Mumbai: As the Mumbai Municipal Corporation prepares to hike parking fees by 40 per cent, Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Sheikh has written to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, requesting him to review the current parking policy before increasing the fees and revive the defunct Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA). MLA Sheikh has demanded in the letter that the municipality should focus on improving traffic discipline and affordable parking instead of considering parking as a source of revenue generation. In his letter to the commissioner, MLA Raees Sheikh said that before making any changes in parking fees, a comprehensive review of the current parking policy and its implementation should be conducted. Citizens are facing many challenges due to inadequate parking infrastructure, uncontrolled parking on roads, lack of proper enforcement and irregularity of organized parking spaces. Before increasing parking fees, attention should be paid to making parking facilities affordable, transparent and accessible to the common citizen. MLA Raees Sheikh said that increasing fees without proper improvements in infrastructure and management can put unnecessary financial burden on residents, middle-class families, office workers and small traders. Stressing the need for strict enforcement of ‘no parking’ rules in the city, Raees Sheikh explained that traffic congestion due to illegal parking on roads, footpaths and squares is adding to the inconvenience of both pedestrians and motorists. Instead of just increasing parking fees, strict enforcement with better planning and digital monitoring system will help improve traffic discipline. The inefficient Mumbai Parking Authority should be revived so that parking management in the city is handled through a dedicated and accountable mechanism. MLA Raees Sheikh, in a letter to Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, suggested that a special authority could undertake scientific planning, formulate uniform parking policies, coordinate with the traffic police and transport departments and ensure a long-term solution to the growing number of vehicles in Mumbai.

Mumbai: The Kandivali unit of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) has arrested two accused in a major drug bust near Yari Road in Versova area of ​​Andheri West.

During the raid, 765 grams of heroin, estimated to be worth around Rs 4 crore in the international market, was recovered from the accused.

The arrested accused are Arman Ayub Malik (32), a resident of Dehradun, Uttarakhand
▪️ Danish Bhoora Ali (23), a resident of Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Both the accused were arrested on May 10, 2026 at around 3 am. In this case, a case under Sections 8(a), 21(a) and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985 has been registered under FIR No. 50/2026.

According to police officials, investigations are also underway against other people involved in this drug racket. This operation was carried out by a police team of Kandivali ANC Unit led by Mumbai Police Commissioner Mr. Devan Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mr. Lakshmi Gautam, Additional Commissioner of Police Shailesh ANC and Senior Police Inspector Shashi Kant Jagdale of Kandivali Unit.

Due to the shortage of water storage in the reservoirs supplying water to the city of Mumbai, to ensure that this water storage is used for a long time, as a precautionary measure and in view of the India Meteorological Department’s prediction of a reduced monsoon next year due to El Nino and IOD, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration has decided to implement water storage in Mumbai at less than 1%. As per the instructions of the Department of Water Resources, Government of Maharashtra, dated 15 May 2026, there is no need for the residents to panic. However, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration has also made a humble appeal to all the citizens to use water sparingly.

Considering the statistics as on 11 May 2026, there is a total of 3,40,399 million litres of water in the reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai. As against the annual requirement of 1,447,363 million litres, only 23.52% of the usable water is available at present. The Municipal Corporation administration is keeping a close watch on the water supply and a plan for daily water supply is being made. Not only this, Mumbai will get 1,47,092 million litres from the storage in Bhatsa Dam and 90,000 million litres from the storage in Upper Vetarna Dam. This means that water supply is available for Mumbai and the citizens of Mumbai need not panic. However, in view of the recent rise in temperature, increase in evaporation and the need to continue the planned water supply even after the water storage has fallen below 10 per cent, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration has decided to implement a 10 per cent water reduction as a precautionary measure. The 10 per cent water reduction will also be applicable in the water supply provided by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation and other villages from Friday, May 15, 2026. This water shortage will continue until there is satisfactory rainfall and the useful storage in the water bodies improves.

Avoid wastage of water
It is possible to use water efficiently and avoid wastage in daily life. For this, water saving habits should be adopted.

Drink the required amount of water in a glass. Bathing with water in a bucket instead of using a shower saves a lot of water. Avoid brushing your teeth and shaving with the tap running. Do not leave the tap running while doing housework. Instead, take water in a vessel and complete the work.

It is easy to clean cars with a wet cloth by taking water in a vessel without using a tap. Instead of washing the floors, galleries, verandahs, stairs, etc. of the house, clean them with a wet cloth. Do not throw away the water of the previous day, thinking it is stale.

If you wash more clothes at once in the washing machine, the water consumption of the machine can be reduced. Nozzles that restrict the flow of the taps and wash the basin taps or make the water flow in the form of mist are easily available in the market. By installing such nozzles on the taps, it is possible to save up to two-thirds of water. Therefore, citizens should use it along with all hotels and restaurants.

Restaurants and hotels should provide water in glasses only when the customers need it. Or provide water bottles. So that the water from the glasses filled with water is not wasted unnecessarily. The water system and channels should be checked in all homes and housing societies. If any leakage is found, it should be fixed immediately, this also saves water and does not pollute the water.

It is important to ensure that there is no overflow while filling the water tanks on the roof.

All commercial and industrial establishments where water is used in large quantities should also adopt practices that can prevent water wastage and save water. Overall, water saving measures are easy to adopt. By adopting them, the Municipal Corporation administration is appealing to Mumbaikars to save as much water as possible, use water very sparingly, and cooperate with the efforts of the Municipal Corporation administration.