Mumbai: Following strong citizen resistance, the BMC has significantly scaled down tree cutting for the Malabar Hill Reservoir project. The original plan would have impacted 389 trees, including 200 slated for transplantation. Under a revised design featuring a 52 Million litres per day (MLD) alternate tank, the number of affected trees has been reduced to under 100.

An alternative water tank will be built on a plot behind the iconic Hanging Gardens, above the existing reservoir. The project is vital to ensure continuous supply during repairs to the reservoir, as any failure of the current structure could affect South Mumbai’s distribution system, claims, civic officials. Under the revised plan, the alternative tank falls within the “funnel of vision,” making approval from the state government’s Urban Development Department mandatory. This requirement is likely to subject the project to an additional level of scrutiny before it can progress further.

“Spread across 4,000 sq m, the alternative tank project will allocate 2,200 sq m exclusively for reservoir construction, while the remaining area will be used for supporting infrastructure such as valves, micro-tunnelling systems, and pumps,” he added. The BMC is planning to engage experts in cases where trees are affected, with efforts focused on transplanting those that may obstruct the project. The trees likely to be impacted include Ashoka, Fanas, Bel, Mango, and Jambhul species. The civic body has revised the construction plan for the alternative tank to preserve large-girth trees.

The century-old reservoir beneath Hanging Gardens supplies 147 MLD of water to South Mumbai. Following a 2022 audit that flagged structural concerns, the BMC approved a reconstruction plan worth nearly Rs 698 crore, which included building a 90 MLD replacement tank. Work commenced in 2023, but the project soon drew public attention after notices were placed on trees in Hanging Gardens slated for removal, triggering strong opposition from Malabar Hill residents.

Amid the protests, the BMC shelved its plan in 2023 to demolish and reconstruct the reservoir. Instead, it shifted to a phased repair strategy that necessitates the construction of an alternative tank. However, residents have questioned the need for such a facility, arguing that repairs could be carried out in phases by isolating sections of the reservoir, with the remaining capacity deemed sufficient to maintain supply. They have also indicated plans to approach the court over the issue.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is planning a large-scale project to improve the quality of infrastructure in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The road cement concreting project has been started in two phases to provide pothole-free roads to the citizens of Mumbai. This will make road travel easier. While the Municipal Corporation is carrying out road works, on the other hand, the Municipal Corporation has developed a computer system (real-time dashboard) that displays detailed information about the roads so that Mumbaikars can also get information about their area. This information ‘dashboard’ is open to everyone on the website of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation at the link https://roads.mcgm.gov.in/publicdashboard. It is noteworthy that this ‘dashboard’ will be updated every day. Municipal Corporation Commissioner Mrs. Ashwini Bhide reviewed the road works in detail. She directed the officers in the review meeting that the road cement concreting work should be done within the stipulated time and in a quality manner.

In this review meeting, Bhide said that the first phase of the ambitious road cement concreting project of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation should be completed by December 12, 2026, phase 2 should be completed by May 2027. There will be no extension in this. There is a need to be more vigilant about the quality of roads. It should be ensured that the ongoing road works are completed by May 31, 2026. It should be ensured that no work is started during the monsoon. So that the citizens do not face any trouble. Mrs. Bhide said that the Municipal Corporation has started a ‘dashboard’ to ensure transparency in the cement road project.

This review meeting was held at the office of Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide. On this occasion, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Mr. Abhijit Bangar, Deputy Commissioner (Infrastructure) Mr. Girish Nikam, Deputy Commissioner (Commissioner’s Office) Mr. Prashant Gaikwad, Chief Engineer (Roads) Mr. Mantiya Swamy etc. along with engineers were present.

Cement concreting work in Mumbai should be of high quality, there should be transparency in it. Therefore, Municipal Commissioner Mrs. Ashwini Bhide has paid special attention to the quality of this project. Bhide has also given clear instructions to keep the information updated on the ‘dashboard’ of the Municipal Corporation. She has also said that special care should be taken that the citizens are not inconvenienced during the road work. Cement concreting of 2,118 roads (length 691.08 km) is being done under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the major road cement concreting project of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Out of these, end-to-end concreting (PQC) of 1,170 roads (length 316.84 km) has been completed. While 559 roads have been completed from junction to junction (171.40 km). Thus, out of the total 691.08 km, concreting of 488.24 km roads i.e. 71% concreting has been completed. Cement concreting (PQC) work of remaining 389 roads (102.04 km) will be started soon. Thus, information about the roads whose cement concreting has been completed, on which work is in progress and on which work will be started soon is given in a separate column on the ‘Dashboard’ of road works on the website of the Municipal Corporation. Detailed information about the process of pouring concrete (PQC) under the road concreting project is available to the citizens zone-wise, administrative department-wise (ward office). This has made it easier and simpler for citizens to see the current status of road work in any part of their zone. Along with this, citizens also have information about the length and width of the road in their area where cement concreting work is being done, when the work started, when it will be completed, as well as what percentage of the work has been completed. Here, citizens will also get to see images showing the current condition of the road. Mumbai residents can contact the municipal authorities and contractors to get detailed information about the contractor who has been given the job of concreting the road in their area, the name and contact number of the municipal engineer responsible for the road and both of these are present on the ‘dashboard’. This will enable them to communicate directly with the contractor and the responsible municipal official. Apart from this, if citizens want to know the current status of the road work, they can enter the name of the road in the ‘search bar’ on the dashboard homepage and the detailed information will appear on the screen. Not only this, information about cement concreting has also been provided through the Mumbai map so that citizens can get information about roads in a more convenient way.

Mumbai: After several sensational revelations in the investigation of Mumbai impostor Ashok Kharat, Maharashtra Special Investigation Team (SIT) IPS officer Tejashwi Satpute today made it clear in his first press conference that Kharat’s coordinators, aides and helpers will be questioned. The SIT has started an investigation in this regard and no one will be spared. Along with this, Satpute has also claimed significant progress in the investigation so far. He said that the investigation is also underway regarding those who leaked and disclosed documents including call records and videos. Satpute said in a press conference that two cases have been registered against those who defamed the victims by making videos with controversial and objectionable content viral, in which six have been arrested. He appealed to the news channel not to reveal the identities of the victims. The SIT has also deleted more than 4,000 such videos. Along with this, two FIRs have been registered after deleting 441 videos of those who repeatedly released videos against the victims. These videos were posted multiple times, hence the case has been registered. Therefore, SIT chief Tejashwi Satpute has appealed to refrain from posting controversial and objectionable content and videos related to this case on social media. He also mentioned the orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court, in which the identity of the victims and the accused has been ordered to be kept secret. Along with this, it is very important to take care of the identity of the victims because this is a sensitive matter and is related to women. In this, Ashok Kharat took advantage of the beliefs of naive women. He sexually abused women who were suffering from superstition by telling them that he was an incarnation of gods and goddesses. In this case, 8 FIRs have been registered and statements of 30 witnesses have been recorded. The victims have also been interrogated. The SIT has collected a lot of important evidence against Ashok Kharat and a charge sheet has to be filed against him within 60 days. He said that the ED has also filed a case of money laundering in this too, the SIT will cooperate with the ED and a joint investigation will be conducted. In the first case, Ashok Kharat was arrested, after which he is on remand in the second case, which includes 8 cases of sexual abuse and one case of cheating. Their investigation has been handed over to the SIT. Along with this, the SIT is also interrogating Ashok Kharat’s contacts. Investigation is also underway regarding those who leaked the records.