From heavy rains to redevelopment of Dharavi slums: Top 5 stories from Mumbai

Mumbai city news: Here are the top five stories from Mumbai you shouldn’t miss.

The heavy downpour in the city on Tuesday lead to various problems, from delayed trains to waterlogged roads, causing inconvenience for residents. Meanwhile, the Mumbai police rescued a 75-year-old woman from drowning in the Mithi river. While Bhihar CM Nitish Kumar extended his support to the farmers’ agitation, fresh bids will be floated to redevelop Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum. Also, the prosecution is likely to conclude its arguments on the quantum of sentence in the 1993 serial blasts case today.

HT Photo

Here are our top five picks from today:

1. Heavy rain floods Mumbai, delays trains; no high tide trouble, but brace for evening commute chaos

As the heavy rain since early morning has left several locations such as Sion, Dadar, Matunga, Hindmata, Andheri and JVLR, Powai flooded, the BMC pressed 79 pumps into service. Mumbai also witnessed a high tide of 4.81m around 2.39pm. With the rain dying down in the afternoon, the city did not face any trouble. Heavy rain coupled with high tide increases chances of inundation.

2. Mumbai police rescue 75-year-old woman who fell into Mithi river

The Mumbai police on Tuesday rescued a 75-year-old woman, who was drowning in Mithi River in Borivli (West). The Mumbai police control room received a call about the woman around 8.15am. Soon, police inspector Kandalgavkar and his team, including two sub-inspectors and three constables, rushed to the spot.

The prosecution is likely to conclude its arguments on the quantum of sentence in the 1993 serial blasts case today. The CBI has been arguing on aggravating circumstances against five of the six convicts for whom they want capital punishment. The five against whom the prosecution is seeking for maximum punishment (death sentence) are Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Firoz Khan, Karimmulla Khan and Tahir Merchant.

4. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to support Maharashtra farmers’ agitation: Raju Shetti

Bihar chief minister and national president of Janata Dal United Nitish Kumar has agreed to support the farmers’ agitation in Maharashtra and participate in their protests in September, said Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana chief Raju Shetti, who met the CM in Patna on Saturday. Shetti, an ally of the BJP who will lead a national protest on farmers’ issues from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh to Champaran in Bihar from July 7, met Kumar to seek support for the protest.

5. Fresh bid to redevelop Asia’s biggest slum Dharavi in Mumbai

After five failed attempts in 2016 with no bidders to redevelop four sectors of Dharavi — India’s largest slum — the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority (DRA) has come up with a new proposal to divide these four sectors to 13 sub-clusters and float tenders for the same. The reason—in view of the present real estate slowdown, builders are not in a position to bid for big sectors. “Our feedback says that we may get bidders for smaller sub clusters,” said a senior DRA officer who did not wish to come on record.