection and alarm system or approved fire-safety equipment# Digital Attendance System: Daily digital records of every student’s boarding time and de-boarding time# Additional Safety: Lady attendant or a designated staff member on board# Children With Disabilities: Mandatory accessibility features, trained attendants for children with special needs# School Transport Committees Get More Powers: Verify whether operators charge RTA-approved fares; address complaints regarding safety, fares and service quality; submit quarterly compliance reports to District School Bus Safety Committees# Mandatory Staff Verification: Drivers, attendants and transport staff can be appointed only after background verification and medical fitness certification; records must be maintained and made available for inspection by transport authorities and police# School Bus Lifespan Extended: Maximum permissible age of buses increased from 15 to 20 years

Mumbai: In a massive shot in the arm for soccer aficionados and the nightlife industry across Maharashtra, the state govt on Sunday cleared a special extension allowing hotels, restaurants and eateries to remain open until 4 AM on Monday. The late-night relaxation was specifically aimed at facilitating public screenings of the high-octane FIFA World Cup 2026 final showdown between European champions Spain and defending global champions Argentina.The notification, issued on July 19 by the State Home Department under Section 33 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, came in response to an urgent appeal made by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Mumbai. With the final kicking off late in the night according to Indian Standard Time (IST), the directive ensures Mumbaikars can experience the global football spectacle on the big screen without the dampener of early closing hours. HRAWI, a body representing premium restaurants, bars and hotels, too, made the demand.However, the late-night permission came anchored with stringent legal and security guardrails. Joint Secretary (Home) Mugdha N. Dhuri clarified in the official order that the extension applies strictly to indoor establishments operating within closed structures or buildings. Open-air rooftops, lawns and outdoor dining decks will not be permitted to stream or operate beyond standard deadlines, the home dept circular stated.To prevent any post-match rowdyism or security lapses, the home department has put the onus completely on the hospitality sector. “Establishment owners must deploy a substantial number of private security guards both inside and outside the venue premises,” the order stated, warning that licensees will face direct prosecution and strict legal liability if any untoward incident or crime triggers a law-and-order situation.Crucially for residential neighbourhoods, the state refused to relax noise pollution norms. Eateries using heavy sound systems or loudspeakers must operate strictly within the permissible decibel limits regulated by the Supreme Court and High Court guidelines, the circular stated.Furthermore, the govt gave absolute veto power to local law enforcement. Local police commissioners and district administrations retained the statutory right to deny or immediately revoke this timing relaxation to any specific establishment if they sense a threat to public peace. Top sources confirmed that the Director General of Police (DGP) already ordered “extremely tight security deployments” across key entertainment hubs in Mumbai, Thane and Pune to ensure the night passes smoothly.Local football fan clubs and restaurant operators welcomed the move with open arms. “The World Cup final happens once in four years, and this time it’s the ultimate dream match. Getting to watch it legally with fellow fans until 4 AM with food and beverages available is the best news we could have hoped for,” said a representative of a prominent Mumbai-based fan club.

Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre being produced in court after his surrender

Kalyan: A day after Bombay HC suo motu stayed the bail granted to him by a local court over the recent attack on doctors and nurses of a Dombivli civic hospital, Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre surrendered before police on Sunday. A Kalyan court remanded him in judicial custody till Aug 3.Meanwhile, police arrested Sadhana Karande, one of the alleged attackers and mother of the pregnant woman whose purported delayed treatment had triggered the violence. She was sent to police custody for a day.After the court proceedings, Mhatre’s advocate Ganesh Patil told reporters, “Bombay HC has only stayed the bail granted to my client. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on July 22, when we will place our arguments before HC.”While staying the bail given by the Kalyan judicial magistrate first class court and directing Mhatre to surrender before police by 5pm on Sunday, HC had said on Saturday that it was “disturbed” on reading the news about the alleged assault. It had said the magistrate “did not even notice” that Mhatre had not been interrogated after his first statement was recorded. “Even though he (Mhatre) was acquitted in 17 cases, the court ought to have considered the fact that he was named in 18 cases, some of which were of very serious and heinous nature,” the bench led by acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad had said. HC had warned of coercive action, including attachment of his properties, if he failed to surrender.After being remanded into judicial custody, Mhatre was sent to Adharwadi jail in Kalyan.Meanwhile, deputy CM Eknath Shinde said in Pandharpur that neither he nor his party would ever condone any attack on the medical fraternity.Mahendra Baviskar, father of Dr Shrushti Baviskar who was among those assaulted at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar Hospital, welcomed HC’s intervention. “The order has reaffirmed that the rule of law prevails in the country. After the accused was granted bail, there was widespread disappointment among doctors. Healthcare professionals should be able to work in an environment free of fear and that has always been our stand,” he said.On July 6, Priyanka Ugmale (33) was admitted to the hospital in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Doctors found that the umbilical cord had looped itself twice around the foetus and decided to perform a C-section. But since the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was full, the medical team began contacting other hospitals to secure a NICU bed before proceeding with the surgery. The family called Mhatre and his supporters, alleging undue delay in treatment, following which the staffers were attacked. The assault had triggered statewide protests by the medical fraternity, with doctors in Kalyan-Dombivli suspending non-emergency services for two days. The strike was called off only after Mhatre’s arrest and civic chief Abhinav Goel’s assurances of enhanced security.

