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Maharashtra

RTI: Maharashtra LoP Devendra Fadnavis is a ‘Man of Letters’, 230-plus

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 The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis — whose political bark is considered worse than his bite — also uses the pen, literally, to bulldoze the Maha Vikas Aghadi ‘auto rickshaw’ government, no-holds-barred.

Not content with regular jibes at the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance in general and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in particular, Fadnavis also regularly pens his pricks and pains, at the MVA — quite frequently.

As per an RTI reply from the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office CMO, in around 22 months Fadnavis has shot off — on record — various issues to the CMO vide a whopping 231 letters.

“In the 22 month period from November 2019 – September 2021, this comes to roughly 10 letters every month or nearly three for a working week…” said RTI activist Prafful Sarda.

Sarda had penned the RTI query to the CMO, seeking, among other things, the number of letters sent by the Leader of Opposition (Fadnavis) to the Chief Minister (Thackeray), and got the revealing letter-in-reply.

“This is more than 7 times the number of published letters that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had penned to his doting minor daughter Indira (Priyadarshini) Nehru while he was incarcerated in jails during the Independence Movement, later published as a literary masterpiece, ‘Letters From A Father To His Daughter’ (1929),” Sarda pointed out.

Sources say that usually Fadnavis writes about mostly state-related or political issues to the Chief Minister, and in the initial days, his letters rattled the fledgling MVA ministers and officials.

Later, the old economic theory came into play — ‘the more you have of something, the less you want, the more of it’, with Fadnavis’ letters averaging one-to-three pagers, becoming less awesome, plus the government’s response is not known.

With time Fadnavis’ painstakingly printed letters, both in email and hardcopy on the glittering ‘Leader of Opposition’ letterhead — where his name is proclaimed in larger size than the august post he holds — came to be treated as ‘routine’, not ruffling the officialdom.

Official sources wonder, if the Honourable Leader of Opposition has indeed written so many letters in such a short period, “it may be a record of sorts”, with each letter winking — “Mee Punha Yaeen (I will return)” – a la Fadnavis!

“In the past, at best we recall barely a handful of letters from any Hon.’ Leader of Opposition to the reigning Hon.’ CM… Usually a phone-call or a mere word was enough to get things moving… So many letters are unheard of… makes one wonder about the possible intentions,” said a senior former officer.

To Fadnavis’ credit, some of the letters he penned, mostly in Marathi, few even in English and Marathi for the larger audiences, many posted on social media, raised pertinent current issues and even garnered huge media publicity, ensuring he remained in the spotlight.

But, in some dark moments, he grabbed the limelight by unilaterally proclaiming – “I feel I’m still the CM” — to drive the entire state into splits, with MVA leaders urging the BJP to ensure proper treatment for mental problems, hallucinations, or trauma of his defeat two years ago which he still cannot digest, etc.

Maharashtra

BMC machinery is operating round-the-clock amidst heavy rainfall to keep Mumbai’s daily life running normally

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Mumbai Mumbai region has been receiving continuous rain for the last five days. Even in these conditions, officers and staff of BMC’s Mumbai Fire Brigade, storm water drains, roads and traffic, gardens, public health, solid waste management, and other departments are working on the ground to ensure smooth daily life in Mumbai. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has expressed satisfaction over the tireless efforts of all these officers and staff who are making continuous efforts to maintain normalcy amidst the heavy rain. However, he has urged them to take all necessary measures while keeping their health and safety in mind. Mumbai has been receiving heavy rains for the past few days. Even in such difficult circumstances, necessary measures are being implemented immediately through constant coordination between all the concerned departments of BMC. BMC engineers, officers, staff, and workers along with Mumbai Fire Brigade, Storm Water Drainage Department, Roads and Traffic Department, Health Department, Solid Waste Management Department, and other concerned units are ready round the clock to provide immediate services to the citizens. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide praised the dedication and sense of duty shown by all the officers and staff for maintaining the smooth functioning of daily life in Mumbai, even in the face of adverse weather conditions. He has also directed the field level teams to be extra vigilant and proactive, noting that the coming days are critical in terms of rainfall. He has directed that special emphasis should be given to works like drainage of water, running dewatering pumps at waterlogging points, regular cleaning of roads, trimming of trees, immediate removal of garbage and construction/demolition, immediate cleaning of possible water bodies and waste affected areas, effective monitoring during field operations and timely provision of effective arrangements. Coordination should be maintained with the concerned departments as per the requirement. In the context of rainy season, the staff is advised to take care of their personal safety and health. Furthermore, all employees should take necessary precautions to avoid leptospirosis. They are advised to take 200 mg doxycycline tablets as a preventive measure against leptospirosis. The administration has informed that these tablets are available in municipal dispensaries.

