Navi Mumbai: After the falling of around a hundred trees in the last 3-4 days with the advent of monsoon, tree-pruning work continued on a war footing on a daily basis through the garden department of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, as dangerous trees were inspected and the removal of such trees remained in progress. The garden department deployed 9 tree-pruning vehicles across 8 wards to carry out pruning work. A total of 7,036 trees were pruned to date and the highest number was recorded in Airoli node with 1,622 trees, followed by Belapur with 1,400. Nerul node recorded 578, Turbhe with 1,159, Vashi 113, Koparkhairane 672, Ghansoli 1,014 and Digha 478 trees.According to the survey conducted by garden assistants from time to time in their respective areas, and based on complaints received through various mediums such as applications from corporators, calls from citizens, WhatsApp messages and the grievances app, many tree branches were pruned in different places.NMMC said that a total of 104 trees that were dry, dead and prima facie dangerous were found in the civic jurisdiction and were removed accordingly in order to avoid further damage to human lives and properties.Due to heavy rains accompanied by stormy winds, even healthy trees were being uprooted, and daily complaints were received from citizens of Navi Mumbai. The garden department coordinated with the fire department and the solid waste department to promptly remove uprooted trees and branches that fell due to strong winds and rains,” said an official.NMMC Commissioner Kailas Shinde appealed to citizens that the risk of trees falling increased during stormy rains, and said citizens should take care for their own safety and the safety of others.NMMC in its advisory said that citizens should not park their vehicles under the trees and not stand under a tree when it is raining. Maintaining a safe distance from weak, leaning trees has to be adhered to. Dangerous trees in the society should be pruned in a timely manner.Citizens have been urged to immediately inform the relevant department office or the Central Disaster Management Department at the Municipal Headquarters on the toll-free numbers 1800222309/1800222310 if a tree fell on the road or if it was found to be dangerous.End.

Orchids International School in Sion was declared illegal last month over lack of OC and govt recognition

Mumbai: A month after being declared unauthorised by the education department, Orchids International School in Sion has resumed physical classes under a new name—The Institute of Learning and Education—leaving more than 400 students caught in a legal and bureaucratic tussle between the school management and govt.While the management had earlier assured parents that physical classes would resume by July 1 after approvals were secured, the campus has instead reopened under the banner of what parents say is a “learning centre” or coaching institute. Students are attending classes without school uniforms and are going to be issued fresh identity cards carrying the new name.A parent told TOI: “I am desperate and don’t know what to do. The academic year has already begun and changing schools now is nearly impossible. My biggest worry is examinations. A coaching centre cannot conduct recognised school examinations. My child’s academic year should not be wasted.”The school, which caters to students from nursery to Class 10, had been declared unauthorised after the education inspector (north) pasted a notice outside the campus in June stating that it had no mandatory occupation certificate (OC) and govt recognition and urged parents not to enrol their children in it. Under Section 18 of Right to Education Act, 2009, schools cannot operate without recognition and are liable to an initial penalty of Rs 1 lakh, followed by a daily fine of Rs 10,000 if they continue functioning.Deputy director of education (Mumbai zone) Rajesh Kankal said the school’s proposal for recognition is progressing through the approval process. “The documents for the school’s recognition have been passed along further,” he said. After the notice had triggered alarm among parents just days before the start of the academic session, he had said the school had managed to secure an OC in the interim.Kankal, however, refused to comment on whether the institution can conduct regular school classes while recognition remains pending.Rahul Gharte, the school’s operations manager, maintained that the institution is in the final stages of obtaining approvals. “We are waiting for the final approvals from the state and are in the very last stage,” he said. Despite multiple attempts from TOI, there was no response from Gharte on the legality of the management’s new move.The school had earlier claimed that changes in recognition norms required it to first obtain a no-objection certificate from the fire department, undertake structural modifications to the building and then secure the OC before reapplying for recognition.

