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Prayers, Food, & Games: Lakhs Expected To Visit Mahim Fair That Starts Tomorrow

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2 years ago

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The 10-day annual fair at the dargah of  Makhdum Ali Mahimi at Mahim will start on December 27 as it has always, with a procession of personnel from the Mahim police station walking to the shrine bearing gifts of a chadar, a shawl to cover the tomb, and scented offerings. The fair starts six days after the Urs, or the death anniversary of the saint which was observed last week. 

The shrine of Makhdum Ali Mahimi

The shrine is revered as the tomb of a religious scholar believed to have lived between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Stories of miraculous cures bring thousands of pilgrims to the dargah which is the city’s second-most-visited Sufi shrine after the Haji Ali dargah.The shrine observed the saint’s 610th death anniversary or Urs on December 21 which corresponded to the eighth day of the Islamic month Jamadul Akhir which began on December 14. The Urs began last week with the unfurling of the national flag and singing of the song ‘Sare jahan se acha’. This is followed by the raising of the flags of the police and the dargah.  

Event is a ‘gazetted mela’

Sohail Khandwani, trustee of the Pir Makhdum Saheb Charitable Trust, said that the fair that takes place around the shrine during the Urs is a ‘gazetted mela’ as the event is listed in government gazettes from the pre-independence days. “The fair started in 1910, so this is the 113th year,” said Khandwani.  

For a religious place, the shrine has an unusual feature – a copy of the preamble to the Constitution of India mounted on the wall near the Ashtana or the shrine’s inner sanctum which houses the saint’s tomb.

Mansoor Khan of the Sufi Islamic Board said that the idea behind placing the preamble’s copy is to show that no place in the country is untouched by the theme of nationalism. “As things are today, shrines are shown in a negative light. We have to show that there is no religious discrimination at this place. Dargahs are inclusive and embracers of national culture,” explained Khan.  

More about ‘Mahim ka Mela’

Apart from the spiritual aspects of the festival, the ‘Mahim ka Mela’, organised like a carnival, is an attraction for visitors. As the number of visitors to the fair has grown, the event, which was once confined to the narrow Dargah Street, has shifted to Balamia Street and extends to Mahim Beach. More than five lakh people are expected to visit the fair.

Ashraf Ahmed Shaikh, a lawyer and resident of Mahim said, “It is like a traditional fair, with amusement rides. Shopkeepers come from all over India to sell different kinds of food. The main dish at the fair is ‘Halwa Paratha’. As kids we were excited about the fair,” said Shaikh.

There is no authentic record of how the Mumbai police became involved with the shrine’s annual festival, but it is said that personnel prayed to the saint when there was a particularly difficult crime case to be investigated. Other than the police, officials from the traffic police, the Brihahmumbai Municipal Corporation, and the Mumbai Port Trust are involved in managing traffic and stalls at the fair.  

 1st dargah trust to get an ISO certification in 2007

The shrine is the first dargah trust to get an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification in 2007 for management practices. The certificate has been renewed till July 2025. The certificate acknowledges the trust’s calibre in organising the Urs, the religious research it facilitates, and the library services charity activities of the trust.

The shrine houses a 600-year-old Quran believed to have been written by the saint. An annual exposition called the ‘Quran Sharief Ziyarat’ is held on a day in the month of Ramzan when the book is displayed to the faithful for a few hours. During the rest of the year, the book is kept in a silver box in the Ashtana. The shrine’s managers said that the book was stitched together a century ago with pages written by the saint. 

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Maharashtra

Funds will be available immediately through the SAP system as soon as the budget for the year 2026-27 is approved in the Municipal Corporation meeting.

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7 hours ago

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May 9, 2026

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Mumbai: The Budget Estimates for the financial year 2026-27 presented by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Administration were approved with the proposed amendments in the Municipal Corporation House yesterday (8th May 2026). As per the approved Budget (Modified Budget Estimates 2026-27), the Municipal Corporation Administration has immediately made the funds given to the Municipal Corporation members for development works available on the SAP system. Due to this, the civic services, amenities and local development works recommended by the esteemed corporators in the Standing Committee and Municipal Corporation meetings will get a boost. Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde, Deputy Mayor Sanjay Gadi, Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar, Standing Committee Chairman Prabhakar Shinde, Shiv Sena Group Leader Umay Ghole have expressed satisfaction over this immediate action. This year, the general elections of the Municipal Corporation were held in January 2026, after which the election process for the posts of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and then various statutory, special and committee posts was completed. During this, the Municipal Corporation administration presented the budget estimate for the financial year 2026-2027 on February 25, 2026. As per the prescribed procedure, the budget was discussed in the Standing Committee and after necessary amendments, the Standing Committee placed the revised budget before the Municipal Corporation meeting. After 12 days of discussion, the income side of the budget was approved on April 30, 2026 in the Municipal Corporation meeting. Thus, the entire budget with amendments has been approved in the Municipal Corporation meeting.

