Maharashtra Rain News Live Updates: More than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (X/ Dev Fadnavis)Maharashtra News Highlights: Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari visited Nagpur today and reviewed status of rescue operations as many areas in Nagpur continue to be waterlogged due to incessant rainfall. At least two people drowned to death in Nagpur today as heavy rains over a span of the past few hours flooded many parts of the city. More than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech- and hearing-impaired, were rescued. The weather department has issued an orange alert in the district for the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered prayers at Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati Mandal in Mumbai today. Shah arrived in Mumbai in the afternoon and went to the mandal and visited CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis at their official residences. In the evening, Shah attended the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial Lecture at Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Convocation Hall in Mumbai University’s Fort campus.
Weather report: India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate rainfall in the city today. The weather bureau sounded a yellow alert for Mumbai, Thane and neighbouring districts of Palghar, Thane and Raigad for Saturday.
A man prepares to immerse in an artificial pond, an idol of elephant headed Hindu god Ganesha on the second day of ten days long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai. (AP Photo)
Union minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the cooperative sector is not irrelevant even today, but it was hurt by political interference in the past and its future is bright.
Delivering the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial Lecture at Mumbai University here, the Union Home and Cooperation Minister said that Prime minister Narendra Modi infused fresh life in the cooperative movement by carving out a separate Cooperation Ministry.
Shah assumed charge as the first Cooperation Minister in 2019.
Cooperative movement is the only economic model where "the smallest of the smallest person" can contribute to the development of the country with the least amount of capital, he said.
“Do not even by mistake assume that cooperative (sector) has become irrelevant. I can say this with confidence that cooperative (sector's) future is bright,” Shah said.
The sector was once a driver of rural and agricultural growth in the country, he noted. (PTI)
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday took stock of the situation in Nagpur after heavy rains brought life to a standstill and sought long term measures to address issues of waterlogging and flooding here.
Gadkari, who is BJP MP from here, said the heavy rainfall was unexpected, adding he had seen such continuous lightning in the city for the first time.
The situation prevailing due to the rains was taking place after 15 to 16 years, Gadkari said.
He would attend a rain-related meeting tonight with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the district administration, Gadkari said.
The Union minister said he would request the Maharashtra government to come up with measures to ensure water from 'nullahs' (major drains) does not gush into adjoining localities in case of heavy rains.
Heavy rains over a span of few hours flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which more than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued.
An elderly woman lost her life due to the downpour. (PTI)
Lokshahi channel which had suspended operations is to go back on air at 7 pm today. Taking to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) the Editor-in-chief Kamlesh Sutar posted ,"Today, after a lengthy hearing, the Hon'ble High Court has suspended the directions of the MIB and has directed that the channel be resumed from 7 pm today till further orders."
The Lokshahi news channel, that broadcast a story on an explicit video, purportedly of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, had gone off air for 72 hours yesterday after they received a notice from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, said the channel’s editor-in-chief Kamlesh Sutar. The channel went off air at 7 pm Friday.
Earlier this month, the Mumbai police had registered an FIR against Sutar and a youtuber for allegedly airing the video. During the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had ordered an inquiry in the matter based on the issue being raised by Opposition leaders regarding women being sexually harassed. The crime branch was asked to conduct the probe which is still underway.
Members of several OBC outfits held a 'rasta roko' (road block) protest in Chandrapur in Maharashtra on Saturday claiming the state government was not keen on resolving the demands of the community.
The protest was held at Janata College square on Chandrapur-Nagpur road, after which some of the participants were detained and later released, officials said.
The protestors said the action was part of their support for Ravindra Tonge, the head of the students' wing of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, who has been on hunger strike here for the last 13 days and had to be shifted to a hospital on Friday.
Tonge has been on hunger strike demanding that the state government not give Kunbi OBC certificates to Marathas for the purpose of reservation. (PTI)
Express Photo
Thirteen people have died over one year due to electric fences put up illegally to protect standing crops from wild animals in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, police said on Saturday.
Of the deaths that occurred in the last 12 months, four victims were farmers, an official said.
