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Thursday,16-April-2026
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Maharashtra

Maha onion, cotton, soybean farmers in doldrums, MVA protests outside Assembly

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 The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Shiv Sena (UBT) protested outside the Assembly here on Tuesday on the plight of the farmers demanding a fair price for the farm produce, especially onion, cotton and soybean cultivators.

Many of the opposition leaders and MLAs came sporting garlands of ‘onion’ mock ‘selling’ basket-loads of the vegetable to draw the state government’s attention to their situation in view of the sudden drop in procurement prices.

Inside the Assembly, NCP’s Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar raised the issue and said the farmer is in dire straits and the house must drop everything else to discuss their woes.

“We have already informed the government how a cheque of Rs 2 was given to an onion producer in Barshi (Solapur) for his stock, which is a mockery. The government should immediately intervene and direct organisations like the NAFED to purchase the agro-produce plus coordinate with the Centre to resolve the issue,” Pawar urged.

He emphasised that the farmers must be given the right prices for their produce since Maharashtra is India’s largest onion growing state with 33 per cent share, and the state leads in exports owing to the good quality of the vegetable produced here.

“However, presently, the price is barely Rs 500-600/quintal that has disappointed the farmers and led to widespread protests like roadblocks, dharnas, marches, etc. Besides, even those cultivating cotton, soybeans, gram, grapes are also suffering huge financial losses as they are unable to recover even the production costs,” said Pawar.

He called for restarting the Onion Export Promotion Scheme and procuring onions through NAFED and Marketing Federations in the state

Outside the Assembly, several opposition MLAs raised slogans, displayed placards and banners in support of the onion farmers, and condemned the indiscriminate caning of the peasants protesting peacefully in Buldhana.

They pointed out how a farmers leader Ravikant Tupkar has threatened to self-immolate himself if the demands of the agriculturists are not met, while Pawar moved an adjournment motion inside the House demanding a probe against the caning incident.

The opposition MLAs like Amol Mitkari, Bhaskar Jadhav, Chhagan Bhujbal, Yashomati Thakur and others pointed out that farmers have been agitating for compensation for crop losses in heavy rains, crop insurance, etc, but nothing has been given so far.

Half the farmers in the state cultivate soybean, which is around 40 per cent of the total national production, and the average cost is around Rs 5,783/quintal, but they are getting barely Rs 5,000/quintal.

Similarly, the production costs for cotton is around Rs 8,180/quintal, but the current market rate is around Rs 8,000/quintal and keeps fluctuating, demanding a fair price for their produce.

Maharashtra

Reconstruction work of Sion Railway Flyover should be completed by July 15, 2026, directs Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide

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Mumbai: Sewage Treatment Plant is very important in terms of environmental protection in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and care should be taken to ensure that the sewage treatment plant in Dharavi is functional by July 2027. The reconstruction of the Sine Railway Flyover connecting the eastern and western parts of Sine should be completed by July 15, 2026, while the road construction should be done as per the standard or standard. No new excavation should be done after April 30, 2026. The work of pouring concrete should be completed by May 15, 2026. In addition, Municipal Commissioner Smt. Ashwini Bhide has given various instructions that all road works should be completed by May 31, 2026 and the roads should be opened for traffic.

Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide personally visited and inspected various development works in the city division today (April 16, 2026). These include a 418 million litres per day capacity sewage treatment plant in Dharavi, a flyover on the railway line in Shiv (Seon), cement concreting of roads in Shiv, protective measures taken by the Prajaniya Water Works Department to prevent rainwater from accumulating in the area of ​​Chuna Bhatti Railway Station, etc. During this, he gave various instructions. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar was present.

Dharavi Sewage Treatment Plant

The work of setting up a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with a capacity of 418 million litres per day in Dharavi by the Mumbai Sewage Project Department of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation is in full swing. Mrs. Bhide inspected the project. The physical progress of the Dharavi Sewage Treatment Plant project has reached 65%. The project is expected to be operational in July 2027. The project is based on Sequential Batching Reactor (SBR) technology. The project will be implemented in a multi-storey building on a very small footprint. A total of 7 sewage treatment plants are being built in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the sewage treatment plant in Dharavi is being built on the smallest footprint. Bhide inspected all the components of the project including the influent pumping station, sludge room, sequential batching reactor process tank, tertiary treatment building, sludge digester tank, shaft connected to the tunnel carrying sewage and shaft carrying treated water. The local difficulties faced in the completion of the project were reviewed and resolved. Mrs. Bhide directed to ensure that the Dharavi sewage treatment plant is operational by July 2027 in any case.

