Heavy showers pound Mumbai, Thane; 3 killed in rain-related incidents

Agencies
June 25, 2018

Mumbai, Jun 25: The Southwest Monsoon picked up momentum in Mumbai, bringing heavy showers that claimed three lives in the city and adjoining Thane, officials said today.

Heavy rains lashed the metropolis and Thane district throughout the night and continued this morning, causing water-logging at several places and slowing the movement of suburban trains, thus causing inconvenience to office-goers.

Two persons were killed last evening when a tree fell on them near Metro Cinema in south Mumbai, said an official from the disaster management unit of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

A 13-year-old boy was killed and his parents were injured when an adjacent wall collapsed on their house at Wadol village in Ambernath taluka of Thane around 2.15 am today, the district civic body's regional disaster management cell chief Santosh Kadam said.

In another incident, a 65-feet compound wall of a housing complex in Thane city collapsed this morning, crushing two cars and another vehicle, he said.

The district received 229.81 mm rain in the last 24 hours, Kadam added.

In Mumbai, a huge part of a compound caved-in at Antop Hill area in Wadala. Around 15 cars were damaged with some vehicles getting buried under the debris, an official of the BMC's disaster management cell said.

No casualty was reported in the incident, he said.

"The fire brigade and Mumbai police officials have reached the spot and are assessing the situation," he added.

Mumbai received 231.4 mm rain in the last 24 hours, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) here said.

"The Santacruz weather station recorded 231.4 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours. So much rainfall is categorised as extremely heavy showers," IMD Mumbai Director Ajay Kumar told PTI.

"This is the first extremely heavy rainfall recorded in Mumbai in the current season," he said.

The rain intensity has gone up since yesterday afternoon and is expected to continue further, he said.

Owing to the heavy showers, several parts of the city, like Dharavi, Sion, Matunga, Hindmata, Malad, Kurla, Andheri subway, Bhandup, Worli and Lower Parel, were flooded with water up to two to three feet, and vehicles got stuck in some places.

"Traffic has been diverted from Sion, King's circle, National College in Bandra, Siddharth Hospital in Goregaon, Chembur Phatak, Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, Milan Subway in Santacruz and Powai area of the city," a statement issued by civic body said.

A container broke down on a bridge at suburban Vikhroli near Eastern Express Highway this morning, because of which vehicular movement in the area was slow, the Mumbai Police said.

Local train services of the Central Railway (CR), Western Railway (WR) and on the Harbour Line corridor were running late by 5 to 10 minutes, officials said.

"There is some water accumulation at Sion due to continuous rains but trains are running on all three lines of the Central Railway (main line, harbour and trans-harbour) with a slight delay of 5 to 7 minutes," CR Chief Public Relations Officer Sunil Udasi said.

The suburban main line of CR runs from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Karjat, Khopoli and Kasara, the Harbour Line runs from CSMT to Panvel and the Trans-Harbour Line is from Thane to Vashi and Panvel.

The Western Railway in a tweet said, "WR Suburban trains are running with no disruption. There is slight delay due to low visibility in some areas due to rains."

Certain diversions were made due to water-logging on few routes of bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), an official said.

The IMD has predicted heavy-to-very heavy rain in the city in the next 24 to 48 hours.

"These heavy showers are due to a cyclonic circulation over north Konkan and adjoining south Gujarat and another circulation in the Bay of Bengal. We expect the rain activity to increase in the coming week, with scattered heavy to very heavy rain on June 27 and 28 in parts of north Konkan, including Mumbai," an IMD official said.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has appealed to all states and Union Territories to ban the sale of smokeless tobacco products and spitting in public places in line with the orders of the Rajasthan and Jharkhand governments to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.

In a letter to all state health ministers, Vardhan said smokeless tobacco users have a tendency to spit in public places or otherwise and therefore, increase health risks especially those of spreading contagious diseases like COVID-19, tuberculosis, swine flu, encephalitis and others.

"Use of smokeless tobacco also creates an unhygienic environment which further spreads the diseases. The large gathering at the retail outlets where smokeless tobacco products are sold, also pose the risk of spread of COVID-19," he said.