Farm owners have been installing electric fences illegally without following a proper procedure to protect standing crops in the district, which is home to dense forests, the official said.
As per a release issued by the police on Friday, people have lost their lives unnecessarily due to the illegal connection of electric wires around farms. (PTI)
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Naseem Khan on Saturday demanded that BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri should be permanently suspended for his derogatory remarks about BSP MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha.
In a letter written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Khan said Parliament is described as a temple of democracy and it works on the principles and ethos enshrined in the Constitution.
"The fundamental principles on which our nation stands is secularism, which underlines respect for all religions and beliefs and promotes unity in diversity. Bidhuri's comments, unfortunately, completely deviate from this cherished value and are an embarrassment to our democratic traditions. It is very unfortunate and disturbing that language which was earlier confined to street debates related to organizations like RSS and VHP has now entered Parliament through BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri," he said. (PTI)
Police personnel were rushed to tackle chaos at a hospital in Maharashtra's Palghar district in the early hours of Saturday after an injured teen, who apparently tripped trying to escape cops, was declared dead, an official said on Saturday.
While the police claimed that Vinod Bhoir (18) most likely suffered a heart attack while fleeing and died, the boy's relatives said he was beaten up.
According to a senior police official who spoke to the media at the hospital in Virar, Bhoir and his friends were near a Ganpati pandal at Agashi-Kolhapur village when a patrol vehicle from Arnala Sagari police station reached the spot around 2.45 am.
Seeing the cops, Bhoir and his friends panicked and started running but he tripped and fell down and suffered injuries, said the official. Bhoir was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Angry local residents blamed the police for his death and kicked up a ruckus at the hospital, prompting authorities to call the cops. Fearing that the situation could go beyond control, more personnel were called in. (PTI)
Express Photo
2 Persons and 14 cattles are dead due to drowning in Nagpur. Heavy rains over a span of few hours flooded many parts of Nagpur city, following which more than 400 people, including 70 students from a school for the speech and hearing-impaired, were rescued, said Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.
Water gushed into homes and residential areas and roads looked like rivers after the city received about 90 mm of rain between 2 am and 4 am. The weather department has issued an orange alert in the district for the next 24 hours. NMC fire team, NDRF, SDRF, Indian Army and Apada Mitra teams have been deployed for rescue of stranded people. With PTI inputs
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reports, a total of 1034 Ganesh idols have been immersed till 3 pm today. Of these, 910 are Gharguti(private households) idols while eight are Sarvajanik(public) idols. Meanwhile, 116 Gauri idols have also been immersed.
Furthermore, data shows that 449 of the total idols immersed until now, were immersed in artificial lakes.
In its most recent forecast bulletin, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a yellow alert in Mumbai and neighbouring districts of Palghar, Thane and Raigad for Saturday. While the yellow alert will remain in place over Mumbai and Palghar for the next 24 hours, the alert has been extended until Tuesday (September 26) in Thane and Raigad districts.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday said that the state government is monitoring the situation after Nagpur's Ambajhari Dam overflowed following heavy rainfall in several parts of Nagpur.
Visuals from the rainfall-affected areas showed a team of NDRF carrying out rescue operations, helping people to come out from flooded homes and streets.
Waterlogging was also reported at Canal Road Ramdaspeth in Nagpur where locals were stuck in their houses as flood waters gushed into their homes.
The BJP leader said that the city received 110 mm of rainfall in just 3 hours on Friday night. "It rained 110 mm in 3 hours, which is very high. Ambajhari dam has overflowed. There has been incessant rainfall in several areas...15 people have been rescued till now. We are sending the rescue teams following alerts..." he told ANI on Saturday in Nagpur. (ANI)
The Navi Mumbai police have registered an offence against a Sangli-based training and placement institute for allegedly cheating the government of Rs 79.49 lakh under a skill development programme, an official said on Saturday.
Based on a complaint lodged by a government official, a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code was registered on Friday against Dhondiram Tukaram Jadhav, director of Jai-Jui Charitable Trust, Khanapur, he said.
As per the FIR, the institute was given a contract under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rural Skill Development Scheme to run a programme and provide placement to candidates in February 2015.
