Bhushan Gagrani replaces Iqbal Singh Chahal as BMC Commissioner
On Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked the Maharashtra Chief Secretary to immediately transfer the Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Iqbal Singh Chahal. Besides this, it also asked for the transfer of all Additional Municipal Commissioners and Deputy Municipal Commissioners, who have been in their current posting for over three years and are posted in their home district in Maharashtra.
On Wednesday, the ECI cleared the appointment of IAS officer of the 1990 batch, Bhushan Gagrani for the post of BMC Commissioner. Abhijit Bangar also replaced P Velrasu as Additional Commissioner (projects), and Amit Saini took over from Ashwini Bhide as Additional Commissioner.
Iqbal Singh Chahal has been the administrator in charge for the longest time in the history of the civic body, as municipal elections have not taken place.
Source: The Indian Express, Hindustan Times
Two children drown in a tank in Wadala
Ankush Wagre 5, and Arjun Wagre, 4 drowned in an open water tank at Maharshi Karve Garden at Wadala. They had gone to play in the garden when the incident occurred. The boys went missing on Sunday. The Matunga police were informed about this on the same day.
Their bodies were found on Monday morning in the tank. They were taken to the hospital immediately where they were declared dead before admission. A senior police officer said that the lid of the tank was missing, and it was covered with a thin sheet of plastic, causing the children to fall.
Source: The Indian Express
Read more: Explainer: When can you sue your municipal body for accidents due to potholes?
Signal failure causes delays on WR
On Tuesday, a signal failure between Vasai and Virar,. resulted in chaos. A signalling cable was damaged due to construction work between Vasai Road and Virar railway stations. This led to disruption of train services on both slow and fast train routes during the peak rush hour. Overcrowding was also reported at some stations.
Work is being carried out for the quadrupling of the Virar-Dahanu suburban network. The signalling cable was damaged by the contractor who has been assigned this work by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC).
Source: The Times of India, Free Press Journal
New scheme solves water problems of Vasai-Virar
The Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme (SRWSS), the development of which was started in 2016 has enabled the residents of Virar and Vasai to avail of continuous water supply.
Earlier, the water supply was available only for a few hours a day or worse, once in eight days. The first phase of the SRWSS has benefited Virar and Vasai, and the completion of the second phase will solve the water problems of Mira Road and Bhayandar.
The SRWSS is a project initiated by the MMRDA. Under this, a water treatment plant has been built to provide treated water to the citizens of Mira-Bhayander and Vasai-Virar municipal corporations, and 44 villages in and around Palghar district. The scheme is expected to arrange 403 million litres of water per day.
Source: Hindustan Times
Mumbai’s new Coastal Road gets 20,000 vehicles a day
After the initial enthusiasm and curiosity of trying the new Coastal Road, traffic has regularised. The new road, which is open from Nariman Point till Worli, is getting an average of 20,000 vehicles per day since its opening on March 12.
“As the days passed, the number of joyrides reduced. As per our estimation, regular traffic flow has started now. Once the Worli and Haji Ali interchanges open and the Coastal Road connects with the sea link, many more motorists will opt for the route,” Mid-day quoted an official from BMC’s Coastal Road department as saying.
Source: Mid-day
(Compiled by Shruti Gokarn.)