Heavy rain in Mumbai; local train services, road traffic hit
Mumbai: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district overnight, causing water-logging at several places and affecting local train services and road traffic movement on Tuesday morning, officials said.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appealed to residents to stay at home and urged commercial establishments, except those providing essential services, to remain closed on Tuesday as heavy rains are likely to continue for next 48 hours.
Suburban train services on the harbour line were stopped in the morning due to water-logging on rail tracks while services on the western and central lines were also affected, a civic official said.
Local trains in Mumbai and suburbs are currently being operated only for those involved in essential services in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
A landslide near suburban Kandivali disrupted vehicular movement from western suburbs towards south Mumbai, the official said. Traffic movement from Byculla to south Mumbai was also affected due to inundation at some places, he said.
The Santacruz observatory in western suburbs recorded 254 mm rainfall since Monday night while the Colaba observatory in south Mumbai recorded 220 mm rain during the same period, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai, Deputy Director General K S Hosalikar said.
The weather station at Mahalaxmi recorded 172 mm rain, while that at Vidyavihar reported 159 mm rain. Besides, the weather stations at Ram Mandir (near Goregaon in western suburbs) and Mira Road recorded a rainfall of 152 mm each.
The other weather stations in north Mumbai and Thane also recorded over 150 mm rainfall. The trend would continue for next 48 hours, the official said.
The BMC has deployed high capacity water pumps to discharge water from streets in Byculla, Bhandup and some other areas, a civic official said.
The civic body appealed to commercial and business establishments, except those involved in essential services, to remain shut in view of the heavy downpour.
"Residents should also stay at home and avoid venturing out, the BMC said in a statement.
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SC says no to plea against selection of Delhi Waqf Board administrator
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine a plea against the appointment of Delhi government’s Principal Secretary (Home) Ashwani Kumar as the Delhi Waqf Board administrator on January 10.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal asked the petitioner to move the Delhi High Court.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by one Zameer Ahmad Jumlana seeking directions to restrain and prohibit Kumar from discharging functions as the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board and to vacate the office with immediate effect.
Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena, who approved Kumar's appointment, also okayed the appointment of IAS officer Azimul Haque as Delhi Waqf Board's CEO on January 3.
The petition alleged the term of the Delhi State Waqf Board expired on August 26, 2023, and since then no board was constituted.
The plea contended in the absence of the board, its powers were taken over by the LG by appointing Kumar purportedly using the powers under Section 99 of the Waqf Act, 1995.
"When the tenure of the board has lapsed on August 26, 2023, there is no question of exercise of any power of the state government under Section 99 of the Waqf Act 1995 to take over the board. Thus, the respondent number 1 is an usurper of the power of the Delhi State Waqf Board,” it said.
According to the petition, Kumar was not eligible under the Waqf Act of 1995 and took advantage of the fact that the Delhi Waqf Board was in an indefinite abeyance due to the negligence of the respondents.
On May 28, the Delhi High Court dismissed a similar plea filed by one Yasmin Ali and imposed Rs 10,000 costs.
The high court said the plea was publicity-oriented and an abuse of the process of law as it did not give any valid reasons for quashing the appointment of the city government officer as the administrator of the board.
