Mumbai Apr 22 PTI Scores of commuters in Mumbai faced inconvenience on Friday morning as over 170 mini buses operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST remained off roads in the city following a flash strike by a section of drivers over salary issue an official said The BEST tried to reduce the passengers woes by diverting buses in the affected areas he said Agitated over non-payment of salary the employees of BESTs private contractor firm - MP Group - refused to operate the buses and as a result 175 mini buses from Vikhroli Wadala and Bandra depots did not ply the BEST official said BEST undertaking provides bus services in Mumbai and it is the second biggest mode of public transport in the city after the suburban local trains Presently it ferries over 30 lakh commuters with its fleet of around 3500 buses including those hired from different private contractors On Thursday morning too a section of employees of the BESTs private contractor had refused to operate buses over the same issue However they had called off their agitation after the officials held talks with them On Friday a number of passengers faced inconvenience due to the sudden strike Those inconvenienced included patients visiting KEM and TATA hospitals who take mini buses after getting down from suburban trains at Parel and Dadar stations In order to reduce the inconvenience faced by people BEST diverted buses from other depots and also operated 86 own buses from other depots BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade said adding that action will be taken against the private contractor for violation of the contract terms and conditions PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Feb 18 PTI Around 35 people were evacuated from a 24-storey residential building in suburban Borivali on Friday afternoon after a fire broke out on its fourth floor in which no casualty was reported officials said The blaze erupted in Paradise Heights building of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority SRA at Padma Nagar in Chikoowadi locality of Borivali west around 1230 pm a civic official said At least four fire engines were rushed to the spot after being alerted Around 35 people were rescued from the building by the fire brigade personnel he said The fire was extinguished by around 130 pm he said adding that the exact cause behind it is being ascertained PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Nov 26 PTI Even as Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab had given an ultimatum to the employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC who have been on a strike over their demands to rejoin duty on Friday only a section of workers resumed work this morning officials said The MSRTC is compiling information about how many workers resumed duty across the state on Friday they said Till 10 am the transport body operated only 151 buses across the state majority of them in Sangli and Raigad divisions Of these buses 116 were ordinary ones while the remaining were air-conditioned Shivneri and Shivshahi buses a spokesperson of the MSRTC said The MSRTC workers have been on a strike since October 28 demanding a merger of the cash-strapped corporation with the state government which will give them the status of state government employees and better salaries In a bid to end the strike Parab had on Wednesday declared a hike of Rs 2500 to Rs 5000 in the basic salaries for employees and had also given a 24-hour deadline to the employees to return to duty On Thursday Parab had also warned that strict action would be taken against the employees if they fail to resume work on Friday However most of the employees are adamant on the merger demand and they are firm on going ahead with the strike for it MSRTC is one of the biggest public transport bodies in the county with a fleet of around 16000 buses and around 93000 employees The loss-making corporation used to ferry around 65 lakh passengers before the pandemic According to the corporation over 9700 employees had joined duty and it had operated over 500 buses across the state on Thursday Since November 9 it was the highest number of employees who reported for duty as well as the daily bus services operated PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Nov 19 PTI A major fire broke out in a four-storey mall in suburban Vile Parle on Friday which left a fireman injured and another person critical officials said The blaze erupted at Prime Mall around 1015 am they said A fire brigade official said it received a call about the blaze round 1015 am and its team reached the spot at 1027 am The fire was confined to the basement and the first floor of the complex he said Sixteen fire engines and 11 water tankers along with other fire fighting equipment are being used in the firefighting operation which is still on the official said Fireman Mangesh Gaonkar 54 sustained a minor injury and is stable while 20-year-old man Mubasir Mohammad is in a critical condition due to inhalation of smoke a civic official said Both of them have been admitted to nearby Cooper Hospital he said The fire brigade initially tagged it as a level three major emergency call fire which it upgraded to level four serious emergency call by around 1130 am he said This is the third incident of major fire in the city this week On Thursday a garage of an automobile showroom was gutted in a major fire at Powai in western suburbs while a multinational companys service centre in Kanjurmarg area had suffered large-scale damages due to a blaze on November 16 PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Nov 19 PTI A major fire broke out on the first floor of a four-storey mall in suburban Vile Parle on Friday a civic official said So far there is no report of injury to anyone in the blaze that erupted at Prime Mall around 11 am he said At least 13 fire engines eight water tankers and other fire brigade vehicles were rushed the spot and the firefighting operation is on the official said Further details about the incident are awaited This is the third incident of major fire reported in the city so far this week On Thursday a garage of an automobile showroom was gutted in a fire at Powai in Western suburbs while a multinational companys service centre had suffered large-scale damages due to a blaze on November 16 PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Oct 28 PTI Mumbai on Thursday reported 327 new coronavirus positive cases and six fatalities taking the caseload to 754996 and toll to 16235 a civic official said The city witnessed a marginal dip in coronavirus infections while the number of fatalities increased as compared to Wednesday when the city had reported 420 cases and four deaths There are 4115 active COVID-19 cases in the state after 365 patients recuperated and got discharge from hospitals during the day which pushed the citys overall recovery count to 732114 the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC official said A total of 32688 tests were conducted in the last 24-hours which took the cumulative test count to 11344009 Presently there are 39 buildings that have been sealed in order to curb the spread of the virus from there while the city is free of containment zones in slums and chawls since mid-August the official said The average COVID-19 recovery rate of the countrys financial capital is 97 per cent Its average doubling rate is 1412 days and the average growth rate of cases is 005 per cent for the period between October 21 and 27 he said Mumbai had reported the highest number of 11163 daily cases on April 4 this year while the highest one-day fatality count of 90 was witnessed on May 1 both during the second wave of the pandemic PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Sep 24 PTI The fire in a seven-storey residential building in suburban Khar west which has claimed the life of a 40-year-old woman was doused after nearly four hours of efforts a civic official said on Friday The blaze had broken out at Nutan Villa building at 7 pm on Thursday and it was extinguished by around 11 pm by the fire brigade team Eight fire engines seven water tankers and other equipment were used in the operation he said Hema Jagwani who was trapped in a room at the building suffocated and was declared brought dead at the Hinduja Hospital However a 10-year-old girl and a woman aged 45 were rescued from the spot the officials had earlier said The flames had spread in the duct through which electrical wiring of the building passed The fire brigade personnel had to use breathing apparatus during the rescue operation as smoke filled up large parts of the building they had said PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Sep 23 PTI A major fire broke out in a residential building at Khar a western suburb of Mumbai on Thursday evening but nobody was reported injured civic officials said The blaze erupted at a room in Nutan Villa Building on Guru Gangeshwar Marg located in Khar west around 730 pm and two persons were rescued they said The personnel of fire brigade and other agencies rushed to the spot after being alerted an official said Eight fire engines and six jetties along with other equipment were sent to the site The firefighting operation is still on Two persons have been rescued from the building the fire brigade official said Further details about the incident are awaited PTI KK NP NP

Mumbai Sep 17 PTI A major fire broke out at Mandala scrap market in Mumbais eastern suburb of Mankhurd early on Friday but there was no report of any injury civic officials said The blaze erupted around 415 am at the scrap market located on Veer Jijamata Bhosale Marg they said At least 10 fire engines and water takers were sent to the spot the officials said Thick black smoke billowing into the sky was visible A fire brigade official said that the blaze is confined to seven to eight shops in the market where different types of scrap material including empty chemical drums was stored The fire has been covered from all the sides after more than three hours of efforts and the firefighting operation is still on he said More information about the incident is awaited PTI KK NP NP