An SOP was provided for the same along with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and the institute was given an advance of Rs 79.49 lakh, it was stated.
Despite several reminders, the institute did not furnish the proof of providing employment nor did it refund the money it was paid, the complainant has alleged. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government’s decision to extend a Rs 59,000 crore package to the drought-prone Marathwada region is part of its outreach plan to diffuse the unrest within farmers and the Maratha community who have taken to the streets demanding reservation in government jobs and education.
With just months to go for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the ruling BJP-Shinde Sena-NCP (Ajit Pawar) coalition appears to be seriously worried and cannot allow the unrest over agriculture and reservation to gather momentum.
On September 16, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde convened a special Cabinet meeting in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier Aurangabad). Along with deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and the council of ministers, the Cabinet took a slew of decisions which, they said, was for the transformation of the backward Marathwada region.
Shubhangi Khapre reports
A blast in the CS2 department of Century Company in Ulhasnagar claimed the lives of two workers and left five others injured. The incident occurred around noon in the Shahad area of Ulhasnagar. The workers were involved in filling nitrogen gas when an error occurred. Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) confirmed the casualties and stated that the Directorate of Industrial Security will conduct an investigation into the matter.
A blast occurred at the Century Company in Ulhasnagar, resulting in the deaths of two workers. Further details are awaited.
A 27-year-old man committed suicide after he was allegedly threatened by his former fiance's father to pay Rs 1 lakh in Maharashtra's Latur district, police said on Saturday.
The police have registered a case under section 306 (abetment of suicide) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code against two persons for the incident, an official said.
The body of Shrihari Vithhal Potphale, a resident of Kadhala village in Chakur tehsil, was found hanging from a tree on his farm on September 19, he said. Potphale also allegedly recorded a video of the act, the official said. (PTI)
(Photos: NDRF)
Nagpur has been facing severe waterlogging due to incessant rainfall, with District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar attributing the issue to the overflow of Ambajhari lake caused by a night of heavy rainfall, measuring between 100-125 mm. Itankar stated that the NDRF and SDRF teams evacuated 200-300 individuals from the affected areas. With a rain alert still in effect, he appealed to the public to remain vigilant.
Nagpur received more than 100 mm rain within four hours, causing flooding in low-lying areas. The crisis was exacerbated by the overflow of Ambazari lake. Two teams of NDRF have been deployed to relocate people. Atleast 140 people have been rescued till now.
The state government has invited private agencies and NGOs working in the education sector to participate in designing the State Curriculum Framework (SCF) under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT), located in Pune, is currently working to prepare SCF based on the recommendation of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), in line with NEP 2020. Read more
A fire in Dadar's Hindu Colony's Raintree building claimed one life on Saturday morning. The blaze, which started on the thirteenth floor of the 15-story structure at 8.37 am, resulted in the death of Sachin Patkar, aged 60, due to smoke-related suffocation. The fire was extinguished by 9.06 am, with no other reported injuries.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who hails from Nagpur, has issued directives to the district collector and relevant departments to prioritise the safety of residents in low-lying regions amidst incessant rainfall and the overflowing Ambazari Lake. Furthermore, nearly seven districts within Vidarbha have been placed on a yellow alert.
In Nagpur, heavy downpours have triggered flooding in multiple areas, with authorities reporting no casualties thus far. A total of 30 individuals have been rescued by NDRF from the inundated areas.
(Photos: NDRF)
Justice Gautam S Patel of the Bombay High Court Friday said that the 2006 judgement of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case regarding police reforms was a “missed opportunity” with a “narrow approach”.
Justice Patel also said “striving for an impartial and independent” police force was a “real struggle”. He was speaking at an event held at Nehru Centre in Mumbai by the Indian Police Foundation on its annual day and also raised questions over impatience of the general public in the process of law. Read more
In response to severe inundation caused by heavy downpours in Nagpur, a NDRF team has been deployed to the Ambajhari Lake area. Their efforts have led to the rescue of 25 individuals who were stranded due to the flooding.
