Mumbai: Police has returned stolen equipment and mobile phones seized in various theft cases to their rightful owners. After recovering stolen equipment from police stations Nirmal Nagar, BKC, Vakola, Kherwadi, Vile Parle, Sahar under the jurisdiction of Zone 8, the police today returned mobile phones worth over Rs 84 lakh, stolen motorcycles and vehicles to their rightful owners. DCP Zone 8 Manish Kalwaniya said that the police keeps organizing such programs in which stolen goods are distributed and these goods are handed over to their original owners. He said that every four months, their goods are returned to the original owners. In this, most of the stolen mobile phones have been recovered. After the recovery of the stolen mobile phones, the happiness of the citizens and victims has doubled as they had given up hope and hope regarding their goods. 277 stolen mobile phones have also been returned today. These mobile phones were recovered after technical investigation, along with the vehicles and stolen goods were also returned.

The pace of desilting work in all three parts of Mumbai Methi River and major and minor drains of Mumbai must be accelerated. Priority should be given to areas where rainwater accumulates and its drainage should be done with proper planning. Necessary action should be taken in respect of flood prone areas and this should be done in such a way that it is remedied. Strict planning should be made for when the work will start and end on a drain-wise basis. This information should be available on the dashboard of the Municipal Corporation carrying out drain cleaning. So that the citizens can get information about when the work of cleaning drains in their area will start and end. It should be ensured that the targets of the work to be done on a drain-wise basis are fixed every day and its strict implementation should be ensured. The contractor should provide the latest information about how much machinery is expected to be used by the contractor as per the terms and conditions of the tender and how much machinery is available daily. This information should also be displayed on the computer system (dashboard) of the drain cleaning. To prevent floating waste flowing on water in drains from entering the sea, wherever possible, a floating waste interceptor system (trash boom system) should be installed, various instructions issued by Additional Municipal Corporation Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar have said. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration is emphasizing on careful planning to complete the drain and river cleaning work in Mumbai within the stipulated time frame. In this regard, the work of removing silt from small and big drains has been started in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In this context, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar personally visited and inspected the ongoing drain cleaning work in the Methi River and Eastern Suburbs yesterday (April 3, 2026). The Municipal Corporation has started the silt removal work from March 12, 2026. Work has started at five locations under three packages on the Methi River in the Eastern Suburbs. Three of these locations (Connector Bridge, MMRDA office (Jitavan Udyan) in Bandra-Kurla Complex area and near Ambani School) were visited by Bangar today. He also visited Boundary Nallah in Milind East (T Division) and Soumya Nallah in Ghatkopar (N Division). He also gave necessary instructions. Along with this, Bangar also said that the silt removal work should be done in collaboration with local public representatives and their suggestions should be taken seriously. The process of silt removal from large and small drains including the Methi River is underway. It is expected that the entire scheduled work will be completed by May 31, 2026. There is a computer system for continuous monitoring of the progress of drain cleaning. It should be done on daily updated information.

A total of five locations of the Methi River are being effectively desilted. The work will be done in three packages. Bangar visited the Connector Bridge near the Methi River in Bandra-Kurla Complex. At that time, he said that the places for desilting should be planned along the entire length of the Methi River. It should be ensured that where there is dense population and where the bed of the Methi River is narrow, the cleaning of the drains will be done more carefully. The targets for cleaning the drains must be completed in the next 57 days. For this, the work should be planned and implemented according to the day, the bed of the Methi River is wide in the MMRDA office (Jitavan Adyan) in the Bandra-Kurla Complex area. The work of desilting from this place has been accelerated. It should be ensured that no illegal obstacles are erected at this place. Bangar also said that if found, strict action will be taken against the concerned. Sludge is being removed from the Methi River near Ambani School Bangar said here that if the sludge is removed through modern experiments along with traditional technology, then such experiments will be welcomed. The work of the contractor appointed to remove the sludge from the Methi River should be properly checked. After confirming that the contractor has done the sludge removal work properly and within the stipulated time, payment should be made on time. There should be no delay in this. However, while doing so, it is important to pay attention to the quality of work, consistency and whether the information available on the computer system is up to date or not. If this is not found, appropriate action will be taken against the contractor.

Presence of engineers is mandatory during drain cleaning work
Engineers should pay personal attention to the entire process of cleaning the drains. In addition, the presence of engineers will be mandatory during the drain cleaning work.

Mumbai: A long queue of people was seen outside Bharatgas Agency in Mumbai’s Chembur on Saturday, April 4, to refill or collect their LPG cylinders. This long queue comes amid a time when the Centre has repeatedly assured that there is an adequate availability of petrol, diesel, LPG, and PNG across the country. Mumbai Police Constable Arun Anmol Siroskar, present at the site, said that nearly 200-300 people have been standing in line since 5 am for cylinder.

While speaking to IANS, the constable informed that about 50-70 tokens were distributed to people for cylinder, but today they did not get cylinder. Plus, the agency is saying that there is some issue with their system, due to which today the chaos happened.

The constable added that the agency informed people who got the token yesterday and also received OTP, can come on Sunday to collect the cylinder, or they will get it delivered to their home.

He also informed that since 5 am this morning, about 200-300 people have been waiting for their cylinder, and none got any. People are suffering as they are unable to cook food.

When asked about the issue of black marketing, he added that “If we get a report about the black marketing of the cylinders, we will take action, and a complaint can be filed by anyone.”

Not just Chembur, recently, a sharp shortage of 5-kg LPG cylinders, triggered by ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Gulf regions, has begun to severely impact daily life in Bhiwandi. The crisis has left hundreds of workers struggling to secure basic cooking fuel, forcing many to queue up outside gas agencies from midnight. Labourers reportedly were lining up as early as midnight, marking their spots and even sleeping on roadsides to ensure they do not lose their turn.

The shortage has also disrupted basic living conditions. With LPG unavailable, cooking at home has become increasingly difficult.

Earlier, on April 3, the Civil Supplies Department cracked down on illegal gas cylinder hoarding in Vashi, seizing goods worth Rs 13.91 lakh and arresting two accused who were allegedly attempting to sell cylinders at inflated rates amid a supply shortage.