Mumbai: Two persons were injured in a fire that broke out in the early hours of Wednesday at a residential building in Goregaon West. The fire was extinguished within half an hour. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The incident occurred at Atul CHS Ltd., Siddharth Nagar, near Vivek College, and was reported at 3:53 AM to the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB). The fire was confined to room No. 203 on the second floor of a stilt plus seven-storey building.

It damaged electrical wiring and installations, an AC unit, household items, wooden furniture, mattresses, a bed, and books, said fire official. 

Firefighting teams successfully extinguished the blaze by 4:15 AM. Medical sources from Kokilaben Hospital confirmed that two residents, Rameela Saha (65) and Krunal Saha (40), suffered from smoke inhalation. Both were admitted to the emergency ward and are reported to be in stable condition. 

Mumbai: Mumbaikars have warned to hit the streets to save over 700 trees along the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), which are proposed to be axed to make way for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) Rs 2,682 crore elevated road between Ghatkopar and Thane. Greens have expressed resentment against the removal of such a large number of trees, many of which are the highly admired rosy trumpet trees.

Motorists travelling between Ghatkopar and Thane through the EEH during winter get to observe the beautiful sight of pink flowers blooming in large numbers on the trees on both sides of the highway near Vikhroli.

The tabebuia rosea, commonly known as rosy trumpet, witnesses the blooming of pink flowers once a year and provides a feel of Japan’s cherry blossom trees. These trees become a major attraction point for commuters on the stretch during winter.

However, Mumbaikars might soon miss the sight of these pink trees as around 706 trees along EEH, including these rare trees, are likely to be cut down by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to make way for MMRDA’s three-lane elevated road spanning almost 13km to connect Ghatkopar’s Chheda Nagar with Thane’s Anand Nagar at a cost of Rs 2,682 crore.

The BMC has identified around 706 trees across N ward, T ward and S ward, and has put up notices on them, inviting suggestions and objections from citizens. Around 315 of these trees are likely to be cut permanently while the others will be transplanted.

Mumbaikars are opposing the civic body’s plan to axe the trees by writing to the authorities, making social media posts and signing an online petition. An online petition created by Naheed Contractor, opposing the cutting of trees, had received more than 2,200 signatures till Tuesday evening.

“This is a 12km stretch that is going to be affected and anyway the green patches that we once had are fading away slowly. We cannot remove over 700 trees just for another lane of cars to jam the highway,” read the petition.

Green activists have also condemned the plan of cutting the trees and demanded that the civic body should stress on replantation and pre-plantation of trees.

Subhajit Mukherjee, founder of Mission Green Mumbai, said, “It is our helplessness that we have to cut trees in the land starved city of Mumbai to fulfil the responsibility for people’s survival through infrastructure. However, the BMC is not putting any efforts in replantation and pre-plantation of trees being axed. There is no will to act in this direction and that is the reason that over one lakh trees are currently affected in the city due to over 4,000 redevelopment projects.”

A few greens have also warned of hitting the streets to protect the streets as they have called the plan unacceptable. “We have already lost a lot of trees to metro projects and now we cannot let them cause such a big destruction. This way, it seems that they are on a run to chop down all the trees in Mumbai. Building more roads to reduce traffic has never worked in this city and still they keep on destroying green spaces. We will write our objections to the BMC and will even hit the streets if they plan to go ahead,” said Natasha Perreira, a green activist from Bandra.

On Tuesday, morning walkers hugged the trees in a symbolic ‘Chipko Movement’ to oppose the notices put up by BMC regarding the cutting of trees.

Mumbai: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a revival of rainfall and thunderstorms in Mumbai starting Thursday, bringing brief relief from the dry spell but little respite from the prevailing October heat. According to the IMD, light to moderate showers accompanied by thunderstorm activity are likely to continue until October 20.

Despite the expected rainfall, temperatures across the city are not likely to drop majorly, with daytime highs forecast to remain above 35°C through the week. On Tuesday, Mumbai was the second-warmest city in Maharashtra after Ratnagiri. IMD data showed Ratnagiri recording 35.5°C, while the Santacruz observatory logged 35.3°C, about 1.6°C above normal. The Colaba coastal observatory registered a maximum of 33.7°C.

Meteorologists attribute the current weather pattern to the northeastern monsoon currents, which typically bring rainfall to southern India but occasionally extend their influence westward during transition periods. The unseasonal showers are expected to be patchy but may persist intermittently over the weekend.

Neighbouring Palghar district has been placed under a yellow alert for Friday, with the IMD warning of possible thunderstorms and gusty winds. Independent weather observer Rushikesh Agre aka Mumbai Rains wrote on X that several parts of western Maharashtra will begin experiencing daily rainfall from midweek. “Pune is likely to get showers from October 15 onwards, while Mumbai will also join soon, with good chances of rain from October 16,” he said.

While the incoming rain may provide temporary relief from the parched conditions that followed the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon on October 10, meteorologists caution that the combination of heat and moisture could make the city’s weather more uncomfortable. The rainfall is expected to raise humidity levels, resulting in muggy conditions and sticky nights across the coastal belt.

Meanwhile, air quality across Mumbai remained in the ‘moderate’ category on Wednesday morning, with the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) measured at 138. Of the 28 monitoring stations across the city, only three recorded ‘satisfactory’ air quality, while Bandra Kurla Complex and Deonar registered ‘poor’ AQI levels above 200.