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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Karnataka School Edu Dept prohibits children from being made to dance to obscene songs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka School Education Department has issued a circular strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs in educational and cultural programmes.
It stated that such dances would negatively impact students' mental health and moral values. It will create indiscipline and harm the sanctity of education.
"All the Deputy Directors (Administration) of the state's School Education Department have been asked to take strict measures to prevent children or students from dancing to obscene songs in all government, aided and unaided schools in the state," the office of the commissioner of the School Education Department said in a recent circular.
"If it is found that children are being made to dance to obscene songs, appropriate action will be taken against the headmaster or management of such school," it added.
The department also listed certain measures in this regard, which include: strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes; selecting songs that are inspiring, positive, instilling national pride in children and reflecting the greatness, dignity, values, culture, and morality of the state.
Stating that the school headmaster and management are responsible for selecting songs and dances for cultural programmes, it said, they should also ensure that students wear decent clothes in dance or cultural programmes.
