Maharashtra
Maharashtra farmer ends life over debts, govt failure to ensure MSP
In a shocking incident, penniless and frustrated Maharashtra farmer Dashrath L. Kedari jumped into a village pond to end his life after penning a note in which he mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi while spelling his plight, his grieving family said here on Monday.
According to Kedari’s brother-in-law Arvind Waghmare, the incident took place in Bankarphata village on Saturday where Kedari worked as a farmer for the past eight years.
“That day, he seemed very depressed, but he conveyed his wishes for a long life to the PM, and then jumped into the nearby pond and killed himself. A suicide note was recovered later,” Waghmare told IANS.
The opposition Shiv Sena has slammed the state government for its failure to protect farmers reeling under a severe agrarian crisis with a record number of farmland suicides clocked this year.
In his suicide note, Kedari said that it was due to the government’s failure on ensuring Minimum Support Price that he was compelled to end his life as he was hounded by debtors.
He rued how the state was not giving MSP to onion, tomato and other cultivators who were ravaged by the recent floods and the losses of the pandemic.
“What should we do… Modi Saheb. We are not begging for alms, but what is rightly due to us. MSP must be given to us as the money-lenders are threatening us. Nobody takes risks like the farmers… where do we go with our grievances,” Kedari said.
Shiv Sena spokespersons Kishore Tiwari and Manisha Kayande slammed the government for its failure on tackling the agrarian crisis in the state which has resulted in despair with a spate of suicides.
Shooting a letter to the Prime Minister, Tiwari, who is also the President of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), urged Modi to immediately come and visit the Kedari family as the state government has failed to solve the problems of farmers.
He recalled how Modi – during his ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ with farmers during his visit to Yavatmal (March 2014) – had assured to address the core issues like MSP, marketing, input costs, easy credit from public sector banks, change in crop patterns, risk management by way of crop insurance, etc.
However, despite the PM’s best efforts, nothing has materialised owing to a hostile administration and corrupt implementation agencies, leading to tragedies like Kedari’s suicide for precisely similar reasons, Tiwari added.
He called upon Modi to visit the Kedari family or direct Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to go and console the deceased farmers’ kin during her visit to Pune next week.
“A farmer greets the PM and then goes on his ‘chita’ (funeral pyre), but the PM is busy bringing cheetah to the country. This is the sad state of affairs in the country,” said Kayande.
Tiwari added that this year, over 1,080 farmers have ended lives in Vidarbha alone and the state has created a new record with around 2,600 peasants’ suicides in the first nine months of 2022.
Kedari, 42, is survived by his wife Shanta and two college-going children – son Shubham, 20, and daughter Shravani, 18.
Waghmare said his brother-in-law hailed from Wadgaon-Anand village and a team from Alephata police station visited the family and registered a case after making inquiries.
Maharashtra
Reconstruction work of Sion Railway Flyover should be completed by July 15, 2026, directs Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide

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

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

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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