Residents irked over neglected park in Nerul.

The Park

Residents in the area are angry about the status of the playground equipment in a public park located in Sector 2, Nerul. The Navi Mumbai District Congress Secretary, Vidya Bhandekar, has urged Dr. Kailas Shinde, the Commissioner of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), to act quickly to replace or fix the damaged toys. She further insisted on the blacklisting and exclusion from any further municipal projects of the contractor who was in charge of the poor installations.

Recently installed playground equipment has been rapidly decaying, and the park, which is maintained by the Municipal Administration, has been plagued by problems for months. Due to broken toys strewn over the park, local kids are unable to utilize the facilities. Bhandekar has been pressuring the local government to take action on the matter.

In order to avoid such problems in future municipal projects, Bhandekar emphasized the necessity of stringent steps, including blacklisting the contractor, in response to the contractor’s carelessness and use of inferior materials. In order to prevent additional discomfort for the local youngsters, she emphasized the need of the repairs and asked the Municipal Commissioner to give the playground equipment’s restoration or replacement top priority as Diwali draws near.

In a shop, a 24-year-old man died over two tiny pieces of chikkis from a jar on the counter. The victim, Juyal Imran Khan, 24, of Panvel, was beaten to death by three men on Saturday for stealing chikkis from a shop located at plot no. A/ 544 of Mahape MIDC without authorization.

Khan traveled to Rabale to meet a friend in Gothavli hamlet with his companion Irfan Latif Shaikh, who is twenty-eight. While traveling back from Rabale on Saturday at around 2:00 pm, they became thirsty and made the decision to purchase a bottle of water from a store.

Khan went into a store to get a bottle of water, but while he was there, he opened a jar that was on the counter table, removed two chikkis without permission, and took a bite off of them. The shopkeeper, Anil Kumar, also known as Lagesh Bagelu Gautam (20), became irritated by the behavior and began arguing with Khan.

While at the store, Khan was smoking tobacco, and Gautam got angry when he placed his hand in his mouth. Two other people from the surrounding shop joined Gautam in attacking Khan as the disagreement turned violent, according to police inspector Sunil Waghmare of the Rabale MIDC police station.

Two more men joined Gautam in attacking Khan: Sandesh Subhash Jabbar (age 26) and Sursingh Chandeya Jamuda (age 55). Khan was taken to a hospital by Shaikh, who accompanied him; upon arrival, he was pronounced dead. Shaikh then filed a complaint and told the police. Khan suffered many fractures and a brain injury as a result of the accused’s assault using an iron rod.

The three accused were subsequently taken into custody by the police under sections 103 (1)-murder committed by a group, 115 (1) and 118 (1)-voluntarily causing harm, 352 (1)-intentional harm, and 3-(5) criminal conduct with common intent of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The defendants are being held in police custody until October 17.

The Maharashtra government announced a complete toll-free policy for light motor vehicles at all five entry ports into Mumbai on Monday, October 14, with effect from midnight. At the State Cabinet meeting, the exemption—which covers small cars, school buses, and State Transport (ST) buses—was decided. The goal of this important action is to lessen the load on commuters and drivers entering the city.

Vashi on the Sion-Panvel Highway, Mulund on the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and Eastern Express Highway, Airoli Bridge on the Airoli-Mulund Road, and Dahisar on the Western Express Highway are the toll plazas where the waiver would be implemented.

Members of Navi Mumbai’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) greeted the announcement by giving out sweets to drivers at the Vashi toll plaza. The festivities emphasized the party’s longstanding call for openness in toll collecting and the elimination of tolls after toll money was used to finance road repairs.

MNS founding chairperson Raj Thackeray congratulated the people of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and MNS supporters on X (previously Twitter), expressing his happiness at the decision. “Congratulations to all the residents of the MMR area, and a special congratulations to my Maharashtra Sainiks,” he said. They put up a strong fight to ensure that toll transactions are transparent and that if the money collected is used to fund road construction,

Thackeray went on to address the criticism the party received for its tough stance on toll booths, pointing out that extreme measures were occasionally required to draw attention to pressing problems. “In any case, our fight paid off and Mumbaikars were at least free of tolls. We are happy to report that our agitation was successful. However, he continued, “they should reassure the public that this is not a decision made solely for the election.”