Shiv Sena UBT leader and MLC Anil Parab Friday said that his party will move the Supreme Court seeking disqualification of three former Sena UBT MLCs including Legislative council chairperson Neelam Gorhe who joined the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
This comes days after top court directed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar to expedite the disposal of the disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena MLAs.
Vallabh Ozarkar reports
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said he wanted Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath to become chief minister of the state once again after the year-end assembly elections.
The former Maharashtra minister was speaking after he along with Nath and his son Nakul Nath unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Pandhurna tehsil of Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district.
The area has a sizable Marathi-speaking population.
“I have come here to ask the time and day of (Nath's) oath-taking ceremony. I have to book the ticket to come down to the swearing-in function. I want to see you again in that chair," Thackeray said. (PTI)
Members of the Sakal Maratha Samaj on Friday showed black flags during a water conservation rally held by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar in Latur in Maharashtra.
The motorcycle rally, aimed at creating awareness about water conservation, was passing close to Haldoti bus stand in the district's Ahmedpur tehsil at 5:30pm when Maratha community activists protested.
They shouted slogans seeking reservations for the community in jobs and education.
A large number of police personnel were present along the route as the rally led by Nilangekar moved towards Shirur-Tejband, officials said. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court recently held that there was no question of raising any objection on behalf of the woman who had surrendered her claim over the child, for handing the child to the biological father and there was “no impediment” in it.
The woman had objected handing over of the child to biological father claiming that he was accused of raping her when she was minor. However, the bench rejected the claim and said that there was no impediment in handing over the child to petitioner man, who had never abandoned the child and instead had made “all possible efforts” to get the custody of the child. Read more
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Saturday said he has directed officials of the tourism department to prepare a detailed project report for setting up of a glass skywalk between Tiger Point and Lions Point in the tourist town of Lonavala in the Maval taluka of Pune district.
The directions came during a review meeting for tourism development held in Mumbai Thursday.
“The officials have been directed to submit the report in one month. The government will make financial provisions for it,” Pawar said in a tweet. Read more
OBC leader Ravindra Tonge, who is on a hunger strike here for the last 12 days for various demands of the Other Backward Classes, was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital on Friday after his condition deteriorated.
Tonge, district unit chief of the student wing of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, has been demanding that the Maratha community should not be included in the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for the purpose of reservation.
His other demands include provision of hostel facilities for OBC students.
OBC leaders have been agitating in many places in Maharashtra over these demands.
Tonge was admitted to the hospital after his blood pressure and sugar level dropped significantly, officials said. (PTI)
Lokshahi news channel that aired the story regarding Kirit Somaiya's alleged video received a notice from Information & Broadcasting Ministry to take their channel off air for 72 hours. From 7pm, the channel is no longer on air. "We fill legally fight the issue," Kamlesh Sutar, Editor in chief of Lokshahi channel said in a video.
The Mumbai police on September 5 registered an FIR against Kamlesh Sutar, editor-in-chief of news channel Lokshahi, and media person Anil Thatte for allegedly broadcasting an explicit video purportedly of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. A complaint was registered after Somaiya reached Mumbai police east region cyber police station and gave a written complaint. Earlier, the Mumbai Police crime branch was tasked with the job of conducting an inquiry into the video after the issue was raised in the monsoon session of the State Legislature.
Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Friday said the Maharashtra government must provide assurance it will not give quota to any community from the Other Backward Classes pool.
Talking to reporters here, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly said there is "unrest" over quota demands from various segments.
"The state government must give in writing that they will not provide quota to any community from the existing reservations for the OBCs," he said.
Slamming the state government for not being able to solve quota issues, he said various groups were on hunger strike in different parts of Maharashtra.
"The issue of OBC reservation is a sin of the current government. It had earlier, in 2014, promised quota to the Dhangar community. This government has nothing to do with OBCs or those from the Maratha community," he alleged. (PTI)
According to the latest information procured from the BMC, three firefighters from the Goregaon Fire Station have reported of suffocation. The fire officials have been identified as Sandip Patil, Raju Uttam Shingankar and Yogesh Kondawar. Civic officials said that they have been taken to the hospital and their condition remains stable now. No injuries have been reported yet so far.
