Authorized hawkers on Mumbai sidewalks should operate only within the area specified in their license and should not encroach beyond the prescribed limits. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide directed the licensing department to inspect the areas occupied by all licensed hawkers. He directed that strict action should be taken against any hawker found operating outside the authorized area. Meanwhile, Bhide expressed satisfaction over the growing public response and cooperation for the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign currently underway in the Mumbai area. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is implementing the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign with an aim to remove obstructions from sidewalks and make them easily accessible for pedestrians. To review the ongoing operations, Ashwini Bhide personally visited and inspected various locations in Mumbai City Division for three hours this morning (17th August 2026). The locations inspected include: Nana Chowk, Grant Road Railway Station, Nausher Bharucha Road, Nana Shankar Shet Marg (Bhaji Gali), and Tardeo Marg in ‘D’ Ward; Dr. Anand Rao Nair Marg, Nair Hospital premises, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg, Nath Pai Marg, and Sant Savta Marg in ‘E’ Ward; and Lokmanya Tilak Marg, Sindhur Bridge area, Juna Bengalipur Gali, Raghunath Maharaj Street, and Qazi Syed Marg in ‘B’ Ward. The inspection covered the condition and repair status of footpaths in the areas of Jagannath Shankar Shet Marg, Dhubitalav Lane, Maharshi Karve Marg, Marine Lines, and Chandanwadi (all in ‘C’ Ward) as well as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai (Crawford Market) and Mahapalika Marg. The officials present on the occasion included Deputy Commissioner (Zone-1) Chandra Jadhav, Deputy Commissioner (Commissioner’s Office) Prashant Gaikwad, and Assistant Commissioners Santosh Salunkhe (‘D’ Ward), Anand Kankal (‘E’ Ward), Jitendra Ghorade (‘B’ Ward), Ujjwal Angule (‘A’ Ward), and Sunil Mane (‘C’ Ward).
Ensuring protection of tree roots on footpaths; Proper cutting of branches
The ongoing efforts of the administration to create obstacle-free footpaths are satisfactory. However, continuity should be maintained. Necessary measures should be taken for the improvement, beautification and safety of footpaths. All obstacles should be removed to make footpaths easily navigable for pedestrians, and this change should be clearly visible to the citizens while travelling. Care should be taken to protect the roots of trees on footpaths, and branches should be cut properly. Trees considered unsafe should be removed as per rules and scientific methods. Licensed hawkers working on footpaths should not occupy space outside their designated area. Strict action should be taken against those violating this law. Municipal Commissioner Ms. Ashwini Bhide issued these instructions during an inspection.
No obstacles for pedestrians on footpaths
Meanwhile, during an inspection of the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign, Ashwini Bhide personally checked the license certificates of some hawkers. Instructions were also issued to the concerned hawkers and representatives of their associations. Authorised hawkers are allowed to do business on the footpath. However, their operations should not obstruct the movement of pedestrians. They should ensure cleanliness in the surrounding areas. Grant Road Railway Station, Jagannath Shankar Shet Metro Station and BYL vicinity were visited. Nair Hospital, Necessary steps were taken with instructions to implement measures to ensure smooth passage of pedestrians
Install CCTV cameras at Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs)

Ashwini Bhide visited the dry waste collection centre in ‘E’ ward, the Solid Waste Management Department post on Ray Road, the pumping station on Sant Savta Marg, and various Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs) to review the operations.
He directed that signboards giving the message “Do not litter” should be prominently displayed at the GVPs. CCTV cameras should be installed immediately to check the activities of habitual litterers and the surrounding areas should be beautified. He also directed that the dry waste segregation centres should be properly organised and the respective waste bags should be clearly marked with the different types of waste.
Cooperate with the civic administration
The administration is taking necessary steps to clean the footpaths and remove garbage vulnerable points (GVPs). However, citizens should also try to avoid creating obstacles on the footpaths. Material should not be kept on the footpaths and vehicles should not be parked there. Moreover, garbage should not be thrown on the footpaths, roads or any other place. Ashwini Bhide also appealed for cooperation in the efforts being made by the administration.

