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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

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Mumbai Metro 2A & 7 Connecting Andheri To Dahisar Records Highest 2,87,073 Daily Ridership

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Mumbai: Amid heavy rainfall, the Mumbai Metro had an significant achievement. The Metro 2A and 7 Lines connecting Andheri to Dahisar surpassed highest daily ridership, reaching to 2,87,073 number of passengers the Maha Mumbai Metro Operations Corporation Limited (MMOCL) informed on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to share that Maha Mumbai Metro has proudly surpassed highest daily ridership, reaching an incredible 2,87,073 passengers on Mumbai Metro Line 2A & 7! Even amidst heavy rain, Maha Mumbai Metro remained your steadfast companion, ensuring seamless journeys for all.” the MMOCL posted on its official X handle.

MMOCL also said that it operated two extra services one each from Gundavali & Andheri West, whereas, Monorail operated six services to accommodate and effectively manage the surge in ridership.

However, the activist continue to highlight that the ridership of Mumbai Metro is at least 50 per cent less than planned and expected by the authorities.

In August this year, Mumbai’s first Metro line- the Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova route achieved a record of carrying more thann 500,000 commuters in a single day. On August 13, 2024, Mumbai Metro One carried 500,385 commuters, surpassing the pre-covid ridership, the authorities informed.

“This is the first time ridership of Mumbai Metro One has crossed milestone figure of 500,000 without impact of external factors. There is only one occasion when ridership of Mumbai Metro One had crossed 5 lakh when BEST buses went on strike for 9 days (8 January to 16 January 2019)”, the Metro One had said in its press statement.

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‘Spider-Man’ Spotted Begging At Kalyan Railway Station

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An influencer posed as a man begging in a Spiderman costume at Kalyan Junction. The incident was staged for a reel, which the influencer posted on Instagram sooner. It showed ‘Spiderman From Mumbai’ sitting outside the railway station and seeking money from passersby. The caption of the reel, read in a beggar tone’s, “Spider-Man ko dedo bhai koi.”

The video opened showing the man sitting below the stairs of the railway station. He was seen wearing a Spider-Man costume to capture the attention of train passengers towards him. he repeatedly extended his hand forward begging for some money while being seated at the railway premises.

It wasn’t a real case of someone begging by wearing the superhero costume, but an act performed by the Instagram-based content creator for the craze of reels. As he performed as a beggar there, many people looked at him and one of them also approached him with some money. The reel recorded people at the railway station witnessing the reel act. One of the persons there stepped into the video to offer a coin to the ‘Spider-Man’ beggar.

This video is now going viral on Instagram. It was uploaded on the online platform in August, however, it has reached netizens and caught their attention in the recent days. So far, the reel, which shows the influencer posing as a beggar dressed up in a superhero costume, has attracted 2.8 million views and more than one lakh likes. People reacted to the video and hilariously wrote, “Spider man no money at home.” “We got Spider-Man in kalyan before GTA,” they added.

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Pongal 2024: Mumbai Celebrates Harvest Festival Reflecting Rich Tamil Culture

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Nearly 2000 people participated in Pongal festivities in and around Antop Hill on Monday. Mass Pongal celebration was carried out across various locations of the Sion Koliwada constituency and was facilitated by MLA Captain R Tamil Selvan who continues to organise these events embracing the harvest season and Tamil culture for more than a decade now.

In a beautiful display of cultural richness, locals dressed in traditional attires prepared Pongal reciting folk songs, raising the festival mood. The event saw them setting up their Pongal pots in the midst of sugarcane, flowers, and rangolis. The celebration was notably marked at the Antop Hill Cement Ground with about a thousand people lifting the festival spirit on the auspicious day. Other areas that observed Pongal on a grand scale included New 90 Feet Road, Kamaraj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, and the Malai Mariamman temple in Naik Nagar among a few others.

Captain Selvan was seen visiting the spots and joining the public in the celebration. “Pongal is associated with agriculture. Tamilians of various religious beliefs celebrate this festival together without any discrimination. This is the significance of Pongal,” he said while extending Pongal greetings.

The event was not confined to only the Tamil-speaking people celebrating the occasion as it saw women from diverse cultural backgrounds mark the festival. While Tamilians gathered there to celebrate Pongal, others enjoyed the Makar Sankranti festivities in the region with similar rituals involving boiling water and preparing food in their pots.

Pongalo Pongal” chants were heard during the celebration as women prayed to seek prosperity for their families while boiling and expecting their pots to overflow with the Pongal preparation.

Throwing more light on the harvest festival, the MLA acknowledged that the first dam built in the world was built by Karikala, a Tamilian. “Tamilians introduced the concept of building dams to stop running (river) water and distribute it for agricultural usage. Karikala from the Chola Dynasty constructed the Kallanai Dam over the Kaveri River running in Trichy.”

Several people admire the Tamil language and its treasurable culture, including PM Narendra Modi who recently inaugurated the Kashi Tamil Sangamam at Namo Ghat in Varanasi and mentioned about Pongal and remembered prominent Tamil personalities like Subramania Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan, and Thiruvalluvar.

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