Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state government to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s assistant commissioner of G ward, Airoli, who suffered a miscarriage after she was allegedly manhandled by a mob during a July 30 demolition drive.Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata, while awarding her compensation, observed that “the mental agony and physical suffering caused to the officer cannot be ignored.” They rapped the police who remained “mute spectators” and failed to protect her and other officials. They directed the DGP to “take stern necessary legal action against all personnel who were present and have failed to perform their duty”. They also directed compensation amount to be recovered from their salaries.The court was hearing a contempt petition by advocate Kishore Shetty regarding non-compliance of HC’s March 27, 2025 order to within four months conduct a survey to identify illegal constructions and hear its owners/occupants before undertaking demolition.On Tuesday, NMMC’s advocate informed that there was obstruction by a large mob during the July 30 demolition. He submitted the FIR registered regarding assault and manhandling of officers. He also informed that the ward officer later suffered a miscarriage. To the judges’ query regarding police, the advocate replied that police protection was sought and they were present at the site.The judges then questioned the state’s advocate, O A Chandurkar, what the police were doing. They asked Chandurkar to go through videos of the incident and identify the policemen, their role and also inform about the action taken against the accused.On Wednesday, Chandurkar said only commotion is seen in the videos. He said notices have been issued to the accused named in the FIR. When told that the notices were issued on Tuesday, the judges rebuked the state for “doing nothing” and issuing notices only after being questioned by the HC.In the order, the HC bench observed: “We are at a loss to accept that in the progressive state of Maharashtra in broad daylight public servants are assaulted by anti-social elements of society in the presence of police personnel deputed to give them protection. It cannot be permitted that public servants are assaulted, intimidated and coerced by anti-social elements while performing duty.”NMMC’s advocate Sugandh Deshmukh informed that another staffer, who was also manhandled, is receiving threats of dire consequences. The judges directed the police to provide him free of cost round-the-clock protection until the threat “subsides”.

Mumbai: The 12-storey Vile Parle building where a 23-year-old domestic help and a developer’s two-year-old grandson died in a fire in a flat late on Tuesday did not have a fully automated firefighting system and only two people knew how to operate it, shows an initial probe.Fire brigade officials said the sprinklers installed outside the 11th floor flat of Shanta Bhuvan where the fire broke out failed to get activated. “The firefighting system could not generate enough power on its own and was kept in manual mode. Had the sprinklers turned on, they could have helped control the spread of the fire. The security guards, too, did not know how to operate the system,” said an official. BMC additional commissioner Vipin Sharma said only two members of the family of developer Hiren Batavia, who constructed the building and lived in the affected flat, knew how to operate the system. It wasn’t clear who these two members were.The building received its occupancy certificate in 2020.The help, Ankita Chhetri (23), and the toddler, Abir Siddharth Batavia, were found unconscious in one of the bathrooms attached to a bedroom and later declared dead. “Once the fire flared up, Chhetri moved to one of the bedrooms, where the toddler was. When the fire intensified, she took the toddler in her arms and moved to the bathroom,” said an official. Officials believe that both could have survived had Chhetri opened the sliding windows of the bedroom. Six others, including a fire personnel, sustained injuries. Around 15 occupants were rescued from the building.Hiren (64) managed to escape with his granddaughter as the fire began to spread. He raised an alarm while getting out and alerted occupants of nearby flats. The fire later spread to an adjacent flat. Abir’s parents were out on a stroll when the tragedy occurred.Parth Batavia (32), another son of Hiren, was in the bathroom of another bedroom. He failed to hear his father’s screams and realised there was a fire only after he came out of the bathroom, said a fire official. “He placed himself almost outside the large sliding glass window and near the safety grille and was able to get fresh air. Besides, he also tied a handkerchief over his face. He kept speaking to his relatives on the phone during the period. Subsequently, fire brigade personnel rescued him.”The fire brigade is yet to confirm the cause of the fire, but the family claimed that Chhetri left a hot iron unattended on a table in the hall. Officials said the fire could have originated elsewhere, possibly in an AC unit.After finding Chhetri and Abir, fire brigade personnel, led by station officers A S Khanolkar and RS Pawade, performed CPR on them. “We administered CPR continuously for about 15 minutes till they were shifted to the hospital,” said an official.