Mumbai: Even as seven officials have been suspended and inquiries have been instituted by the BMC administration following two recent rain-related tragedies, information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act reveals that as of April 30, 2026, as many as 537 departmental inquiries involving 1,523 officials and employees are currently pending. Of these, 189 inquiries are pending with the Enquiry Office itself. The data further shows that 234 employees are currently under suspension, including 150 suspended in connection with criminal cases and 84 linked to bribery and anti-corruption cases.Activists alleged that although the data reflects pending inquiries only for the past six months, many of them remain unresolved for years, with some officers eventually retiring before the proceedings are concluded. They pointed out that while an inquiry is pending, the delinquent employee continues to receive 50% of the last-drawn salary, which can increase to 75% after three months. Also, employees of the BMC cannot be transferred to other civic bodies or to other departments of the state govt, except IAS officials.Civic officials maintained that these inquiries against suspended staff are ongoing rather than pending, as employees must be given a fair opportunity to present their case and the proceedings have to be completed strictly in accordance with the rules.Activist Jeetendra Ghadge, who obtained the information, said that while the prompt suspension of officials has been projected as evidence of accountability, the BMC initially refused to provide information regarding departmental inquiries in 2021. Subsequently, in 2025, the Maharashtra State Information Commission directed the BMC to disclose the details, leading to the release of the latest report as of April 30.According to the data, 182 inquiries have been pending for up to one month, 98 for between two and six months, and 257 for more than six months. Only 15 inquiries were disposed of during April 2026, Ghadge pointed out.“Though the data shows pending inquiry figures only for the past six months, many of these inquiries could actually have been pending for years. The inquiries are left unresolved, and eventually the officials even retire. In most cases, the officials are let off with a very minor punishment or given a complete clean chit. Furthermore, despite the information commission’s orders, the BMC has refused to provide information on the number of officials who have been dismissed from service,” said Ghadge.“Whatever may be the allegations, the delinquent employee has to be given a fair opportunity to represent his case. There could be instances where the employee is sick or is engaged in election duty. Besides, an extension may have been granted for the inquiry. We submit a monthly report on the status of the inquiries to the municipal commissioner,” said a civic official handling inquiries.

The wet spell continued on Friday with over 100mm rainfall lashing many parts of Mumbai

Mumbai: Even as the wet spell continued on Friday with over 100mm rainfall lashing many parts of the city, India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounded this monsoon’s first ‘red’ alert warning for the weekend across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated locations.The alert comes amid an active monsoon system that is expected to keep rainfall intensity high, starting Saturday. For Monday, an ‘orange’ alert has been issued, indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places, while from Tuesday, a ‘yellow’ alert is in place, indicating the rain spell is expected to ease.A holiday has been declared for schools in Palghar and Thane districts, including Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli, for Saturday. Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has declared a holiday for colleges too.IMD officials said the current heavy rainfall spell is being driven by multiple weather systems, including an offshore trough extending along the Maharashtra-Karnataka coast, a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal that is likely to intensify over the next two days, and a shear zone over central India. “Under the influence of these systems, IMD has forecast widespread rainfall across Maharashtra till July 7. Konkan, including Mumbai and adjoining ghat areas, is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, with isolated places expected to witness extremely heavy showers,” it said.In the 24-hour period ending Friday 8.30am, IMD’s Colaba observatory recorded 111.8mm rainfall and IMD’s Santacruz observatory 101mm. Between Friday 8.30am and 8.30pm, Colaba logged 56mm rainfall and Santacruz 62.4mm. According to rainfall data from the automatic weather stations across the city, the highest downpour was recorded at Ram Mandir (138.5mm), placing it in the ‘very heavy rainfall category’ as per the IMD rainfall classification.Meanwhile, water stocks in the lakes supplying to Mumbai rose to nearly 1.3 lakh million litres or 8.9% of the total required quantum of 14.47 lakh million litres from 1.2 lakh million litres or 8.1% a day earlier. On July 3, 2025, the total water stock had touched nearly 6.3 lakh million litres or 43.5%.

Mumbai: In what is believed to be the first instance of the Mumbai University penalising an autonomous college for allegedly inflating students’ marks, it has imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on SM Shetty College in Powai. The decision against the college for not complying with rules for moderating scores was taken in the management council meeting held this week.The action has raised concerns about the integrity of the college’s evaluation methods. The issue came to light last year when two teachers allegedly refused to sign a document revising the marks of second-year B Com students to help them pass.Earlier this year, in a related move, the university decided to conduct an audit of the examination processes at all autonomous colleges and introduced additional compliance requirements for approving new courses. The decision came after increasing concerns over governance and assessment practices in autonomous institutions came to the fore.In the SM Shetty case, the two teachers, Vijay Vishwakarma and Virendra Kumar Singh, who have been in service at the college for some years, were allegedly asked to change marks of students from 25, 26, 27 and so on to 40, which is the minimum required to clear the exams.In a legal notice to the university, the teachers mentioned that marks of over 35 students were changed in this fashion. They refused to sign after the marks were tampered, it added. Later, one of the teachers agreed to sign under pressure, but took a photograph of the altered marks. This happened in April 2025. The notice mentioned that the college had set a target for the number of students to be promoted to the next academic year, irrespective of their performance. TOI has a copy of the notice.After filing a complaint with the university in May last year, the teachers even moved the Bombay High Court in Feb this year seeking action against college authorities for ‘indulging in fabrication of marks to promote failing students and forging students’ marksheets’. The petitioners also sought withdrawal of the college’s autonomous status for not following university examination rules regulations. They also asked for the university’s inquiry report. The matter is pending in court.A university source confirmed the imposition of fine by the management council, adding that further action against the college will be discussed in the next meeting. When TOI reached out to the college authorities, they said that they have not received any communication from the university, but did not comment on the allegation.