Mumbai: Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide on Wednesday directed civic officials to strengthen supervision in maintenance works and maximise the use of in-house municipal labour for routine infrastructure repairs instead of relying on contractors. During an inspection visit to civic maintenance facilities in the Andheri and Vile Parle areas of the western suburbs, Bhide said that while the Maintenance Department has adequate manpower, the supervision by Junior Engineers (JEs) lacked the expected level of rigor.

She also instructed assistant commissioners of all civic wards to review staffing levels at every maintenance post and ensure that routine works such as laying curb stones, repairing footpaths and fixing road dividers are carried out primarily by municipal workers. The commissioner also directed officials to minimise the appointment of contractors for regular maintenance activities and issue necessary instructions to assistant engineers, secondary engineers and junior engineers.

Bhide inspected sanitation posts, pesticide department facilities, road repair and storage depots, and maintenance posts during the visit. While interacting with sanitation workers, she instructed officers to maintain sanitation and pest control facilities in good condition and ensure adequate service amenities for staff.

The commissioner further directed assistant commissioners to conduct regular inspections of civic checkpoints in their respective jurisdictions and prepare detailed regional maintenance plans. She said the plans should be implemented in phases through a combination of in-house labour and contractors wherever required to ensure visible improvement in road maintenance works across Mumbai.

As part of the inspection, Bhide also reviewed pre-monsoon preparedness works at the solid waste management post near Andheri Railway Station, the pesticide post at Tata Compound in Vile Parle (West), and the conservation post at Bajaj Marg in Vile Parle (West). She additionally visited Irla Nala, SNDT Nala and the Gajdarbandh pumping station.

Highlighting flood mitigation measures, Bhide instructed officials to ensure that the Irla Rainwater Harvesting Centre in Juhu functions at full capacity on a continuous basis to provide relief from waterlogging in areas such as Milan Metro, Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle railway station and the Juhu-Vile Parle Development Scheme area.

She also directed immediate implementation of measures to prevent solid waste and floating debris from flowing towards Juhu beach.

A tragic incident has come to light from the Dhanivbaug area of Nalasopara East, where the body of a 13-year-old boy was recovered from a well late on Sunday night. The deceased has been identified as Adarsh Arvind Singh, who had reportedly stepped out of his house in the evening to play but failed to return home.

According to information from when Adarsh did not return till late at night, worried family members and local residents began searching for him in the surrounding area. During the search operation, suspicion arose after his slippers were found near a well located nearly half a kilometre away from his residence.

Following the discovery, the Vasai-Virar Fire Brigade was called to the spot and a search operation was launched in the well. After efforts carried out late into the night, officials recovered the boy’s body from inside the well.

The incident has left the local community shocked and grieving. Authorities are now trying to ascertain the exact circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.

Pelhar Police have registered an accidental death case for the time being and initiated further investigation. Officials are probing whether Adarsh accidentally lost his balance and fell into the well or whether any other angle, including foul play, is involved in the incident.

A shocking incident has come to light in the Vasai-Virar region, where abandoned quarries are once again proving to be fatal.

the body of a 12-year-old girl, Ruksar Habiullah Khan, who had been missing for two days from the Bapane area in Naigaon East, was found floating in the water of an abandoned quarry near Chinchoti on May 2nd. Preliminary investigations have indicated that the minor died due to drowning.

The report states that the girl had stepped out of her house on April 28 to play with her friends. However, when she did not return home, her family began searching for her in the surrounding areas.

On May 2nd, local residents noticed a body floating in the quarry water and immediately alerted the police. After the body was retrieved, it was identified as that of the missing girl. Acting swiftly, a team from Naigaon police station reached the spot, recovered the body, and sent it for post-mortem examination.

Mumbai: CBI has arrested two more accused in NEET-UG 2026 Examination paper leak case, bringing the total number of persons arrested in this case to 13.

An accused namely Dr Manoj Shirure, a Latur-based doctor has been arrested in the NEET UG 2026 questions leak case. He played key role in facilitating three students including the son of an accused coaching centre owner in getting the Chemistry questions from the accused P V Kulkarni. 

Another arrested accused is Tejas Shah, who is a physics faculty at a Pune-based coaching centre. He got the leaked Physics questions of NEET UG 2026 Exam from arrested accused Manisha Havaldar. 

Investigation to unearth the chain as well as the conspiracy in this case is ongoing. CBI has so far conducted searches at 49 locations at various places and seized several incriminating documents, Laptops, and mobile phones. Detailed analysis of the seized items is going on.

It may be recalled that CBI has registered this case on 12.05.2026 based on the written complaint given by Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India pertaining to alleged paper leak of NEET-UG 2026 Examination. Immediately after registration of the case, special teams were formed and searches were conducted at various locations across the country, and several suspects were picked up and interrogated. 

So far 13 accused have been arrested in this case from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nasik, Pune, Latur and Ahliyanagar. Investigation is continuing with various special teams working in tandem and the investigation has brought out the actual source of the leakage of Chemistry, Biology and Physics questions which were circulated before the exam. 

CBI is committed to comprehensive, impartial and professional investigation in this case.