Heavy rains lash Mumbai, other districts; road cave-in hits traffic on Ahmedabad-bound highway
Mumbai (PTI): Mumbai and its neighbouring areas received heavy rains in the last 24 hours, bringing down the mercury and providing relief to residents from the hot and humid weather, officials said on Sunday.
Due to the heavy showers, a part of the road in neighbouring Palghar district of Maharashtra caved-in, affecting traffic movement on the busy Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway for more than four hours on Sunday morning, they said.
Repair works, including of a pipeline, were in progress when a portion of the road in Maljipada area of Palghar caved-in due to heavy rains, an official from the police control room said.
Traffic came to a standstill and movement on both sides of the road was disrupted, he said.
Some people held up in the traffic jam since 5.30 am on Sunday claimed no agency was attending to the problem.
Various other districts of Maharashtra, including Thane, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, Satara and Jalgaon, also received good showers in the last one day.
In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Sunday, Mumbai received more than 60 mm of rainfall.
The Colaba observatory, situated in south Mumbai where most of the state government's administrative offices are located, recorded 67 mm rainfall, while the Santacruz observatory, near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, recorded 64 mm downpour in the same period, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The Colaba observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees higher than normal, while the minimum temperature was 24.3 degrees Celsius, 2.9 degrees lower than normal, it said.
A drop in the minimum temperature indicates nights getting cooler.
The Santacruz observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius, 1.6 degrees more than normal, while the minimum temperature was 25.5 degrees Celsius, 1.9 degrees less than normal, as per the IMD.
Some of the agriculturally important districts like Satara recorded 91 mm rain in the last one day, Nashik 64 mm, Ahmednagar 57 mm, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 51 mm and Jalgaon 41 mm, according to an IMD report.
Thane and Palghar districts also witnessed heavy rains overnight, leading to water-logging in some areas, officials said on Sunday.
There were reports of tree branches falling in some areas of Thane city, they said.
In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Sunday, Thane city received 37.06 mm rainfall.
The maximum downpour of 16.76 mm was recorded between 12.30 am and 1.30 am on Sunday while 10.93 mm rain was witnessed between 3.30 and 4.30 am, Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
