Mumbai: Maintaining cleanliness and adopting hygienic habits is very important. If there is cleanliness, then all other developmental issues are important. Therefore, a central control room (war room) should be set up to ensure that the cleanliness work is done effectively in the Mumbai area. Apart from this, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has directed that Assistant Commissioners of the concerned administrative departments should make regular field visits to ensure that cleanliness is done properly at the local level.
The meeting held at the Municipal Corporation Headquarters today reviewed various projects, initiatives and activities of the Solid Waste Management Department. Deputy Commissioner (Municipal Commissioner’s Office) Prashant Gaikwad, Deputy Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Kiran Dighavkar, concerned officers were present on the occasion.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide further said that cleanliness is a regular process. The reason is that it needs to be done regularly and effectively. The coastal roads and highways of Mumbai should be cleaned carefully. There is a lot of traffic on the roads. Therefore, separate vehicles are required to clean these places mechanically. Help should be taken from good organizations to develop special vehicles (custom vehicles) which have various features required for cleaning these roads. He also said that some busy places should be improved in terms of cleanliness and then the same cleanliness should be maintained there too, so that the citizens are aware.
Meanwhile, ten percent of the modern vehicles brought for garbage collection under the solid waste department of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation are electronic (e-vehicles). Ashwini Bhide said that the Mumbai Municipal Corporation is the first municipal corporation in the country to use such a large number of large-capacity electronic vehicles for solid waste collection. He also appealed to the citizens and institutions to participate in large numbers in the ‘Mumbai Clean League’ competition organized by the Municipal Corporation to ensure citizen participation in cleanliness.
On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Kiran Dighavkar gave a detailed presentation about various projects, equipment, operations etc. of the Solid Waste Management Department. On this occasion, he said that currently about 7200 metric tonnes of solid waste is collected from Mumbai by the Municipal Corporation and it is disposed of scientifically. A service-based contract system has been adopted to maintain cleanliness across Mumbai. In addition, new vehicles have been brought in terms of solid waste collection and transportation. Earlier, 1,196 vehicles were working for this. However, with the increase in the capacity of the new vehicles, the number of these vehicles has now reached 988. In addition, their colors have also been changed. There are 46 dry waste segregation centers in Mumbai. While 94 vehicles are working full-time for this. A special service has been started by the Municipal Corporation for the collection of domestic sanitary waste. Dighavkar also said that many institutions are effectively utilizing this service.

Mumbai: A chaotic situation erupted for passengers who wanted to alight and board the train at Bhayandar station during the morning peak hours when a 15-coach Virar-Dadar fast local train failed to stop. The incident occurred on April 8 on the 15-coach Virar-Dadar fast local train.

The train departed from Virar at around 10.44 am and was supposed to stop at Vasai Road, Bhayander, Dahisar, Andheri, and Dadar, however, after Vasai, it continued at its speed and completely bypassed Bhayandar station.

As this happened during the peak hour travel time, chaos erupted among the passengers as many missed their train, resulting in reaching late to their destination. Not just this, passengers on board the train were also left confused and frustrated. some even decided to walk along the tracks toward Bhayandar station, creating a dangerous situation.

The report added that amid the chaos, a Virar-Churchgate AC fast local train arrived on the same platform. Distressed passengers without AC tickets or passes demanded to board the train, citing delays. The report further added that a temporary permission was granted, allowing them to travel in the AC local train.

Western Railway has also ordered an inquiry into the serious mistake that occurred, which caused significant delays and hardship during the morning rush hour.

Mumbai: As part of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s ongoing citywide clean-up campaign against illegal hawkers and encroachments, a major drive was carried out on the street opposite Infiniti Mall in Oshiwara. The video of the drive was shared by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit on his official Instagram handle.

He added that, being a busy commercial area, the hawkers on the footpath had made it very difficult for office-goers to walk. He said that civic officials, accompanied by corporator Rupesh Sawarkar and police personnel, conducted the major operation.

The videos shared by him showed workers from the civic body conducting the operation, a JCB bulldozing the area, and a garbage truck collecting the waste. Corporator Rupesh Sawarkar spearheaded the action to ensure smooth passage for office-goers and citizens in the busy commercial area. At one point in the video, he himself is seen spraying the footpaths with water to clean the area.

The video comes amid the time when the efforts are ongoing by the BMC to clear encroachments and ensure smooth pedestrian and vehicular movement in congested areas. Not just Oshiwara, several places across Mumbai have been witnessing such operations, targeting unauthorised hawkers occupying public spaces.

Meanwhile, recently, a crackdown situation had also taken a serious turn with instances of confrontation. In a recent development, an FIR was registered against illegal hawkers for allegedly assaulting on-duty BMC staff during an anti-encroachment drive near Santacruz railway station. A copy of the FIR was shared by BJP leader Hetal Gala on social media platform X, where she condemned the attack, stating that such behaviour against civic officials “will not be tolerated.”