Mumbai: A special ‘fortress’ ticket-checking drive by Central Railway at Ghatkopar station during peak evening hours caught hundreds of ticketless passengers, with authorities collecting a whopping fine of over Rs 1 lakh in a day.

According to the update shared by DRM Central Railway, the drive was held on Tuesday, March 18, during the evening peak hours. During the intensive checking operation, “395 ticketless passengers were caught, and a Rs 1,02,260/- penalty was imposed.”

Notably, Ghatkopar railway station sees heavy passenger footfall as commuters from both Central and Western lines connect here due to its direct Metro Line 1 link between Ghatkopar and Andheri, making it a major boarding hub.

Meanwhile, on the same day, a special drive was also held at Mulund station, where the authorities caught 315 ticketless passengers, and a fine of Rs 74,860 was collected in a day.

There has been a rise in ticketless travel cases across Mumbai, with special checking drives being conducted at multiple railway stations. Hundreds of passengers are being caught every day during these operations.

On March 16 and 17, special ticket-checking drives were carried out at Asangaon, Titvala, Ambernath and Badlapur stations. At Asangaon, 312 ticketless passengers were caught and fined, and Rs 78,290 was collected, while 305 passengers at Titvala were penalised, collecting Rs 75,345 in fine.

On March 16, a separate drive at Ambernath and Badlapur during evening peak hours caught 763 ticketless travellers, with a total fine of Rs 1,88,620 collected. Last week, a similar drive was held at Vashi railway station, resulting in action against 393 passengers, with authorities collecting Rs 1,02,260 in fines in a single day.

Mumbai: Bandra BKC has been rocked by a bomb threat. A panic has erupted in the area after an email was received stating that 19 cyanide bombs have been planted in the passport office in Mumbai’s BKC. The police immediately received the information about this email and the bomb disposal and bomb disposal teams reached the spot. A panic has erupted after a bomb threat was received at the passport office in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). The threat was given through an email. A threat was made to plant 19 bombs filled with cyanide in the passport office and toilets. There was panic after the email was received. The threatening email said that the bombs would explode at 1.30 pm today. As soon as the information about this threatening email was received, the police and the bomb disposal squad reached the spot. The entire area has been evacuated and the bomb squad searched but nothing was found. Therefore, the police are taking details of the email through which the threat was sent. Mumbai Police is investigating the entire matter in depth.

Threatening mails on three email IDs
On Wednesday, the passport office in BKC received three threatening emails. In which 19 cyanide bombs kept in the passport office and toilets were threatened to explode at 1.30 pm. The threatening mails were received on the email addresses Sourav_biswas21@hotmail.com, rpo.mumbai@mea.gov.in and rpo.mumbai@cpo.gov.in. After this, the security agencies and the Mumbai Police were immediately informed. On receiving the information, the security agencies started immediate action. Senior officers of the BKC police station, an ATS team and officers of Unit 8 immediately reached the spot. They took control of the entire area and started investigation.

Citizens urged to be vigilant
The bomb disposal and bomb disposal team conducted a thorough inspection of the lobby of the passport office, the main entrance, the entrance and exit routes, the trees and bushes in the area and all the surrounding areas as a precautionary measure. Fortunately, they did not find anything suspicious or objectionable in this inspection. Still, the police, taking the matter seriously, have appealed to the citizens to be vigilant. They have also been asked to immediately inform the police if they see anything suspicious anywhere.

Fake threatening emails are also often sent. Such fake emails create an atmosphere of fear. To prevent this, the cyber police have started collecting more information about email IDs. The security personnel of the passport office have also been instructed to be vigilant and follow security standards.

Mumbai, March 18: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday will hear the petition filed by environment NGO Vanashakti against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) commencement of cutting mangrove forests for the Versova-Bhayander Link Road (Coastal Road North) project, the petitioner and director of the NGO Stalin D said.

The BMC claims that it has started the surface-level mangrove cutting under the ‘working permission’ from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), and in coordination with the state forest department.

Extent of mangrove impact and compensation plan

A total of 45,675 mangroves spread across 103.65 hectares of land will be impacted for the project, of which around 9,000 mangroves will be permanently axed. The remaining 36,675 mangroves will be replanted in the shadow area after the project is completed.

The BMC has also submitted in the high court that it will plant three times the green cover impacted as compensatory plantations on the land identified in Chandrapur and Dahanu. However, questions are raised on the survival rate.

NGO alleges violation of legal provisions

Stalin D said, “The commencement of cutting of mangrove forests for the Versova-Bhayander Coastal Road Project is in contravention to Section 2 of the Van Suraksha evam Samwardhan Adhiniyam, 1980 and the order of the Bombay High Court dated 12.12.2025 in Writ Petition No 3790 of 2025. I have approached the apex court and the case will be heard by the bench of Chief Justice of India.”

The respondents in the case are BMC, Union of India, Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, State of Maharashtra, Additional Chief Conservator of Forest (Mangrove Cell) and Bombay Environmental Action Group.

Questions raised over compliance and reports

“The BMC is misguiding the Bombay High Court. In December 2025, while granting permission to cut 45,000 mangroves for the project, the court had asked the BMC to submit an action report of their 1,37,764 compensatory mangroves’ sapling plantation. However, it has yet not submitted that report while claiming that the court verbally told it to submit in January 2027. The civic body is not submitting the report because the survival rate is very poor, against its claim of 90%,” Stalin added.

Reminder notice issued to halt cutting

NGO Vanashakti on March 11 has also sent a reminder notice to the BMC and the state forest department asking them to stop the cutting of mangroves for the Coastal Road North project unless final (Stage II) clearance is obtained.

The first notice was served on February 3, and is still awaiting a response. It alleged that mangrove destruction is being allowed to proceed without Stage II forest clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.