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Mumbai News: Over 6K Potholes Filled; Thousands More Need Repair, Says BMC Opposition Leader

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Mumbai: The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) claims to have filled up 6,045 potholes across the metropolis from April 1 to July 24. However, there are several thousands more which need filling up and it is not clear when that will happen.

Ravi Raja, a former leader of the opposition in the BMC, said, “The potholes come up with great regularity because the original work itself is shoddy. If the contractors selected by the MCGM had done a good job initially, there would have been no potholes. These potholes are proof of massive corruption in the civic corporation.”

Where has all the money gone?

“In May-June, the MCGM had floated a tender for ₹250 crore for pothole filling and gave ₹2 crore to each ward for the same. Where has all the money gone? There are more than 16,000 potholes in the city,” Raja added.

Following heavy rains, thousands of potholes have cropped all over the city and suburbs like in the past years. These not only slow down vehicular traffic, but also pose a major danger to pedestrians.

“Parel flyover is a disgrace to the city and no one in the BMC appears to be bothered about it. The problem had started even before the rains. So it is wrong to blame the potholes here on the rains,” said Chandrakant Mhatre, a local citizen. The Lalbaug and Sion flyovers are fast catching up with Parel flyover in terms of potholes and uneven surfaces.

The BMC has carried out several experiments on roads to make the city pothole-free but without much success. Till date, 512 metric tonne of dry mix has been provided to 24 administrative wards in the city to fill up the craters. However, the work carried out by the contractors is shabby, complain activists.

The city witnessed heavy rains last week and that has increased the number of bad patches. The civic body has received several complaints about potholes from citizens through websites, mobile apps, social media and toll-free numbers. Additional municipal commissioner, P Velrasu, has started inspecting the work along with senior civic officials of the road department at several places in the city from Sunday.

BMC uses M-60 and reactive asphalt to fill up potholes

The BMC is using rapid hardening of concrete (also known as M-60) and reactive asphalt to fix potholes this year. After taking a review, he instructed the officials to fill all the bad patches on all the roads, including the eastern and western express highway and eastern freeway up on priority.

“Several teams have been formed for co-ordination to detect bad patches and get them filled in the proper manner on war-footing. Contractors have also been appointed in seven zones for two years to get the bad patches repaired.

However, the citizens and activists are not convinced by the BMC’s claims. “The civic body is spending crores but their work is shabby,” said Nikhil Desai, an activist from Matunga. “The BMC experiments with several different technologies but it gets washed out with heavy rain,” said Vinod Gholap, a resident of Malad. Godfrey Pimenta, an activist from Andheri.”

Funds allotted for potholes

Potholes filled from April 1 to July 24: Total 6,045

Funds to fill potholes

₹125 crore at zonal level

₹2 crore each for 24 administrative wards

Material used: 512 metric tonne dry cold mix

Road network in city: 2050km

Asphalt road: 1058km

Concrete road:1056km

Maharashtra

Maharashtra ATS action: Pakistani spy arrested

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Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has claimed to have arrested a person who was in contact with a PIO for spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies. Investigation has revealed that the suspect was in contact with the PIO on Facebook since November 2024. Between November 2024 and March 2025, he sent pictures of restricted and important establishments of the Government of India through WhatsApp. In this case, the ATS has also identified two of his contacts with whom he was in contact. In this case, the ATS has registered a case against three people. The suspect was in contact with two Pakistani people. What kind of intelligence information of India did he give and pictures of which places did he send? This is also being investigated. A case has been registered against the accused for giving intelligence information and taking pictures of places of the Government of India and spying and the Pakistani spy has been arrested. Earlier, the ATS had arrested a PIO spy. In this case too, the ATS has registered a case for giving sensitive information. A case was registered and now the ATS has arrested a person in the PIO case.

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Maharashtra

Goats continue to arrive in Deonar Mandi on Eid-ul-Adha, BMC and Deonar administration claim to have completed all preparations, online permits for sacrifice

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Mumbai: Goats have started arriving at the Deonar slaughterhouse for Eid-ul-Adha. Due to heavy rains, the crowd in the market is less. The Deonar administration has claimed to have completed all the preparations for Eid-ul-Adha. A fee of Rs 195 is being charged from traders per goat, but there is no fee for buyers. Deonar slaughterhouse general manager Kaleem Pasha Pathan said that complete arrangements have been made for the sacrifice in Deonar, along with all the arrangements including the goat shed.

Deonar slaughterhouse is under 24-hour CCTV surveillance. Along with goats, there is a buffalo market here and the purchase of buffaloes has also increased. Last year, due to the increase in goat prices, the purchase of buffaloes was also high, so this year too, the buffalo and goat market has been decorated. He said that all kinds of facilities are available in the market, including medical examination of goats and animals, along with other necessary arrangements including stalls have been made for buyers. Eid-ul-Adha buffaloes are sacrificed in Dewiyar from June 7 to June 9 and the sacrificers are informed about the schedule after booking tokens and slots, along with which online permits for sacrifice are also provided at housing societies and other places. Kaleem Pathan said that fencing and sheds have been arranged for the protection of sacrificial animals, along with roads have also been prepared so that buyers do not face any kind of trouble during the rains.

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Maharashtra

Crackdown on Malaysian international drug smuggler and ringleader deported, accused handed over to police, 8 accused arrested so far

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Mumbai: In a major development, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has extradited the kingpin of an international drug trafficking gang from Malaysia with the help of other national and international agencies. It started with the seizure of around 200 grams of cocaine hidden in a projector from a parcel sent from Mumbai to Australia by DHL courier on January 21, 2025.

Following a bottom-up approach during the investigation of the case, the NCB in Navi Mumbai further affected the seizure of 11.540 kg of cocaine, 4.9 kg of cannabis and 5.5 kg of ganja from the house of a member of the syndicate. The investigation has revealed a well-oiled transnational syndicate involved in smuggling cocaine from the US to India and further distributing it within and outside India. The investigation further revealed the involvement of Clearing House Agents (CHAs) and Hawala operators.

A total of 08 people have been arrested so far and the ringleader, who was in Thailand in 2021 after escaping from an earlier NCB case in connection with LSD smuggling, was in Malaysia and was brought to India following a recent NCB Red Notice. The investigation into the case has already revealed that the syndicate had been operating for at least a year and several air cargo parcels of cocaine were received in Mumbai during this period. The interrogation of the ringleader brought from Malaysia is likely to reveal more details of his operations, including the sources of drugs in the US. The financial investigation in the case has already identified assets including properties and bank accounts in Thailand. Efforts are underway to attach these properties. In a significant development, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has deported the ringleader of an international drug trafficking gang from Malaysia with the help of other national and international agencies.

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