Mumbai: woke up to what initially appeared to be an ideal winter morning on Monday, with clear blue skies, cool temperatures and light winds offering brief relief from the city’s otherwise relentless humidity. However, the pleasant start did not last long, as a thin layer of haze soon enveloped large parts of the city, reducing visibility and once again drawing attention to Mumbai’s worsening air quality.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted a bright and comfortable day, with minimum and maximum temperatures expected to hover between 20°C and 33°C. While weather conditions remained favourable, residents stepping out early were met with hazy surroundings and a faintly acrid smell in the air. Commuters, morning walkers and schoolchildren experienced reduced visibility across several areas, dampening what should have been a refreshing winter day.

Data from air quality monitoring platform AQI.in showed that Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 181 in the early hours, placing the city in the ‘poor’ category. Although this marked a slight improvement compared to the severe pollution levels recorded towards the end of last month, the air remained unhealthy, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, senior citizens and people suffering from respiratory conditions.

The persistent pollution is largely due to dust and fine particulate matter generated by extensive construction activity across the city. Multiple large-scale infrastructure projects, including metro rail corridors, flyovers, coastal road works and road-widening initiatives, along with ongoing private real estate development, continue to add majorly to Mumbai’s pollution burden.

Several areas recorded alarmingly high AQI levels, emerging as major pollution hotspots. Chembur reported an AQI of 304, categorised as ‘severe’, posing serious health risks even to healthy individuals. The Wadala Truck Terminal and Chembur registered AQI levels of 253 and 237 respectively, both falling under the ‘unhealthy’ category. Deonar recorded an AQI of 227, while Govandi stood at 217.

In comparison, some suburban areas showed relatively better air quality, though conditions remained far from ideal. Kandivali East recorded an AQI of 63 and Parel-Bhoiwada 98, both falling in the ‘moderate’ category. However, areas such as Jogeshwari East recorded 110, while Charkop and Sion reported AQI levels of 117 and 160 respectively, slipping back into the ‘poor’ bracket.

As per standard classifications, AQI levels between 0 and 50 are considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘moderate’, 101 to 150 ‘poor’, 151 to 200 ‘unhealthy’, and above 200 ‘hazardous’. With several parts of Mumbai nearing or crossing unhealthy thresholds, concerns are mounting over long-term health impacts if pollution levels remain unchecked.

New Delhi, Dec 20: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday mounted a sharp attack on the PM Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of systematically running a “bulldozer” over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and undermining the rights of rural poor, farmers and landless workers, terming it an “assault on rural livelihoods”.

This comes two days after the Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill 2025, which escalated into a major political slugfest between the government and the opposition.

In a video message shared by the Congress on X, Gandhi recalled the passage of the landmark employment guarantee law nearly two decades ago during the tenure of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

She said MGNREGA was passed with broad consensus in Parliament and proved to be a “revolutionary step” that provided livelihood security to crores of rural families, particularly the most deprived and marginalised.

“The law stopped distress migration by ensuring employment in one’s own village, strengthened gram panchayats and gave a legal right to work,” Gandhi said, adding that the scheme embodied Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj.

She noted that MGNREGA acted as a lifeline for the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Congress leader alleged that over the past 11 years, the Modi government had made repeated attempts to dilute the scheme by ignoring the interests of the rural unemployed and poor.

She expressed “deep anguish” over what she described as recent unilateral changes to the programme.

“Without consultation, discussion or taking the opposition into confidence, the government has altered the very structure of MGNREGA. Even Mahatma Gandhi’s name has been removed,” Sonia Gandhi claimed.

She warned that decisions on who gets work, how much employment is provided and where it is offered are now being taken “from Delhi, far removed from ground realities”.

Emphasising that MGNREGA was never a party-specific initiative, Gandhi said the Congress may have played a key role in bringing the law, but it was always meant to serve national and public interest.

“By weakening this law, the government has attacked the rights of crores of farmers, labourers and landless rural poor,” she said.

Gandhi asserted that the Congress was fully prepared to resist what she termed an assault on rural livelihoods. “I fought for the employment guarantee law 20 years ago, and I remain committed to fighting this ‘black law’ today,” she said, adding that Congress leaders and workers stood firmly with the people.

New Delhi, Dec 20: A total of 38 railway projects (11 new lines, 2 gauge conversion and 25 doubling) of a total length of 5,098 kms and costing Rs 89,780 crore have been sanctioned in Maharashtra (as on April 1, 2025), the government said on Saturday.

During the last three fiscals — 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current financial year 2025-26 — 98 surveys (29 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 67 Doubling) of total length 8,603 km falling fully/partly in the state of Maharashtra, have been sanctioned, it said.

“Further, construction works on the flagship High-Speed Bullet Train project have gathered momentum in Maharashtra. Now 100 per cent of land acquisition has been completed. Works on bridges, aqueducts, etc. have been taken up,” the Railways Ministry said in a statement.

In addition, platform extension work at 34 stations to accommodate 15-car EMUs has been taken up.

To improve the capacity of the rail network in the Mumbai suburban area, the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II costing Rs 8,087 crore, MUTP-III costing Rs 10,947 crore, and MUTP-IIIA costing Rs 33,690 crore have been sanctioned.

To enhance passenger carrying capacity, 238 rakes of 12 cars each with doors have been sanctioned under MUTP-III and IIIA at a cost of Rs 19,293 crore. The process for the procurement of these rakes has been taken up.

With Western DFC also passing through Maharashtra, as about 178 route km of it or about 12 per cent of the overall route length, falling in the state, the ministry said that “about 76 km of this project from New Gholvad to New Vaitarna in Maharashtra has already been commissioned. Balance works have been taken up. Connectivity of WDFC to JNPT will boost the capacity to handle cargo and container traffic from the port to Delhi NCR”.

Presently, about 120 originating Mail/Express trains and about 3,200 suburban trains are handled daily in the Mumbai area.