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Maharashtra

Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) inspects various areas amid heavy rain, directs BMC to remain on high alert

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Amidst the ongoing heavy rains in Mumbai, Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) of Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Smt. Prajakta Varmalongare today (July 6, 2026) visited various parts of Mumbai City Division to take stock of the situation arising out of the rains. She also reviewed in detail the measures being implemented by the Municipal Corporation’s monsoon management machinery. During the visit, she directly interacted with the officers and staff of the concerned departments and issued necessary instructions.
On Monday morning, Lavangare personally inspected the areas including Malabar Hill, Ambivadi (Kala Chowki), Mahim, Maheshwari Adhan (King’s Circle) area, Ravindra Natya Mandir area, Hindmata and other places. He carefully reviewed the rain-related situation, waterlogging hotspots, drainage system in operation, preparedness of emergency response mechanism and civic services provided to the citizens. Furthermore, he directed the concerned authorities to immediately mobilize municipal teams to clear fallen trees or branches during the rain. He also directed all the concerned departments to work together to ensure that the rain does not cause any disruption to traffic or the daily life of the citizens. He also directed the ward-level officials and staff to remain constantly alert and ensure that all operational systems function at full capacity. He issued instructions to prioritize immediate resolution of issues like waterlogging, uprooted trees, drainage issues and other emergencies. He stressed that all departments should work together and take prompt and effective action on every complaint so that the citizens do not face any hardship or inconvenience. Furthermore, Prajakta Verma Lovengare appealed to Mumbaikars to contact the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s emergency helpline number, 1916, for immediate assistance in emergencies.

Deputy Commissioner (Zone-1) Ms. Chanda Jadhav, Deputy Commissioner (Zone-2) Shri Prashant Sapkale, Assistant Commissioner Smt. Swapnaja Kshirsagar, Assistant Commissioner Shri Gajanan Belle, Assistant Commissioner Shri Arun Kshirsagar and other senior officers and staff of the concerned departments were present during the inspection.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Azmi demands a high-level inquiry into the Mankhurd tragedy, calls for medical aid and adequate assistance to be provided to the victims.

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ABU ASIM AZMI

Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has expressed grief over the building collapse in Mankhurd and questioned the action of the BMC administration in this matter. Amidst the ongoing heavy rains in the Mandla area of ​​Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency, a tragic incident took place. A three-storey building collapsed like a deck of cards, resulting in the untimely and tragic death of six people. This tragedy has once again exposed illegal construction and administrative negligence in Mumbai. As soon as the information about the incident was received, local MLA Abu Asim Azmi reached Shatabdi Hospital to meet the victims and console them and ensure proper treatment of the injured. He also visited the spot to supervise the relief and rescue operations and directed the authorities to provide all possible assistance to the affected families immediately. This horrific accident has raised serious questions about the functioning and corruption of the Municipal Corporation (BMC). As per the 1995 Act, the concerned Ward Officer and Bat Officer are directly responsible for any illegal construction, and action is taken against them. The government has provided protection to the slums built in 2000 and again in 2011 from time to time, but currently there is no control over the illegal storeys being constructed in violation of the rules. The question is growing in the area that how can anyone dare to build illegal structures above 14 feet without the secret consent or connivance of the local municipal authorities? The irony is that whenever there is an attempt to stop these dangerous illegal constructions, some corrupt BMC officials shirk their responsibility and conspire to defame the public representatives. Due to their helplessness and limited space, poor citizens often pay bribes to build a roof to shelter themselves. But if administrative corruption is stopped and the laws are strictly implemented, such tragic accidents in which innocent lives are lost can be stopped forever. Now the public is directly asking whether the BMC is not responsible for this blatant negligence and whether the government will conduct a high-level investigation into the matter and take strict and punitive action against the guilty officials. On the incidents of this building collapse, Azmi has asked the government that a high-level inquiry into this matter will be conducted and the police will take strict action against it.

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