Mumbai: In a renewed push to revive Mumbai’s long-struggling monorail system, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL), a wing of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is preparing to appoint a single private operator for its operation and maintenance through a five-year contract.

The 19.54-km monorail corridor connecting Chembur to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk (Jacob Circle) has faced technical setbacks and service disruptions since its commercial debut on February 2, 2014. These challenges worsened after MMRDA terminated its contract with the original consortium, Scomi Engineering and Larsen & Toubro, in December 2018 due to poor performance.

Several Issues With Monorail Operations

Since then, the monorail has been running under short-term annual contracts with different private operators, resulting in coordination gaps and accountability issues. “Whenever a delay or breakdown occurs, there’s confusion over responsibility,” said an MMMOCL official, The new single-operator model aims to resolve this by ensuring end-to-end responsibility for operations and maintenance.

Despite the induction of new rakes, service reliability remains low. According to the report, on July 28, only one train ran the entire route, even though eight older rakes and seven newly procured ones were available. An eighth new rake is expected this month, with two more likely to arrive by November. These trains, supplied by Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives, are yet to receive full safety clearances for passenger service.

To boost efficiency, MMMOCL has floated a Rs 300 crore tender covering the entire system, 17 stations and the Wadala depot. The new contract excludes joint ventures, restricting eligibility to single bidders only.

Under its 2024 revival plan, MMMOCL aims to deploy 12 trains daily, eight refurbished and ten new ones, with two trains kept on standby and four reserved for scheduled maintenance. Originally, Scomi was supposed to supply 15 rakes, but only 10 were delivered before the agreement collapsed.

What’s The Current Status?

Currently, the monorail is scheduled to run 142 services per weekday, with each train covering around 350 km between 5:48 am and 11:00 pm. However, due to frequent technical snags and limited operational rakes, these targets are often unmet. Officials hope the new long-term operator model will bring stability, accountability and much-needed reliability to Mumbai’s first and only monorail corridor.

Mumbai: In a major update to the Rs 434-crore inter-state drug bust, Mumbai’s Sakinaka Police have uncovered the modus operandi of the gangs involved, a unique ‘shirt photo’ code used to smuggle mephedrone (MD) between cities.

Quoting police, two separate gangs worked in tandem to shift the contraband from a drug manufacturing unit in Karnataka’s Mysuru to Mumbai. One gang would deliver the consignment to Bengaluru.

The other, unconnected directly, would pick it up using a WhatsApp image of a shirt as a covert identification signal. This photograph-based code was used to avoid verbal communication and detection. The drugs were then transported to Mumbai via road routes.

This new revelation comes days after a godown was raided in Powai on July 30, where police seized 21.9 kg of MD and chemicals worth Rs 44 crore from Shop No. 9, Prathmesh Galaxy, near Hiranandani in Powai. The accused had disguised the facility as a colour distribution unit on the ground floor of a residential building.

“We were able to trace the Powai godown based on interrogation. The accused had told neighbouring shopkeepers and building members that they were running a colour distribution business. Under that guise, they were storing drugs, chemicals, and equipment,” said Investigating Officer Dayanand Walave. Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade said further arrests are likely as more names have surfaced during interrogation.

The bust is a continuation of a larger probe that began on April 24 this year, when Sadiq Shaikh (27) was arrested in Sakinaka with 52 grams of MD. That arrest triggered a chain reaction, leading to multiple raids and arrests across Mumbai, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Eventually, on July 26, police raided a large-scale MD manufacturing unit near Belavatha in Mysuru and seized 214 kg of MD, precursor chemicals, and lab equipment worth Rs 390 crore. This included an additional 4.5 kg of MD recovered from Kaman village, Vasai.

So far, eight individuals have been arrested, four from the Mumbai-Gujarat-Mysuru link and four directly associated with the Mysuru factory. Police say three of the arrested have past criminal records, with one facing as many as 16 cases under the NDPS Act and for assault.

Thane: The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Thane granted Rs 49.46 lakh to the parents of 24-year-old IT engineer Swapnil Suresh Gulvi, who lost his life in a road accident in 2019. The tribunal, chaired by member RV Mohite, assigned 75% of the blame to the truck driver and 25% to Gulvi for contributory negligence.

Gulvi was on his motorcycle on Ghodbunder Road when he tried to pass a bus close to a bus stop. The bus driver reportedly stopped abruptly, leading Gulvi to crash into the bus and later be struck by a truck. The tribunal determined there was no evidence of negligence from the bus driver, indicating that both the deceased and the truck driver did not keep a safe distance, resulting in the collision.

The truck was considered to be going too fast. The overall compensation was determined to be Rs 65,94,700, considering future income loss and emotional distress damages. Following the 25% deduction for Gulvi’s contributory negligence, the granted sum was established at Rs 49,46,025.

The tribunal instructed the truck owner and its insurer to compensate the claimants jointly and severally, with an yearly interest of 9% starting from the petition date.

Similar Incident

The Thane Motor Accident Claim Tribunal has ordered Oriental Insurance Company Limited and a Nagpur-based company to pay ₹29,86,000 in compensation to the family of Dyaneshwar Gawade, a 21-year-old employee of Wellness Forever, who died in a 2020 road accident.

The Tribunal found that Gawade’s non-wearing of a helmet did not contribute to the accident. It concluded there was no negligence on his part as police records showed no fault from the deceased. The container that struck his motorcycle was driven recklessly, establishing the driver’s negligence. Gawade, the sole earner in his family, had a monthly salary of ₹22,036. The Tribunal rejected the respondents’ claims that Gawade was liable, and mandated compensation, with ₹25 lakhs to be fixed for five years and the rest paid as interest.