Mumbai:

Heavy rain overnight pounded large parts of Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), affecting suburban and long-distance trains, roads, and highways. This deluge stranded lakhs of commuters on their way to work on the first working day of the week and led to the closure of schools for the morning session.

In just six hours, several areas in the city recorded a staggering 200 mm to 300 mm of rainfall from 1 am to 7 am, according to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The downpour persisted, with a forecast predicting heavy rain for the next two days.

#WATCH | Waterlogging triggered by heavy rain in King’s Circle area of Mumbai pic.twitter.com/v4ByKwhb3h

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

The city’s residents woke up to waterlogged roads, railway tracks, flooded low-lying areas, water in homes, shops, or offices, blocked subways, and many places rendered inaccessible for commuting.

#WATCH | Pedestrians and vehicles cross heavily waterlogged streets at King’s Circle amid rains in Mumbai

A commuter says, “My car is stuck on the road. There is no point in blaming the government for the rains. The government is doing its job.” pic.twitter.com/2v16Osb8NZ

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

The weather office has predicted light to moderate spell of rainfall over Mumbai today. NDRF teams have been deployed in Thane, Vasai ( Palghar), Mahad (Raigad), Chiplun (Ratnagiri), Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara Ghatkopar, Kurla and Sindhudurg.

NDRF said it has also deployed three regular teams at Andheri and one team at Nagpur to “avert any untoward incident and give an appropriate response in case of any flood-like situation.”

Commuters also encountered delays or cancellations of suburban local trains – Mumbai’s lifeline, which transports over 8.50 million people daily. Huge crowds gathered at almost all railway stations along the Central Railway and Western Railway networks spanning Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad (MMR).

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Heavy rain in Mumbai causes waterlogging.

(Visuals from Dadar area) pic.twitter.com/Drx0FY6wEV

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

Additionally, crucial trains that ferry thousands of commuters on the Mumbai-Gujarat, Mumbai-Pune, and Mumbai-Kolhapur routes faced cancellations, massive delays, or became stranded at stations en route.

Within Mumbai, several subways, including those in Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Kandivali, and Dahisar, were inundated with 3-5 feet of water, halting east-west traffic. Railway tracks were flooded near Kalyan, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Bhandup, Kurla, Sion, and Wadala, further impacting suburban train services.

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Severe waterlogging in different parts of Mumbai, following incessant heavy rainfall. pic.twitter.com/O6VUuYOknr

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

Several housing complexes in Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Sion, Wadala, Kurla, Ghatkopar, and Bhandup experienced severe waterlogging. Scores of vehicles, both big and small, were either stuck or partially to fully submerged in different areas of the city. There were numerous incidents of tree falls and other minor accidents, though no casualties have been reported so far.

Mumbai:

A man driving in an inebriated state hit a woman and on-duty policeman with his SUV on a busy road in Khar, police said on Tuesday.

The police have arrested the accused, Hiten Desai, in connection with the accident that occurred around 7.45 pm on Sunday, an official said.

Hiten Desai, who was drunk at the time of the incident, was driving from Linking Road in Bandra, he said.

The accused first hit a woman who was standing with her husband near their two-wheeler and then proceeded to ram the SUV into an on-duty policeman who tried to stop him, the official said.

Hiten Desai did not stop the vehicle, but locals managed to intercept him after some distance and handed him over to the traffic police, he said.

The accused has been arrested under sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (endangering life), 353 (assault on public servant), 308 (culpable homicide) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicle Act, the official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thane:

A man has been booked on Saturday for allegedly stabbing to death his employer over non-payment of wages of Rs 1,250, a Navi Mumbai police official said.

No one has been arrested in the case, the Kalamboli police station official said.

“On Friday, the accused approached his employer Parevez Ansari and sought his wages of Rs 1,250. However, Ansari said he would pay him by June 20. An argument ensued during which the accused attacked Ansari and and the latter’s friend,” he said.

