Monsoon fury lashes Mumbai; flights, trains, road traffic hit
Mumbai, June 9 : The monsoon officially arrived in Mumbai on Saturday and hit the city and other parts of Maharashtra with full fury, disrupting flights, the suburban train system and road traffic, besides claiming two lives, officials said.
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains with thundershowers in the city and suburbs over the next 48 hours, with isolated extreme heavy rainfall in some areas till Monday.
There were at least two incidents of building crashes here as water-logging was reported from several parts and in adjoining Thane, one person was electrocuted and another was killed due to a lightning strike.
At least two firemen were injured when a portion of a dilapidated building on fire suddenly crashed in south Mumbai's Fort area earlier.
Four persons sustained minor injuries when the roof of a four storeyed building Munji House crashed at Prabhadevi in central Mumbai late on Friday.
Flights at the Mumbai airport were affected, with Jet Airways announcing delays of around 40 minutes for departures and 20 minutes for arrivals due to congestion and bad weather till 3 p.m.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said south Mumbai experienced 33.10 mm rains while the suburbs notched 33.80 mm rains till noon, as it continues to rain in most parts.
Owing to waterlogging in parts of central Mumbai like Dadar east, Parel, Sion, Kings Circle and surroundings, traffic was hit badly and diversions were implemented to prevent snarls.
While the suburban train services on the Central Railway were delayed by around 15 minutes, the services on Western Railway remained largely unaffected by the rains.
The coastal districts of Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane and Palghar also received heavy rains as the monsoon spread across the state bringing relief from the sultry heat experienced in the past few weeks.
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Karnataka cabinet decides to increase bus fare by 15 per cent
Bengaluru, Jan 2: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to increase the bus fares in the state-owned transport corporations by 15 per cent.
The decision was taken in view of the substantial hike in operational costs such as increase in spending on fuel prices and staff, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
The opposition BJP lashed out at the Congress government in the state over its decision to hike bus fares.
Addressing reporters here, Patil said the decision will come into effect from January 5.
The move is expected to generate Rs 74.85 crore monthly and about Rs 784 crore annually.
“The cabinet has decided to revise the bus fare of the four state transport corporations -- KSRTC, NWKRTC, KKRTC and BMTC by 15 per cent,” he said.
According to Patil, the BMTC bus fares were increased on January 10, 2015 when the diesel prices were Rs 60.90 per litre.
“The daily diesel consumption was Rs 9.16 crore 10 years ago by the four corporations, which has now increased to Rs 13.21 crore. The expenditure on staff in these four corporations was Rs 12.95 crore daily, which has increased to Rs 18.36 crore daily. Hence the revision was necessary,” he said justifying the hike.
The Minister also underlined that 'Shakti' guarantee will continue.
Shakti offers free ride for Karnataka women in state-owned non-luxury buses across the state.
In the current fiscal, Rs 5,015 crore has been earmarked for the 'Shakti' scheme, the Minister explained.
Patil said, “Every month the state government is releasing Rs 417.92 crore grant to these four corporations. This will not be a burden on the state finance.”
He added, “With the hike in bus fares across all the categories of bus services, neither the transport corporations will go bankrupt, nor government exchequer will go empty. Mind you, we are the best state in terms of managing finances.”
Patil also said the state government has cleared all the provident fund dues to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.
Regarding the decision he said, “We discussed about hike between 13 per cent and 15 per cent and the cabinet arrived at a decision of 15 per cent looking at the prices prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. After the rise of 15 per cent, we will be lesser than any of these states.”
In a post on X, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said, "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with what face do you boast that you have given the five guarantee schemes to the people of the state? By failing to provide money for the Shakti Yojana, you have caused the transport company to tread the path of loss."
He said by increasing the bus fare by 15 per cent, the government line is that the bus travel is free for women, but it will definitely be a burden for men.
"The decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to increase the transport fare by 15 per cent is unscientific and anti-people and the BJP will raise its voice against this and support the people.
ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @siddaramaiah ನವರೇ,
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) January 2, 2025
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