Sine Flyover
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide inspected the project site for the reconstruction of Sine Railway Flyover connecting the eastern and western parts of Shiv. During this inspection visit, the current status of the project work, remaining phases of the work and their timeframe were determined.
The work of installation of steel girders (girder launching) by the Railway Department is delayed by 15 days. As per the earlier plan, the girders were expected to be installed by April 30, 2026. Now this work has been postponed to May 15, 2026. Although the installation of the first beam has been postponed, Mrs. Bhide directed that this delay should be made up for in other ancillary works and the installation of both the beams should be ensured by May 20. Bhide also said that the Municipal Corporation Bridge Department and the Railway Department should coordinate with each other and ensure that all bridge works are completed by July 15, 2026.

Sign Road Cement Concreting Work

A total of 1,736 roads have been concretized till April 13, 2026 under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s major road cement concreting project, with a total length of 496.83 km. Under this, Mrs. Bhide inspected the road cement concreting works in Shiv of the city division. She inspected the main traffic section of Road No. 27 in Shiv East and the footpath work in Road No. 25 (C). Quality should be given priority while carrying out the concreting work. No excavation should be done after April 30, 2026. The concrete pouring work should be completed by May 15, 2026. At the same time, Bhide directed that all road work be completed and the roads be opened to traffic by May 31, 2026.

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Crime

Domino’s Pizza Outlet In Thane Raided; 140 LPG Gas Cylinders Worth ₹4.59 Lakh Seized In Major Crackdown

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Thane: In a massive crackdown, a Domino’s Pizza outlet in the Wonder Mall area of Thane was raided, leading to the seizure of 140 LPG gas cylinders worth Rs 4.59 lakh. The raid was reportedly conducted by the Rationing Department’s flying squad.

The seized LPG stock included cylinders from major oil marketing companies, including HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited), BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited), IOC (Indian Oil Corporation), and Go Gas. The report further added that of the 140 seized cylinders, 45 are filled, while the remaining 85 are empty.

This comes at a time of the ongoing West Asia conflict, when frequent cases of long queues have been seen across the city, along with a rise in the black marketing of cylinders amid the situation.

Meanwhile, in another similar case, last week, the Rationing Department in Mumbai had carried out a major action against illegal storage and transportation of LPG cylinders, seizing goods worth over Rs 40 lakh in the Wadi Bunder–Dongri area. The operation was conducted based on confidential inputs received by Chandrakant Dange, Controller of Rationing and Director of Civil Supplies in Mumbai, who also issued special directives for immediate enforcement action.

During the raid near Wadi Bunder Bridge in Dongri, officials had intercepted eight vehicles involved in illegal transportation and seized a total of 451 gas cylinders, and the value of the total confiscated material was estimated at Rs 40.61 lakh.

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Maharashtra

Last rites of small animals and birds begin at Deonar Slaughterhouse and Mahalakshmi, availability of facilities will help local people: Additional Municipal Commissioner

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Mumbai: The Veterinary Health Department of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation has started cremation grounds for small animals and birds at Deonar Abattoir and Mahalaxmi. The High Court had directed the start of cremation grounds for small animals. Following these directions, both the facilities have been completed and made available for use from April 1, 2026. Due to this, separate incinerator crematorium facilities have been made available in the city, eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai, which will help the local people, said Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwini Joshi. According to the instructions of Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide. Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwini Joshi, various steps are being taken by the Mumbai Municipal Administration regarding stray and domestic dogs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In this context, crematoriums have been arranged for the scientific and eco-friendly cremation of small dead animals.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwani Joshi said that from April 1, 2026, cremation work has been started in the premises of Deonar Animal Hospital in Mahalaxmi and Animal Hospital managed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Tata Trust. Of these, animals or birds weighing up to 500 kg can be cremated in the crematorium in Deonar. This crematorium runs on clean and eco-friendly PNG fuel. Animals or birds weighing up to 50 kg can be cremated in the crematorium in Mahalaxmi. This crematorium is completely electricity-based. Meanwhile, the crematorium in Malad has been functioning since 2023. Due to this, a separate cremation system has now been created in all three parts of the Mumbai region, namely the city, eastern and western suburbs. The Veterinary Health Department of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation has made online facilities available through the crematorium and animal related website https://vhd.mcgm.gov.in. However, by registering at the link https://vhd.mcgm.gov.in/incineration-booking, the last rites of the deceased animal can be performed at the selected crematorium at the selected time. Dr. Kalimpasha Pathan, Head of the Veterinary Health Department on behalf of the Municipal Corporation administration, said that for more information or assistance, contact the helpline number 7564976649.

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