Meanwhile, 15 people stranded in the building have been rescued so far. A level 3 fire was reported at 3.10 pm in Jogeshwari's Hira Panna Mall.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will be temporarily closing both of its runways, RWY 09/27 and RWY 14/32, on October 17th between 11hrs and 17hrs. (11am - 5pm)
The closure is part of CSMIA's annual post-monsoon preventive maintenance plan. This practice ensures that the airport's infrastructure is maintained to the highest standards. A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has also been duly issued in this regard six months in advance as per the CSMIA official statement issued on Friday September 22nd.
The primary objective of this scheduled temporary closure is to undertake repair and maintenance activities essential to uphold the airport's infrastructure to the highest standards
According to civic officials, a total of 13 male and one female have been rescued safely so far. Four small hose lines and one high pressure first aid line of motor pumps are currently in operation.
No injuries have been reported yet. A level 3 fire was reported at 3.10 pm in Jogeshwari's Hira Panna Mall.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said he will discuss a five per cent quota in educational admissions for the Muslim community with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The then Congress-led government had, in 2014, provided five per cent reservation to the Muslims in admissions to educational institutions when it introduced a quota in jobs and education for the Maratha community.
But the subsequent BJP-Shiv Sena government dropped the Muslim quota when it brought in a legislation to provide reservation to the Marathas.
Speaking at a meeting of the Minority Welfare Department at the state headquarters Mantralaya, Pawar said the five per cent educational quota for the minority community had not faced any legal hurdle (unlike the Maratha reservation). (PTI)
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday said he will hear next week the disqualification petitions filed against each other by rival Shiv Sena factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court directed Narwekar to spell out the timeline within a week for adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed against Shinde and his Sena MLAs who tied up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022, saying apparently nothing has been done so far despite its direction for deciding the pleas within a reasonable time.
“The hearing on the disqualification pleas will be early next week,” Narwekar told PTI without elaborating on the dates.
Speaking at an event here, Narwekar had said on Thursday that he won't delay the decision on the disqualification pleas of some Sena MLAs but wouldn't rush into it either as it may result in “miscarriage of justice”. (PTI)
A level 3 fire has been reported at 3.10 pm in Jogeshwari's Hira Panna Mall. The Mumbai Fire brigade has pressed 12 fire engines, 10 jumbo tankers and one water tanker in action to aid the fire rescue operations. Preliminary data from the civic body shows that while no injuries have been reported yet, many people are stranded inside.
A 45-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a woman at Thane railway station in Maharashtra, police said on Friday.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Thursday arrested the accused Mohammed Rarani under section 354 (assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, senior inspector Pandhari Khande said.
The incident took place around 8.30 am on Thursday when the woman alighted from a local train and was walking on the platform, he said. (PTI)
With intense spells of heavy rain lashing Mumbai City and its suburbs since Friday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a yellow alert for the city and its neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar, in its most recent forecast bulletin. Stating the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated pockets, the weather bureau has issued the yellow warning which will remain in place for the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, in the adjoining Raigad district, the IMD has issued an orange warning.
Ajit Pawar group has filed disqualification petitions with Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar against 10 MLAs from Sharad Pawar group.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court directed Narwekar to spell out the timeline within a week for adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs who tied up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022, saying apparently nothing had been done so far despite its direction for deciding the pleas within a reasonable time.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday targeted Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar saying that he had so much experience of changing parties that the thought that the act of switching sides is wrong or unconstitutional would never cross his mind.
Responding to a question in New Delhi on the ongoing hearing on disqualification pleas pertaining to rebel Sena MLAs, Raut said, “Rahul Narwekar has so much experience of changing parties that the thought of switching from one party to another is wrong or unconstitutional will never come to his mind.”
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court directed Narwekar to spell out the timeline within a week for adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs who tied up with the BJP to form a new government in June 2022, saying apparently nothing had been done so far despite its direction for deciding the pleas within a reasonable time. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to attend the Laxmanrao Inamdar Memorial lecture at Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Convocation Hall in Mumbai University’s Fort campus on Saturday.
Inamdar, who was one of the founding fathers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Gujarat, is known to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mentor. Read more