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Process to declare Ram Setu a national heritage monument underway: Centre to SC

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The Central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court it was examining the issue in connection with declaring the Ram Setu a national heritage monument.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, asked petitioner Subramanian Swamy, a former Rajya Sabha member, to make a representation to the government, if he wants.

The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said that Justice Narasimha will not be part of the proceedings as he had earlier appeared in the matter as counsel.

The top court noted that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the process is currently underway in the Ministry of Culture. “He states that the petitioner may submit additional communication if he may so wish,” the bench said.

The bench asked the Centre to take a decision on the issue and granted Swamy the liberty to move before it again if he is not satisfied.

The two-judge bench, comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Pardiwala, disposed of Swamy’s interim application on the issue.

During the hearing, Swamy said he does not want to meet anybody. “We are in the same party; it was there in our manifesto… I will come again,” he said. Mehta said the process is underway.

Swamy informed the top court that in 2019, the then Culture Minister Prahlad Patel had called a meeting on the issue and recommended declaring the Ram Setu as a national heritage monument.

He submitted: “The issue is that they have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

On January 12, the Centre had told the Supreme Court it would file its response by February first week on a plea filed by Swamy seeking a direction to declare the Ram Setu a national heritage monument.

Swamy’s plea sought a direction to the Central government and the National Monument Authority to declare ‘Ram Setu’ as a monument of national importance. Ram Setu, which is also known as Adam’s Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.

Swamy contended that the government has already accepted the existence of ‘Ram Setu’ and in 2017, a meeting was also convened to examine his demand, but things have not moved after that.

In April last year, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice S.A. Bobde had directed that the plea seeking National Heritage Status for Ram Setu be listed before the next Chief Justice of India.

The UPA government, in 2007, had proposed a Sethusamudram project. Under this project an 83-km-long deep-water channel was to be made by extensive dredging and removal of the limestone shoals, to link Mannar with Palk Strait. Swamy moved against this decision in the court and the government resorted to another plan to link Mannar with Palk Strait.

Maharashtra

Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajakta Verma Longare visits Mumbai Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Maternity Home

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Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Prajakta Verma Longare made a surprise inspection of Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Maternity Home and Maternity Ward. Yesterday evening (July 7, 2026) he visited Diwali Ben Mehta (MA) General Hospital in Chembur and reviewed the medical facilities provided by the hospital. Is the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) working properly? It was inspected on the computer. Apart from this, important instructions were given to the hospital administration regarding the use of the system. He inspected the vacant staff accommodation space in the hospital premises and the adjoining vacant plot. He also directed the concerned department to submit detailed information about the correspondence done so far in this regard. After this, the Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) took detailed information about the patients admitted to the hospital and the deliveries occurring within a month. Diwali Ben Mehta (MA) took detailed information about the number of doctors and staff on duty in the General Hospital. Along with this, he inspected the entire hospital. He directed the concerned officers to complete the repair and maintenance work of the hospital immediately. The Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) also directed the concerned medical officers to provide quality health facilities to the patients admitted for treatment and provide them with medicines in a timely manner. Executive Health Officer Dr. Daksha Shah, Joint Executive Health Officer Dr. Santosh Gaikwad, Chief Medical Superintendent of General Hospital Dr. Chandrakant Pawar and concerned officers were present on this occasion.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: BEST bus accident in Bhandup, vehicles collide, pedestrians also injured in collision, accident in Vashi due to tire burst of BEST bus, chaos

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A bus accident in Mumbai’s Bhandup area has created chaos in the area. An out-of-control bus hit several vehicles on the road in the Critical Hospital area of ​​Kokan Nagar in Bhandup, including some pedestrians. The vehicles were severely damaged in the accident. It has been reported that the victim of the accident is an E-bus. It is estimated that the accident occurred due to the bus driver losing control of the bus. According to initial information, it is being estimated that the accident occurred due to the bus driver losing control of the bus. However, the extent of the accident is clear from the damage to the bus. The bus crushed a pedestrian crossing the road, in which he was seriously injured. It has been learned that the name of the injured pedestrian is Atul Padley. As a result, Padley is undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. After the accident, local citizens immediately reached the area and admitted the injured pedestrian for treatment. However, his condition is currently said to be critical. Meanwhile, while the news of the horrific BEST bus accident in Dadar was fresh a few days ago, now the accident in Bhandup has created chaos in the area, so the police are investigating how the accident happened.

On the other hand, on Monday night, a tire of a BEST bus burst while passing through the Vashi toll plaza. The accident was averted due to the presence of mind of the BEST driver. This incident took place around 9:30 pm when the bus number 8230 of Wadala depot was passing through the toll plaza. At that time, the driver Kiran Jadhav suddenly burst, due to which he lost control of the moving bus. However, the driver Kishore Gaur immediately controlled the accident and stopped the bus safely before it hit other vehicles or pedestrians.

