QMumbai: HC Blasts BMC Over Fires; Crackdown on Illegal Pandals
All the city news you should read today.
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1. 2017 Kamala Mills Blaze: HC Panel Blasts State, BMC Over Quick Licences
A high court-ordered inquiry into the Kamala Mills blaze has submitted a scathing assessment that faults the state and BMC for gifting licences without adequate scrutiny or concern for public safety, and land and restaurant owners for large-scale violations, recommending across-the-board action.
The committee tore into officials’ defence that speedy licences were issued as part of the government’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ policy, and has, for the first time, suggested criminal action against three officials each from the state industries and excise departments.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Court Seeks Action Against Illegal Ganpati Pandals
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the state government and BMC to detail the steps taken against unauthorised Ganpati pandals across the state. A bench of Justices A S Oka and M S Sonak directed the authorities to inform the court about the action taken by Friday.
The directions came after the court was informed by the government that recent inspection by various municipal corporations across Maharashtra revealed that several pandals have been constructed in violation of civic rules and noise pollution norms.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Milk Adulteration Rackets Busted in Malad, Goregaon
The Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday busted a milk adulteration racket in Malad and Goregaon and arrested four men and two women who were caught stealing and diluting milk.
The raid, conducted in the small hours of Wednesday in a joint operation between the crime branch’s unit 11 and a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) team, took place at a warehouse on Quarry Road in Malad East.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Ganesh Chaturthi: Over 50,000 Police Personnel to Be Deployed During Festivities in Mumbai
More than 50,000 police personnel will be deployed across the city during Ganesh Chaturthi over the next 10 days. In addition to the Ganesh festival, Moharram is between September 11 and 21. Mumbai Police said it had made all arrangements and are confident that the events will pass off without any hitches. Deputy Commissioner of Police Manjunath Singe said that in addition to the over 50,000 personnel of Mumbai Police, the State Reserve Police Force, Rapid Action Force, Force One and Home Guards will also be on duty.
Source: Indian Express
5. 10k Tonnes of Trash Cleared From Juhu Beach Since June
The involvement of citizens in nearly every aspect of the clean-up at Juhu Beach has, if one were to go by the numbers, borne remarkable results. According to BMC data, the civic body has removed 10,000 tonnes of trash from Juhu Beach in the last three months alone. This is more than three times the amount of garbage that was disposed of between June and August last year, and more than the total amount of garbage removed in all of 2017.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. BEST Consumers to Get Cheaper Power
Even as rising fuel prices continue to bother citizens, BEST consumers may heave a sigh of relief as far as their electricity bills are concerned. Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has announced relief of five to seven percentage in tariff for the 10 lakh customers of BEST, which distributes power in island city between Nariman Point and Colaba in the south to Sion and Mahim in the North.
AMERC official said the reduction was possible after BEST reduced its dependence on Tata Power and started purchasing power from the open market at cheaper rates.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. Minor Rape Survivor Moves HC to Abort 24-Week-Old Foetus
A 14-year-old rape survivor on Wednesday approached the Bombay High Court seeking permission to terminate her 24-week pregnancy. The girl, who is also a cancer patient, was raped earlier this year and an FIR was registered in the case, according to the plea.
However, her pregnancy was detected only recently when she went to a local hospital for her chemotherapy session. The girl’s father is a daily wage labourer and her mother works as a domestic help. When they learnt about her pregnancy, they approached an NGO which put them in touch with lawyers and helped file the plea.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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