Mumbai: Expressing concern over the increase in incidents of animal hoarding before Eid-ul-Azha, Maharashtra SP leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi demanded strict action against miscreants harassing transporters and said that there has been an increase in incidents of animal hoarding and harassing transporters by stopping animal transporters at Mira Road and other borders before entering the border areas of Mumbai. Such actions are a conspiracy to spoil the communal atmosphere before Eid-ul-Azha, so it should be banned. Along with this, Abu Asim Azmi met Speaker Rahul Narvekar and submitted a memorandum on this issue and said that vehicles bringing sacrificial animals to Mumbai for Eid-ul-Azha are being stopped at several border areas including Mira Road. In many places, people are being harassed by anti-social elements or the police. Instead of imposing a fine on some vehicles for having incorrect documents, the entire vehicle including the animals is being seized. As a result, animals are being sent hungry and thirsty to the streets, police stations or cow shelters, which is completely wrong. Strict action is being taken on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. Rahul Narvekar spoke to the police administration on this matter, reviewed the situation and directed them to take appropriate action.

BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide conducted an emergency visit to pest control posts in Mumbai, including rat control, and issued strict instructions to the employees regarding rat control and spraying of medicines. Municipal Corporation Commissioner Ashwini Bhide today conducted a surprise visit to various premises, posts and recycling centres located in the city’s zones ‘A’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ and inspected them.

These include Mumbai’s first and almost 100-year-old pesticide control post, repair and storage post on A-2 Road and Sewerage Disposal Post in ‘A’ Zone on 74-Mint Road, road repair and storage post on Kamalabai Kanya School Road in ‘C’ Zone; Patil Udyan on Kamalabai Kanya School Road in ‘C’ Zone; Pesticide post in Nana Chowk, ‘D’ zone and Lovegrove Rainwater Recycling Centre in Worli in ‘G South’ zone. Bhide inspected various equipment used for pest control and their demonstration and obtained information from the concerned employees. Besides, he obtained detailed information about various measures taken for rat control, overall work at the post etc. and verified the attendance records of the employees and other matters. During this, Bhide interacted with the employees, workers and citizens of the departments of Pesticide, Sanitation, Security etc. and learned about their problems. Complaints received from citizens on the complaint and redressal of grievances at the posts should be taken very seriously and should be resolved immediately. Also, Mrs. Bhide instructed on the occasion to work diligently.

On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner (Zone 1) Chanda Jadhav, Deputy Commissioner (Zone 2) Mr. Prashant Sapkale, Deputy Commissioner (Municipal Commissioner Office) Prashant Gaikwad, Assistant Commissioner (A Division) Gajanan Belle, Assistant Commissioner (C Division) Alka Sasane, Assistant Commissioner (D Division), officers of the department etc. were present on the occasion.

Mumbai: Tension gripped Bandra’s Garib Nagar area on the second day of the ongoing demolition drive after a mosque structure was razed during Western Railway’s anti-encroachment operation. Residents expressed strong outrage and emotional reactions during the demolition of the mosque structure. As the drive was underway in Garib Nagar, angry residents staged protests at the site.

Locals allegedly also threw water and buckets at Mumbai Police personnel during the agitation. Following the chaos, Mumbai Police resorted to a lathi charge to control the situation. Another visual showed the situation escalating as a major scuffle was seen between the police and locals. Visuals from the site also showed some women personnel dragging someone.

The massive anti-encroachment drive began on Tuesday near Bandra railway station, days after the Bombay High Court allowed Western Railway (WR) to remove unauthorised structures in the area. On the first day, 18 per cent of 500 illegal huts were cleared.

Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said that the five-day drive aims to free 5,300 square metres of land to clear the railway safety zone and facilitate future capacity augmentation projects. For the demolition drive, nearly 1,000 personnel have been deployed at the site, including around 400 Mumbai Police personnel, 400 members from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP), along with officials from various railway departments.

The drive came after the Bombay HC, in its May 5 order, permitted WR to continue the demolition drive. However, it also said that the rights of slum dwellers who were found eligible in the 2021 surveys must be protected.

The action is being carried out to clear railway land occupied by illegal structures. Heavy police deployment has been made, and security has been tightened in the area during the demolition process.