Speaking on this, Assistant Police Inspector (API) of Vashi Ravinder Nirod said, “Kiran Jadhav (aged 32) was a BEST bus driver who was taking passengers from Wadala bus depot towards Ghansoli. At around 9.50 pm, Jadhav suddenly got a tyre burst and lost control of the vehicle. In this accident, the driver Jadhav suffered minor injuries as he hit the steering wheel and the front windshield of the bus was broken in the accident.” Senior Police Inspector of Vashi Shashikant Chandikar said, “Fortunately, the BEST bus driver got a tyre burst while passing over the Vashi Creek bridge but the BEST driver avoided the accident.”

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Maharashtra

BMC on alert following a rise in tree-fall incidents due to rain in Mumbai, special arrangements being made to ensure tree safety: Municipal Commissioner

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Better arrangements during rains in Mumbai BMC has been very successful in pumping and drainage on roads and other works and BMC officers and officials were on the road even during the rains. This has been claimed by Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide. Rain in Mumbai From July 1, 2026 to July 7, 2026, Mumbai received more than 300 mm of rain. Mumbai received more rain than the cities of Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru. Rapid drainage of accumulated water with the help of six pumping stations, nine mini pumping stations and 540 submersible pumps. Road and rail traffic continued smoothly in Mumbai even during heavy rains. Water Supply.

Water storage in 7 reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai as on 07 July 2026 = 28.92%Water storage increased by 12% in 24 hours from 6 am on 6 July 2026 to 6 am on 7 July 2026.

Water storage was available at 67.88% as on 07 July 2025. There has been no expected rainfall in the area of ​​7 reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai so far. The available water storage is being reviewed regularly and appropriate decisions will be taken regarding water shortage as per the situation.

Roads and Transport
2,118 km. The road network in Mumbai is maintained by the Municipal Corporation. Cement concreting of 700 km of roads has been started in two phases. Out of which, concreting of 577.46 km of roads has been completed. Work is underway on the remaining roads. 89.81% of the concreting phase-1 and 73.72% of the phase-2 work has been completed. The problem of potholes has been reduced and the cost of filling potholes has been saved by 35%. Eastern Expressway and Western Expressway are not concrete but bituminous roads. Work has already been done on the potholed areas on these highways.
A contractor has been appointed to fill the potholes. The ‘resurfacing’ of these two roads will be done as soon as the monsoon season ends.

7) A separate app is available for redressal of pothole complaints. A complaint registration system like ‘Marg’. Information is also available through newspapers and media. Due to which the speed of attention and response to potholes has increased compared to before.

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Cleaning of drains
Rivers/drains are cleaned regularly. Silt is removed.
When 300 mm of rain falls in a short period and at the same time the sea level rises by four and a half metres, it is natural for water to accumulate in a city like Mumbai, which is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has undergone ‘reclamation’.

3) The Municipal Corporation is trying to get funds from the National Disaster Relief Fund to permanently address these issues. For this, it is preparing a detailed project with the help of IIT Bombay. A major project is being taken up to reduce 300 to 350 ‘flood points’. This includes construction of new pumping stations, increasing the capacity of pumping stations, installation of automatic flood control gates and strengthening the network of sewerage channels.

4) Citizens are requested not to throw solid waste and floating garbage into rivers and drains.
Increase in the number of trees falling due to strong winds in the last two days.

Winds blow every year during the monsoon However, this year, winds have been blowing at a speed of 50 to 70 kmph for the last four to five days. Due to which trees suffered a lot of damage in this monsoon. Every year, trees fall during the monsoon or due to various reasons. This year, 50% of the trees that fell in a year fell in just one day. In 2022, 655 trees fell. In 2023, 687, in 2024, 653 and in 2025, 855 trees fell. While in 2026, 830 trees fell. Out of 830, 480 trees were in the private sector. As many branches as there are, trees fall. This year, 1,238 branches fell. Out of these, 709 were in the private sector.

Steps will be taken to deliver water to the roots of trees on both sides of the road in Mumbai

According to the 2018 tree census, there are 29 lakh 75 thousand trees in Mumbai. Of these, 2 lakh trees are on both sides of the road. Trees along the road are very dangerous. Many trees are on the footpaths along the road. Apart from this, there may be gutters or other channels that carry water under the road. The roads have been concreted, in some places paver blocks have been laid. Therefore, it is necessary to provide water to the roots of such trees. The roots spread far. Therefore, the municipal corporation is also considering whether it is possible to estimate how far the roots of the concerned trees have spread and to that extent, to make holes and put nets over them and pour water. Such an experiment has been done earlier in the Malabar Hill area.

Experts will be sought for tree care

We will learn about this by taking information from some experts from Mumbai University, like Dr. Sanjay Deshmukh and IIT. Efforts are being made to provide water to the roots of trees that go deep into the ground. We will also emphasize on scientific pruning of trees. Out of the 2 lakh trees along the roads, the Municipal Corporation has cut down 1 lakh trees this year. Along with this, a survey of these trees will be done and where necessary, they will be cut down. A sure method will be used for this. Expert opinion will also be taken for this.

Caution will be taken while working on various underground channels
Many trees are 50 to 60 years old. Their roots have gone very deep. Roads were built for this.

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