Kalyan: The purported kidnapping of a six-month-old infant from outside Kalyan railway station turned out to be a fabricated story after a police investigation revealed that the child’s mother had left the baby with her parents in Varanasi before arriving in Kalyan.The woman, identified as Roshani Suraj Sahoo, a resident of Vapi in Gujarat, had approached the Mahatma Phule police claiming that her six-month-old son, Aryan, was abducted. At the same time, she was asleep beneath the skywalk outside Kalyan railway station in the early hours of July 14.Given the seriousness of the complaint, police launched a large-scale search operation, scrutinising CCTV footage from Kalyan railway station and surrounding areas. However, investigators soon found inconsistencies in her story.Initially, Roshani told police that she had travelled from Vapi to Kalyan after a quarrel with her husband and that the baby was kidnapped while she slept outside the station. But CCTV footage failed to show her arriving on any train from Vapi.Police then expanded the investigation and examined footage from trains arriving from other destinations. They found Roshani alighting from the Mahanagari Express from Varanasi. She was also not seen carrying a baby. CCTV footage from other locations also showed only a shoulder bag and no infant with her.“Her statements kept changing during questioning, which raised suspicion. Since the complaint involved a missing infant, we first verified the CCTV footage before confronting her. During sustained interrogation, she admitted that the kidnapping story was false,” said Ashok Honmane, ACP, Kalyan Division.Further questioning revealed that Roshani had left Aryan with her parents in Varanasi before travelling to Kalyan. Police said she allegedly fabricated the kidnapping story because she did not wish to continue living with her husband.According to investigators, Roshani had earlier been married and has another child from her first marriage, who is also living with her parents. Police said she had similarly left Aryan with her parents after her second marriage.A team from Mahatma Phule police travelled to Varanasi, completed the necessary legal formalities and took custody of the child. Senior Inspector Baliram Singh Pardeshi of Mahatma Phule police station said the team is returning to Kalyan with the woman and the infant.Police are continuing their investigation and are examining whether legal action should be initiated against the woman for allegedly lodging a false kidnapping complaint.

No one was injured in the footpath cave-in at Bhandup on Sunday morning

Mumbai: A parked two-wheelers fell into a drain after a portion of a footpath caved in on Village Road near the police chowky in Bhandup (W) on Sunday morning. No one was injured in the incident.The collapsed stretch is 3-4m long, said BMC’s S ward officials, who barricaded the area and recovered the two vehicles.“There is an old major nullah flowing beneath the footpath, which is to be reconstructed. A proposal has been submitted and the tender process is underway,” a ward official said. “We will immediately restore the footpath, carry out a safety audit, and reconstruct the footpath and the nullah.”Former corporator Suresh Koparkar of Congress, whose wife Asha Koparkar is the incumbent local corporator, pointed out that a large number of pedestrians use the footpath which is about 15ft wide. “Fortunately, there were no casualties. Had the incident occurred later in the day, many people could have fallen into the nullah.”Koparkar added: “The nullah was constructed about 17-18 years ago and no work has been carried out since then. I have been pursuing the BMC administration for the last several years to conduct a structural audit of the nullah and replace the footpath tiles…The central agencies have done no work here.”Following the incident, which took place around 4.15am, BMC asked shopkeepers adjoining the nullah to shut their establishments as a precautionary measure. Koparkar said: “I have sought financial assistance from the civic body for the seven shopkeepers, which include medical, hotels and grocery shops, who have been asked to shut their shops. The BMC has to carry out the restoration work on a war footing.”Meanwhile, on Saturday, a 55-year-old man sustained minor injuries after a portion of the ceiling plaster of a first-floor flat in a ground-plus-four-storey Mhada building in Kalachowkie collapsed. The incident occurred in Building No. 42, opposite Shaheed Bhagat Singh Maidan on Veer Vikrant Hadkar Marg in Abhyudaya Nagar. The injured, Raes Ali (55), was treated at a private hospital and discharged, said officials.

Navi Mumbai: A group of 13 trekkers from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai who had lost their way and were stuck en-route to Machi Prabalgad fort on Saturday were rescued overnight.The young trekkers are employees of the information technology sector conglomerate TCS – Thane. The group had started scaling up without a guide earlier in the morning to Irshalgad but lost their path in the evening. An NGO, Nisarg Mitra, with the Panvel Taluka police brought them back to Panvel.According to one of the rescuers of the NGO, Sachin Shinde, the group had first successfully trekked the Irshalgad fort via Irshalwadi in Khalapur taluka by 1 pm. Seeing the tower of the Machi Prabalgad fort nearby, they inquired with a local about the pathway and moved forward. However, uprooted trees, fog, rain, among others led to their losing the pathway.After losing the trek path, they sought police help by calling the helpline number 112 at around 5 pm. The Panvel Taluka police outpost personnel and Nisarg Mitra left for their rescue.A Panvel Taluka police station sub-inspector said, “The group found themselves in grave danger due to the onset of darkness, near absence of mobile network, deep valleys, slippery rock surfaces and perilous paths. Navigating through the dense forest was a major challenge during the night. At several points a single misstep carried the risk of plunging into deep gorges.”The operation was conducted with the help of locals Navnath Pardhi, Harischandra Pardhi, Nathuram Pardhi, three police officials, seven constables, Nisarg Mitra volunteers and assistance from Help Foundation-Khopoli.Shinde added, “The group did not have rain coats, torches, among other kits including proper shoes. They were brought to the Panvel Taluka police station. The entire operation was completed at around 1.30 am on Sunday. They were brought back via Thakurwadi-Vardoli to Panvel.”Declining to reveal any detail, one of the trekkers, Aditya Vichare said, “We have safely reached the nearest tribal hamlet.” Another trekker, Rohit Kumar didn’t comment when contacted.