Mumbai this week: City bids goodbye to Lord Ganesha amid intense rains; monsoon withdrawal to commence by Oct 15

Among the notable novelties seen this year was a medical awareness campaign at the famous Andhericha Raja pandal and an idol made of the five flavours of the hard-boiled candy Pulse. From the oldest Ganpati in Mumbai to pandal in red-light district, here’s our tour from the various pandals in the city

On a stringent vigil, the police re-united 22 children who had gone missing, lost their ways or got separated from their parents at the crowded Girgaon Chowpatty, and arrested 16 people for allegedly stealing cellphones and other valuables from devotees in central Mumbai. A 16-year-old boy lost his life after he was struck by lightning at Juhu beach.

Following are the other important updates from Mumbai and Maharashtra in the past week (September 25 – October 1):

⛈️ Rains make last grand appearance before monsoon withdrawal

Along with Lord Ganesha, Mumbai also welcomed a week of much-awaited rains after a brief dry spell. The intense rains and thunderstorms failed to dampen festivities, as the downpour took the stock in lakes supplying water to Mumbai to nearly 100 percent.

By the end of September, fears at the beginning of the delayed monsoon this year were allayed as the city received 13% more rainfall than last year, in the period since June.

With the monsoon predicted to make an exit by October 15, it is pertinent to note that Mumbai this year alone accounted for 3,556 of the over 10,000 dengue cases reported in Maharashtra.

On the political front

🔴 Taking on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), NCP’s Supriya Sule said that the “invisible hand” from Delhi has been instrumental in breaking parties and homes. Will her constituency Baramati be a slippery pitch in 2024 Lok Sabha polls?

🔴 Months after a split in the party, cross-firing regarding disqualification continues. While Ajit Pawar loyalist Praful Patel called all appointments by the other side unconstitutional, Pawar senior’s side claimed that internal elections were not only held in September 2022 but the documents were also submitted to the Election Commission.

🔴 Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray started reviewing all the six Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai starting with the North West Lok Sabha constituency.

🔴 At this time not only is there a fight between the fractured Shiv Sena over the claim to Shivaji Park, the party’s traditional choice for a Dussehra rally since decades, but also over disqualification. Shiv Sena (UBT) has raised objections over the timeline and procedure set down by Speaker Rahul Narwekar for holding the hearings on disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs, saying that there is no clarity till when the hearing will go on.

🔴 Amid a lack of response from the Congress regarding a pre-poll alliance, VBA’s Prakash Ambedkar has announced some drastic plans. He has directed his party to begin preparations to fight from all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra

🔴 Foreign tours of the ruling coalition’s foreign trips form have created a storm. A row erupted over Maharashtra’s Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar visit to for London to bring back Wagh Nakha, a knuckle duster with metal nails that resembles tiger claws, the wartime weapon of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

🔴 Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who was set to visit Ghana to attend the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) next week, put off his trip.

🔴 Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray slammed Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s Japan trip and Industries Minister Uday Samant’s trip to London and Davos next week, alleging that ministers are spending public money for their holidays.

Other important news this week

1. Months after row, IIT-B designates six tables for vegetarians in hostel canteen; some students stage symbolic protest
2. ‘Won’t rent to Maharashtrians’: Father-son duo who misbehaved with ‘Marathi woman’ arrested, out on bail
3. No blanket promise of OBC certificate to all Marathas, says CM Shinde; Manoj Jarange-Patil sets out on Maharashtra tour to intensify demand
4. Malabar Hill reservoir: Suspend new reservoir work, Lodha tells CM Shinde; why BMC’s plan ran into opposition
5. BMC Covid Centres scam: ED chargesheet says gold bars, biscuits, coins worth Rs 60 lakh distributed among BMC officials, ‘politically exposed’ persons
6. Probe on as Kirit Somaiya receives email threatening to leak video clip; Rs 50 lakh demanded
7. ‘Colour-coded pass, drones, Rs 10,000 cash limit for visitors…’: Maharashtra Mantralaya’s new security
8. TISS ex-director, husband, son booked after daughter-in-law complains of harassment
9. Mumbai University to get 49 new colleges next year
10. Drug-resistant Tuberculosis patients: Centre comes under fire after denying medicine crisis in Maharashtra

Photo of the week

A goods train derailed in the Panvel-Kalamboli section, leading to disruption in rail traffic and a protest at Diva railway station owing to unscheduled delay in trains. (Express photo by Narendra Vaskar)

News to watch out for next week

1. The Bombay High Court to hear contempt petition on October 3 filed by lawyer, alleging non-compliance of 2018 orders by civic authorities to repair potholes along all arterial roads in the city. The HC in August, while stating that the cause of deaths of pedestrians or cyclists falling in manholes or potholes is “man-made” and not a natural cause, had directed an immediate inspection through a spot survey by BMC officials.
2. The Opposition INDIA bloc will conduct a march on October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti as well as Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti, to protest against the BJP’s “divide and rule policy” and “divisive politics”.
3. A special court is likely to start recording the statements of the seven accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case from October 3.
4. The Bombay High Court on October 6 will hear plea by Baramati Agro Ltd, a firm controlled by NCP MLA Rohit Pawar as its CEO, against closure order issued by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board against an industrial unit at the sugar factory.
5. The Bombay High Court on October 4 will hear the challenge to renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively.
6. Election Commission hearing on NCP’s symbol and name to begin on October 6.

News from Mumbai: September 18-24

News from Mumbai: September 11-17

News from Mumbai: September 4-10