Probe into the case is underway and no one has been arrested, the official added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Police have arrested a Nigerian national from Nagpada in south Mumbai and recovered from him 200 grams of cocaine worth Rs 80 lakh, an official said on Friday.

The arrest was made by the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police on Thursday, he said.

The police found the Nigerian national moving in a suspicious manner during patrolling. As they asked him to stop, he started running. However, he was later caught.

“During a search, 200 grams of cocaine valued at Rs 80 lakh in the International market was recovered. After verifying his documents, the police found that he was staying here illegally,” he said.

The accused was arrested under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and further investigation was underway, the official added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Bhavesh Bhinde, a businessman whose company was responsible for installing the billboard that collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, was arrested from Rajasthan’s Udaipur last night and was brought to Mumbai this morning where he will be presented in a court. 

Mr Bhinde, the owner of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch after a massive manhunt. 

The catastrophic incident occurred on Monday evening when a 120 feet by 120 feet billboard crashed onto a nearby petrol pump amid gusty winds and unseasonal rains, resulting in the deaths of 16 people and injuries to 75 others. Following the incident, Bhinde fled Mumbai in a car with his driver.

A total of eight teams from the Mumbai Police were dispatched to various locations to locate Bhinde who was finally tracked down in Udaipur Thursday evening, three days after the hoarding collapse. 

According to the police, after going to Lonavala, Bhinde returned to Mumbai the next day. From there, he went to Thane, then to Ahmedabad, and after changing locations several times, he changed his name and hid in a hotel in Udaipur. Joint CP Crime Lakhmi Gautam, overseeing the investigation, dispatched a Mumbai Police Crime Branch team to Udaipur where they tracked him down and took him into custody.

The search and rescue operation at the collapse site concluded at 10 am on Thursday, as confirmed by an official from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The illegal billboard had been installed on land under the possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP).

This incident has highlighted severe lapses in the regulatory oversight of advertising installations in Mumbai, sparking calls for stricter enforcement of safety standards. 

Mumbai:

Fourteen people died and over 70 were injured when a massive billboard collapsed during a fierce storm that battered Mumbai Monday evening.

The 100-foot billboard, situated opposite a fuel station in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai, succumbed to the ferocity of the storm, crashing down with alarming force, directly onto the fuel station below. CCTV footage from the area captured the metal structure tearing through the roofs of several cars before thudding on the ground.

Search and rescue mission is currently in progress. The NDRF has dispatched two teams to assist in collaboration with the Mumbai Fire Brigade and other involved agencies.

Video | Huge Scaffolding Ripped Apart By Dust Storm In Mumbai

The hoarding was erected by Ego Media on a plot which has been leased to the Police Welfare Corporation by the Maharashtra government’s Police Housing Division. There are four hoardings from Ego Media on the premises, one of which collapsed Monday evening. Mumbai Police registered a case against the owner of Ego Media, along with others implicated in the incident.

Although Ego Media was granted permission for all four hoardings, including the one that fell, by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Railways), no authorisation or No Objection Certificate (NOC) was obtained from the BMC before installation. Consequently, the BMC has issued a notice to the Railway Police’s ACP and the Railway Commissioner, demanding the cancellation of all permissions granted by the Railways and the removal of the hoardings.

In Pics | Mumbai Sky Turns Murky After Massive Dust Storm, Rainfall

Mumbai last evening found itself besieged by a sudden and powerful dust storm which enveloped the metropolis in darkness, with residents taking to social media to share accounts of the unfolding chaos.

Transport networks bore the brunt of the storm’s fury, with local trains and airport services grinding to a halt in the face of the storm. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was compelled to suspend flight operations temporarily, citing low visibility and gusty winds as the reasons.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued urgent warnings, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and heavy rain for Mumbai and surrounding areas. 

While the unseasonal rain offered some respite from the sweltering heat, power outages in various districts, including Thane’s Kalwa, added further hardships for residents already grappling with the aftermath of the storm. Uprooted trees and structural damage were also reported from satellite towns such as Thane, Ambernath, Badlapur, Kalyan, and Ulhasnagar.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the site of the collapse and assured that his government would conduct a structural audit of all hoardings in the city.  