In the letter dated May 11, the Union minister underlined that tobacco use is a major threat to public health globally. He also mentioned the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) appeal to the public not to consume and spit smokeless tobacco products in public places.

Chewing tobacco products and areca nut increases the production of saliva followed by a very strong urge to spit. Spitting in public places could enhance the spread of the COVID-19, Vardhan said.

"By banning spitting in public places, states and UTs can help in achieving not only Swachh Bharat but also Swasth Bharat (Clean India and Healthy India)," he said.

Vardhan also mentioned the May 1 guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, which stipulate that "spitting in public places shall be punishable with fine as may be prescribed by the state/UT local authority and consumption of liquor, pan, gutkha, tobacco etc in public places is not allowed".

Appreciating the efforts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand in this direction, the Union Health Minister urged all states to take similar measures and create widespread awareness regarding the harm of spitting in public places.

The Rajasthan government had by an ordinance banned spinning in public places and sale of paan, gutka and tobacco in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Jharkhand too has imposed a complete ban on all types of tobacco products to prevent spitting in public places that could increase the spread of coronavirus infection.

"I am happy to note that the governments of Jharkhand and Rajasthan have already completely banned the sale of tobacco products and spitting in public places. Therefore, I urge upon you to take similar measures and also create widespread awareness in your state/ UT regarding harms of spitting in public places.

"It is also requested that the directions of Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard may be implemented scrupulously and effectively," Vardhan said in the letter.

Tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of related diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by WHO on April 29 found that smokers are more likely to develop severe diseases, compared to non-smokers, said Binoy Mathew, senior programme officer of Voluntary Health Association of India.

It is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic ailments, including cancer, lung and cardiovascular diseases, he said, adding that according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, with 268 million or 28.6 per cent of all adults in India, the country has the second largest number of tobacco users in the world.

At least 12 lakh die from tobacco-related diseases every year, Mathew said.

Those keen to quit smoking and smokeless products can avail of free of charge telephone-based services launched by the government. The Ministry of Health has set up a National Tobacco Quit Line Services to provide counselling services to help tobacco consumers quit the habit.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Aurangabad, Feb 21: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) will seek an explanation from its leader Waris Pathan over his alleged '15 crore Muslims can be heavy on 100 crore' remark he recently made in Karnataka, a party leader said here on Friday.

Pathan had made the purported remarks while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rally at Kalaburagi in North Karnataka on February 16.

"We have to move together. We have to take Azadi (freedom), things that we don't get by asking, we have to take it by force, remember it...(We maybe) 15 crore, but are heavy on 100 (crore), remember it," Pathan can be heard purportedly saying in a video of his speech that has gone viral.

Talking to reporters here, AIMIM's Maharashtra unit chief and Aurangabad MP Imtiyaz Jaleel said, "Our party does not support the statement made by Waris Pathan. The party will seek an explanation from him over the remarks."

"If needed, we will come out with a set of dos and don'ts for the party workers to be while giving speech," he said.

"BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Yogi Adityanath had also given some hateful statements, but none questioned them about it," Jaleel added.

On Thursday, a young woman had raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogan in Bengaluru during a protest against CAA, NRC and NPR, where AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was also present. Owaisi had denounced her action.

Talking about the incident, Jaleel said, "That event was not organised by the AIMIM. It was organised by JD(S) and leaders of all parties were there. Asaduddin Owaisi stopped the woman and also condemned her act. But it is being projected that it was AIMIM's stage."

Meanwhile, the BJP and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held protests in Aurangabad against Pathan, seeking stern action against him.

The BJP protested in Gulmandi area and burnt an effigy of Pathan.

"Waris Pathan has hurt the feelings of 100 crore people. He has tried to divide the people of the country. The state government should take action against him and send him out of Mumbai," BJP MLA Atul Save said.

The MNS took out a symbolic funeral procession of Pathan and raised slogans against the AIMIM.

"The language of Waris Pathan was disgusting. He should be banned from giving public speeches in the state and also be arrested," MNS lader Prakash Mahajan said.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 10: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi continued his tirade against PM Modi and Amit Shah against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). "We are ready to take bullets in our chests but we will not show our papers.

We are ready to take bullets in our chests as we love our country," Owaisi said further.

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