As per the regular procedure till now, the budget is expected to be approved before the beginning of the financial year. However, this year, the budget approval was delayed due to the elections and the subsequent process.

Keeping this in mind and the need to expedite the local development works proposed by the members of the Municipal Corporation, it was of utmost importance to implement the revised budget immediately. In this regard, Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide had directed that the budget for amendments be made available on the SAP system immediately, so that the concerned departments can immediately complete the administrative approval, tender process and start the implementation of the local development works.

Accordingly, under the guidance of Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwini Joshi, the Finance Department of the Municipal Corporation working under the supervision of Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar, Joint Commissioner (Finance) Devidas Kshirsagar, Deputy Commissioner (Municipal Commissioner’s Office) Prashant Gaikwad, and Chief Accountant (Finance Department) Prashant Gaikwad. Late last night, May 8, 2026, uploaded the budget for amendments in the SAP system. This urgent action by the Municipal Corporation administration will boost various local development works in Mumbai.

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Crime

Navi Mumbai Crime: Panvel Police Solve ₹1.5 Crore Tata Projects Theft Case Within 6 Hours, 3 Arrested

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8 hours ago

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May 9, 2026

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Navi Mumbai, May 9: Panvel City Police solved a Rs 1.5 crore theft of materials belonging to Tata Projects Limited, stored on railway land, within six hours, arresting three accused and recovering stolen property and cash worth Rs 1.6 crore.

The police recovered 100 per cent of the stolen material and also exposed the involvement of an insider in the case.

The theft took place on April 28 from a site in Karanjade Sector-1, where Tata Projects Limited had stored construction materials for a railway bridge project on railway premises.

Unknown persons had stolen materials worth Rs 1.5 crore from the location.

After a case was registered at Panvel City Police Station, special teams were formed under the guidance of Senior Police Inspector Nitin Thackeray.

Acting on technical analysis, intelligence inputs and local inquiries, the police arrested three accused within six hours and recovered the entire stolen material in the following days.

During the investigation, the main accused was identified as Vijaykumar Babulal Verma, a supervisor with the company, who allegedly instigated the theft and facilitated the crime.

He had reportedly taken Rs 10 lakh from the co-accused in return. The police later recovered the cash amount from his residence.

“We were able to crack the case within six hours using technical inputs and local intelligence. The entire stolen property has been recovered and further investigation is underway,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Bhausaheb Dhole.

A total of Rs 1.6 crore worth of property, including Rs 1.5 crore in stolen materials and Rs 10 lakh in cash, has been seized, police said.

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Crime

MBVV Police Bust Major Drug Syndicate, Seize MD Worth ₹13.61 Crore In Mira Bhayandar Crackdown

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9 hours ago

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May 9, 2026

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Mira Bhayandar: In a significant crackdown on the narcotics trade, the Crime Detection Branch (Unit 4) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) Police has dismantled a major drug trafficking gang. Officials seized 6.773 kg of Mephedrone (MD), valued at approximately ₹13.61 crore in the international market.

The operation began on May 4, following a precise tip-off received by a team led by Police Inspector Pramod Badakh. The information suggested a large stockpile of drugs at the Chedda Adarsh building in the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road.

Upon raiding the premises, police recovered 1.324 kg of MD worth ₹2.66 crore from the residence of a woman identified as Firdos Arbaz Qureshi. Investigators determined that the contraband belonged to her husband, Arbaz Vakil Qureshi. Both were immediately taken into custody.

During the interrogation of the Qureshi couple, the police uncovered a wider network of suppliers and distributors. Subsequent raids led to the arrest of several other accomplices across different regions

Moiz Javed Khan (Behram Baug, Jogeshwari), Arman Ali Kalam Ali Rain & Sunil Kamal Yadav (Oshiwara), Mohammad Wasim Yusuf Sheikh (Shanti Park, Mira Road), Irfan Anwar Kudiya (Rajkot, Gujarat), Mohammad Arafat Shamsuddin Ansari (Byculla), Khalda Arafat Ansari (Madanpura, Byculla), Akash Satyaram Yadav (New Link Road, Jogeshwari)

The total recovery stands at 6.773 kg, with the largest portion of the drugs being traced back to and seized from the Agripada area in Mumbai.

Total Value of Seized MD is ₹13,61,38,480

The MBVV Police are currently investigating the “forward and backward linkages” of this syndicate to identify the original manufacturers and the end consumers to whom the gang intended to sell the illegal substances.

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