Mumbai: Viket alias Rahul Yadav (27), one of the deceased in the Ghatkopar landslide tragedy, would have turned a year older on Wednesday, but it ended up being the last day of his life. Viket was among the eldest of his three siblings.His mother Chhaya, a homemaker, said, “His brothers had brought him gifts for his birthday. Late on Tuesday, he went into one of the rooms to bring in his birthday with his friends. He stepped out of the room briefly as he was unable to get internet connection inside and that was exactly when the incident took place with the large boulders coming down and crashing on him.” His younger brothers, Rohit (24) and Yogesh (21), were at Rajawadi hospital making arrangements for their brother’s funeral amid a stream of tears.“I can’t believe my brother is no more. We had plans to celebrate his birthday and today we are coming together for something we would have never expected,” said Rohit. His cousin, Shubam Bansode, said Rahul’s father had passed away when they were children and since then their mother had raised them. Rahul did odd jobs to financially support his mother.Residents of Ashok Nagar said the locality is more than five decades old and has witnessed landslides in the past as well. However, Wednesday’s incident was the first time that the area had seen a tragedy of such magnitude, leaving residents shaken and raising fresh concerns over the safety of families living along the vulnerable hillside.Adam Shaikh, a resident, said locals had been demanding a protective wall around the hillock as rocks frequently fell from it. “We had been telling the authorities to erect a wall around the hillock as pieces of rock keep falling. A tree had grown on the rocks and when it fell, it brought down a huge portion of the rocks, which appears to have triggered Wednesday’s accident,” he said.BMC has made arrangements for temporary accommodation of affected residents at the municipal Hindi School in Kajupada and Mohili School on Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road. Additional municipal commissioner Avinash Dhakane said that it was impossible to take any kind of machinery into the disaster site and therefore all operations, whether rescue or clearing the huge debris, had to be done manually.

Mumbai: Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has decided to fast-track the procurement of 238 AC local train rakes by getting them manufactured simultaneously at three existing Indian Railways production units, instead of pursuing a tender route that could have delayed deliveries by several years.The Rs 21,646-crore tender, floated in Sept 2025 under Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-3 and MUTP-3A, also covered associated maintenance facilities. Of the 238, 47 rakes were planned under MUTP-3 and 191 under MUTP-3A.Under the original plan, the 47 MUTP-3 AC locals were expected to start arriving in 2021-22 and the 191 under MUTP-3A from 2023-24. But repeated delays in finalising the tender pushed the programme further off schedule. Prospective bidders indicated that they would require about three years to commence series production as they would have to first establish manufacturing facilities, making the first set of deliveries likely possible only by 2033-34.On social media, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “…The previous procurement model was facing major hurdles, stretching the timeline… That is unacceptable to us. We have now decided to alter the approach…”The tendering process has now been dropped, with MRVC opting to use existing railway manufacturing facilities to accelerate production. The 238 rakes will be manufactured simultaneously at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai; Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala; and Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli.The parallel manufacturing strategy is expected to bring forward the delivery schedule substantially, with the first AC rake targeted for 2027 and the entire fleet expected to be received by 2030.The decision comes as Mumbai’s suburban railway network undergoes a major capacity expansion. Around Rs 22,000 crore is being invested in projects involving new corridors, additional railway lines, extension of platforms to accommodate 15-coach trains and yard remodelling. Several capacity augmentation works under MUTP-2 and MUTP-3 are expected to be completed by 2029.MRVC CMD Vilas Wadekar said the revised approach was aimed at aligning the induction of AC rakes with the commissioning of new corridors, additional lines and other capacity augmentation works. “Mumbai local is not merely a mode of transport; it is the lifeline of Mumbai and an integral part of the city’s everyday life,” Wadekar said.

Mumbai: Four Domino’s outlets across the state, including three in Mumbai, had their food licences suspended on Wednesday as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began inspections of chain outlets.A total of 104 checks were carried out at prominent food chains, and outlets such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Burger King, and Monginis were inspected. Of these, two received a ‘stop business’ notice, served when a food establishment is operating without a valid licence. A total of 95 outlets were served improvement notices, and five food business licences were suspended.In Mumbai, inspectors suspended the licences of three Domino’s branches located in Vile Parle West, Borivli West, and Ghatkopar’s R-City Mall. These outlets had severe lapses, such as active pest infestations, dirty kitchen floors and backdoors, lack of proper temperature monitoring for frozen foods, and missing records for water testing and employee hygiene facilities.A Karad outlet operated by Sapphire Foods India Ltd, which operates KFC and Taco Bell, also had its licence suspended. Along with Domino’s Malkapur unit in Satara district, these branches faced action for poor compliance and hygiene issues, as well as for keeping condiments like sauces, chili flakes, and oregano with missing expiry dates.The statewide drive also included the inspection of 120 hotels, restaurants, and dhabas, resulting in 54 improvement notices and 11 additional licence suspensions. The licences of two dhabas in Bhandup — Gulsan Da Punjabi Dhaba and Mumbai Metro Dhaba — were suspended over severe hygiene violations as well as foul water, inadequate ventilation, and lack of pest control.Authorities additionally seized stocks of substandard milk and dairy products, loose edible oils, and banned items like gutka and pan masala.