Mumbai Police unmasked a group of fraudsters in the name of admission who were seeking admission in colleges in Mumbai. A complaint was lodged at the police station in which the victim said that he was cheated in the name of admission. He contacted for admission only on Instagram and Facebook, then he was also taken to a college in Hyder Abad, this way he got admission from 16 Lakhs of rupees were collected in the name of different fees. The accused used to collect money worth Rs 2 lakhs and 4 lakhs in the name of advance fee and guarantee. Apart from this, whenever money or money was transferred to the accused, they used to switch off their mobile phones. Similar incidents happened to the victims. After this happened, the police came to know that the accused were running a call center here in Pune and they raided it and took away Rs 1 crore 25 lakh. The goods have been seized. The accused who have been arrested are highly educated, out of which five are engineering and five are B.Tech. DCP Dathu Nlaode said that the accused in this case mostly used to communicate on social media only and used to switch off their mobiles after the work was done. Mobile phone and other documents and admission forms have also been recovered from the possession of the accused. At present the police is investigating them further. He said that The accused is highly educated, hence the police is also investigating more accused in this case, along with this, these accused are only in Maharashtra. He used to cheat by giving the promise of admission in Hyderabad, Delhi and other famous and famous colleges. In this case, Mumbai Police got a tip-off. It was a big success and it exposed two call centers of the accused and completely destroyed them. This group ran this racket from the same call center. used to do The deceased player told that he used to run this racket since 2024. Mumbai Police has exposed it, a big success has been achieved by the police.

Mumbai: Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra, S. Chockalingam, alleged major contradictions in electoral data released by election officials regarding form distribution, untraceable voters, and death-related deletions in Mumbai during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list.

Somaiya, who uploaded the letter dated August 16 on X on Monday, highlighted discrepancies between claimed form distribution rates and reported untraceable voters across the city’s districts. Urging immediate review, Somaiya requested the Chief Electoral Officer’s attention and necessary corrections to resolve these discrepancies.

“State election officials declared a distribution rate of over 99 per cent across Maharashtra. Specifically, the Mumbai City Collectorate reported 99.99 per cent form distribution, while the Mumbai Suburban Collectorate reported 99.96 per cent. Simultaneously, data from the Collectorates, District Election officials, and the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner’s office reveals that 11.73 per cent of voters in Mumbai Suburban and 9.72 per cent in Mumbai City District remain untraceable. Somaiya questioned how near-100 per cent distribution could occur when around 12 per cent of addresses or voters cannot be traced,” said Somaiya in his letter.

The letter also pointed out significant disparities in electoral roll deletions due to death across different constituencies comprising Mankhurd: 2.91 per cent, Anushakti Nagar: 2.6 per cent, Mahim: 7.72 per cent, Byculla: 6.71 per cent and Shivadi: 6.26 per cent.

Somaiya’s letter comes days after Chockalingam shared updated metrics on the SIR.

Across the state, details for over 1.8 crore voters (about 18.46 per cent of the electorate) remained categorised as “uncollectable”.

Mumbai accounts for a significant portion of the uncollected data, with nearly 30.8 lakh voters (approx. 29.6 per cent of the electorate across Mumbai City and Suburban districts) listed in this category. High proportions of uncollectable entries were noted in constituencies undergoing large-scale redevelopment or containing high migrant populations (such as Sion Koliwada, Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar, Worli, Malabar Hill, and Mumbadevi).

The Chief Electoral Officer explained that the “uncollectable” status primarily applies to electors under the ASDD categories — Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate. He noted that higher rates of uncollectable entries in urban hubs like Mumbai and neighbouring Thane are standard compared to national trends due to frequent address changes, migration, and daily commuting patterns.

The CEO emphasised that having uncollected status during household enumeration does not mean a voter is permanently excluded without recourse. While untraced entries will not appear on the initial draft electoral list, electors and Booth Level Agents are encouraged to submit the required forms to ensure legitimate eligible voters are properly updated or included.