Mumbai: residents woke up to what appeared to be an ideal winter morning on Monday, with clear blue skies, cool temperatures and light winds offering a welcome break from the city’s usual humidity. The pleasant start, however, proved to be short-lived as a thin layer of smog soon engulfed several parts of the city, sharply reducing visibility and once again drawing attention to Mumbai’s worsening air quality.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast generally comfortable weather conditions for the day, with minimum temperatures hovering around 20°C and maximum temperatures expected to touch 32°C. While the temperature range remained favourable, deteriorating air quality quickly overshadowed the brief spell of winter-like comfort.

According to data from air quality monitoring platform AQI.in, Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 264 during the early hours of the day. This placed the city in the ‘unhealthy’ category. The sharp rise in pollution levels has raised concerns, especially since Mumbai had experienced relatively improved air quality for a few days last week, offering residents some temporary relief.

Dust and fine particulate matter are seen as the primary contributors to the worsening air conditions. Extensive construction activity across the city continues to be a major source of pollution. Large-scale infrastructure projects, including multiple metro rail corridors, flyover construction, coastal road work, road widening initiatives and numerous private real estate developments, are majorly increasing dust levels and adding to Mumbai’s pollution burden.

Several areas emerged as major pollution hotspots, recording alarmingly high AQI levels. Chembur reported an AQI of 345, placing it in the ‘severe’ category and posing serious health risks even for healthy individuals. Other areas such as the Wadala Truck Terminal and Deonar followed closely, with AQI readings of 335 and 322 respectively. In the western suburbs, Versova recorded an AQI of 325, while Juhu reported 312, both indicating severe air pollution.

Some suburban areas fared slightly better, though air quality remained far from ideal. Bandra East recorded an AQI of 103, and Charkop stood at 113, categorised as ‘poor’. Jogeshwari East reported an AQI of 130, Kandivali East 137, and Govandi 170, suggesting that unhealthy air conditions persist across many residential areas.

As per standard air quality classifications, AQI values between 0 and 50 are considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘moderate’, 101 to 200 ‘poor’, 201 to 300 ‘unhealthy’, and levels above 300 are classified as ‘severe’ or ‘hazardous’.

Lucknow, Jan 3: In fresh action against real estate player, the Amrapali Group, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 99.26 crore for fraudulently diverting and misappropriating homebuyers’ funds, an official said on Saturday.

The immovable properties attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 include the office and factory land and building of Mauria Udyog Ltd., which is one of the entities of the Sureka Group, whose promoters are Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka.

The aggregate fair market value of the seized office and factory land and building was Rs. 99.26 crore as on December 30, 2016, the ED said in a statement.

The ED has now passed a total of six Provisional Attachment Orders, including the present one, under Section 5(1) of the PMLA, 2002, attaching properties having a cumulative value of Rs 303.08 crore.

The ED, Lucknow Zonal Office, initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered at different Police Stations in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, and EOW, Delhi Police, and also pursuant to a Supreme Court order.

On July 23, 2019, the Supreme Court passed the order in Bikram Chatterji versus Union of India matter that was related to petitions filed by aggrieved homebuyers.

The allegations were that the Amrapali Group collected huge sums of money from homebuyers, failed to deliver possession of flats within the stipulated time, and fraudulently diverted and misappropriated the homebuyers’ funds by adopting a criminal conspiracy involving bogus transactions, forgery and cheating.

The ED investigation revealed that the accused persons, their associates and promoters — namely Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar, Directors of the Amrapali Group — in connivance with Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka, Directors of Mauria Udyog and Jotindra Steel and Tubes Ltd, diverted homebuyers’ funds through non-genuine and fraudulent transactions under the guise of procurement of TMT bars and construction material.

The funds were layered through a complex web of shell entities and bogus suppliers, withdrawn substantially in cash and irreversibly dissipated, thereby generating and laundering the Proceeds of Crime (POC), the ED said.