“The hoardings, if found illegal and dangerous, would be removed immediately,” he said. “It is a very unfortunate incident. The government will probe it, and the people responsible will face action. I have also asked the BMC commissioner to conduct a structural audit of all the hoardings in the city. Those found illegal and dangerous will be removed.”

The Chief Minister also announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each person killed in the hoarding collapse.

 

Mumbai:

The arrest of a habitual offender who has allegedly committed a string of burglaries in Mumbai has left the police stunned as the investigation suggested that it was his mother who made him consume drugs before he stepped out to commit the crime.

The accused man, identified as Krishna Ravi Maheskar, 24, has more than 22 cases of housebreaking pending against him in various police stations across Mumbai, an official said on Sunday.

“Maheskar is a habitual offender. His mother Vijeta Maheskar (50) played a vital role in all his criminal activities. She used to give him drugs before sending him out to commit housebreaking. She also used to dispose of the stolen property,” said Kalachowki police station sub-inspector Rajendra Chavan.

He said police are yet to arrest Vijeta Maheskar who is on the run.

The mother and son are residents of the Kalachowki area in central Mumbai. Notably, the accused man used to commit burglary a day after he was released on bail in any criminal case.

In the fresh case, Maheskar was arrested from Agripada area, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Six People were killed and 40 injured after a massive fire broke out at a 7-storey building in Mumbai’s Goregaon today.

Out of the six people who were killed in the fire, including one male and five females, two were minors. Of the 40 people who were injured, 12 were males and 28 were females, including one minor.

The injured were taken to two hospitals, HBT Hospital and Cooper Hospital, in Mumbai. 

The fire started around 3 am at Jay Bhavani building in Goregaon West’s Azad nagar locality, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The injured residents were taken to a trauma center in Jogeshwari and Cooper Hospital in Juhu.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

More details are awaited. 

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By the end of December 2023, Mumbai would have an equal number of domestic departures as Delhi which currently has 78 daily domestic departures. File

Notwithstanding the uncertainty over the brand name continuing after its merger with Air India by April 2024, Vistara, the joint venture of Tata Sons & Singapore Airlines (SIA), continues to scale up its operations, mostly from Mumbai. 

The airline’s CEO said more international flights would be operated from Mumbai, which has become Vistara’s sizeable hub, in the coming months as more aircraft join the fleet.

“Mumbai will remain a focus of growth because we have added so much domestic capacity to help grow our international connections,” said CEO Vinod Kannan. “Today, we operate 12 international flights from Mumbai as compared with 7 from Delhi and more international flights will be added from Mumbai in the coming months,” he added.

He said Vistara, which currently has 54 daily domestic departures from Mumbai, will increase the number of departures to 67 from August. By the end of December 2023, Mumbai would have an equal number of domestic departures as Delhi which currently has 78 daily domestic departures. 

Vistara will add 10 more aircraft including three Boeing 787s by March 2024 to take the fleet size to 70 by the time of merger. And most of these aircraft will be deployed in the international sector including Europe, Mr. Kannan said.

Stating that a consultant had been onboarded for the branding part of the combined entity, and no decision had been taken on the future of brand Vistara, he said, “We continue to do what we do best. We will continue to add destinations, aircraft and celebrate the wins.”

“We have not paused or taken a breather. Ultimately, we have to come up to certain level where the combined entity can together move to the next level,”

He said the airline was on track for the merger and various approvals were being received. He said out of the four airlines of the Tata Group, only two Air Operator Certificates (AOC) would be retained, one for the full-service carrier and the other for the low-cost carrier. 

“Whether there would be a sub-brand or there will be a merger of the brands and whether there will be one brand, these are still being discussed,” he said.

“But in the aviation context there are not so many examples of people running sub brands successfully and doing well. So, as much as we love our brand, these things are important,” he added.