It has been established that an amount of Rs110.39 crore was diverted to Mauria Udyog, representing POC generated from the money collected from Amrapali homebuyers.

As the original POC were dissipated and no longer available for direct attachment, the ED has attached the immovable properties of Mauria Udyog on the principle of “value thereof” under the PMLA, 2002, in order to secure the POC.

Earlier, the ED had arrested Anil Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar, Directors of the Amrapali Group; Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor of the Amrapali Group; and Chander Prakash Wadhwa, CFO of the Amrapali Group.

So far, the ED has filed six Prosecution Complaints in this case, arraigning 33 individuals and entities as accused.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday launched a scathing attack over the unopposed election, especially of Mahayuti nominees in municipal polls across Maharashtra, stating that even the big leaders of this country were never elected unopposed.

“Atal Bihari Vajpayee was never elected unopposed, nor were Barrister Nath Pai, Vasantdada Patil, Ram Manohar Lohia, or even Narendra Modi. However, a new trend has started in Maharashtra where ‘Sama, Dana, Danda, Bheda (persuasion, money, punishment, and division)’ are being used to ensure unopposed victories,” he remarked.

He added that journalists, political analysts, and the public were well-aware that such a high number of unopposed candidates is unprecedented, not just in the country’s history, but in the history of the world.

Describing the tactics used, Raut at the press conference alleged that candidates were forced to withdraw not just through the misuse of election machinery, but by “showering” them with money. “Opponents were being paid five crore rupees each to step down,” he claimed.

He cited the example of Kalyan, stating that the amount offered to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) city chief Manoj Gharat to withdraw was “eye-popping.”

Regarding the situation in Jalgaon, he alleged, “Bags containing five crore rupees each were sent to the houses of candidates to force them to withdraw. The candidates were left stunned by the sheer amount of money. Such a massive play of wealth has never been seen before in this democracy.” Raut further alleged that the election machinery was manipulated.

“The election officials had clear instructions. Although the deadline for withdrawal was 3:00 PM, instructions were issued from the offices of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to accept applications even after that time and backdate them to before 3:00 PM,” he said and demanded an investigation into the communication logs.

“Check the phone calls and records of everyone involved. Investigate who called whom in the last 24 hours — which Guardian Minister, which Minister, or which office made the calls. If this is investigated, the mystery behind these unopposed withdrawals will be revealed,” he said.

Raut expressed deep concern over the state’s image, saying, “These incidents have dragged Maharashtra’s prestige through the dust. The state has been completely defamed. If 60 people are being elected unopposed, what kind of election is this? What are the voters supposed to do?”

He questioned the role of the regulatory body, asking, “Has this question ever occurred to the Election Commission? The Election Commission has become a ‘pet cat’ sitting under the plates of these corrupt individuals.”

Meanwhile, Raut also reacted on NCP chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s scathing attack accusing the BJP leaders from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation of reaching the “pinnacle of corruption.”

He further claimed they possess a “monstrous hunger” to enrich their families through illicit means. He reminded the public of the origins of the corruption allegations against the Deputy CM.

“We did not level the ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam allegations against Ajit Pawar. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made those charges during a rally in Bhopal. Ironically, just eight days later, Ajit Pawar joined the Cabinet. The BJP must now answer what happened to those allegations,” he said.

Raut suggested that Ajit Pawar’s sudden change in tone indicates a potential shift in political alignment. Commenting on the accusations regarding the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation he said, “It appears Ajit Pawar is looking for a different path. If a sitting Deputy Chief Minister accuses his own ally of looting the state and gathering property through corrupt means, what should the public conclude?”

Questioning Ajit Pawar’s decision to remain in power despite these grievances, Raut suggested that he should return to his mentor. “If Ajit Pawar feels the BJP is so corrupt, why is he still in the government? He should return to Sharad Pawar. The NCP handed to him by Amit Shah is not the original one; the real NCP belongs to Sharad Pawar, and Ajit knows this,” he remarked.