The wait of Mumbaikars is now going to end. Safer, smarter and faster new monorail service is going to start again soon. The updated monorail has received the necessary safety certification for its new rolling stock and CBTC based signaling system.

This security certification is provided by Bureau Veritas, a global testing and inspection organization, which acted as the Independent Security Assessor (ISA). This achievement is being considered an important step towards restarting the monorail service for public use.

Investigation of 19.54 kilometer corridor

Now in the next phase, a comprehensive investigation of the entire 19.54 km long monorail corridor will be done. For this, a retired Metro Railway Safety Commissioner will be appointed, who will give the final statutory approval. This process is expected to be completed soon, after which the new and modern monorail will again be seen running in the service of Mumbaikars.

The following key tests were completed before receiving the safety certificate:

Detailed inspection of new rolling stock in the production unit.
Rigorous trial runs in various parts of the corridor for two months
Static and dynamic testing to ensure design meets the highest safety standards
Successful completion of oscillation test
Installation of advanced CBTC based signaling system and interface level checking

Features of Made in India new monorail train

21 modern facilities have been added to the new monorail trains. These include CCTV cameras in every coach, disabled friendly seats, mobile and laptop charging points, dynamic route maps, improved suspension system, strict adherence to fire safety standards, modern metro-style interiors and real-time monitoring and surveillance systems.
The administration has expressed confidence that Mumbaikars will soon be provided with a more safe, reliable and state-of-the-art monorail service.

Was closed due to technical problems

In view of the continuous technical problems facing the monorail, it was decided to temporarily close it. In the recent past, there were several incidents of monorail stopping between two stations, due to which passengers had to face inconvenience.

Top priority for security

Taking these incidents seriously, the administration reviewed the entire system and, giving top priority to safety, stopped the monorail service and started the work of upgradation on a large scale. In this sequence, new rolling stock, advanced CBTC based signaling system and other modern facilities were included, so that such technical problems do not recur in future and passengers can get safe and reliable service.

A major accident occurred when a part of a pillar of the under-construction metro project collapsed on Saturday afternoon in Mulund, north-east area of ​​Mumbai. One person has died in the accident caused by falling slab, while some other people have been injured. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has expressed deep sorrow over this incident and has ordered an investigation into the matter.

The family of the deceased will be given financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh by the state government and the entire expense of the treatment of the injured will be borne by the state government. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

auto shattered

The officer said that this accident happened around 12.20 pm on LBS Road, in front of Johnson & Johnson factory. He told that a slab of the pillar broke and fell on the auto rickshaw parked below, due to which the auto was completely shattered. There is a possibility of three to four people being injured.

Apart from firefighters and policemen, employees of the metro construction company are present at the site of the incident and are monitoring the rescue operation. The officer said that more information is still being collected regarding the incident.

Formation of investigation committee

MMRDA has constituted a high level inquiry committee under the chairmanship of Director (Metro PIU) Shri Basavaraj M. Bhadragond to investigate the incident of collapse of a part of parapet near Pier 196, near Mulund Fire Station in the under construction area of ​​Metro Line 4 project.

After the demise of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, developments are changing rapidly in Maharashtra politics. His wife Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected leader of the Nationalist Congress Legislature Party. After this Sunetra Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Late Nationalist Congress leader Ajit Pawar was also the national president of the party. Now the discussion has started on who will be appointed to the post of National President of the party after him.

For the last two days, Praful Patel’s name was coming up for the post of National President. Some reports claimed that he had been appointed. But after this a controversy arose in the party and Praful Patel himself had to deny these reports.

Prafull Patel’s name was discussed

Praful Patel is a Rajya Sabha MP and National Working President of the Nationalist Congress. There was talk of him becoming the president after Ajit Pawar, but after opposition within the party, Patel tried to put an end to it. Despite this, differences are clearly visible among the leaders on who will take command of the party.

Only Sunetra Pawar will be the national president – ​​Kokate

Nationalist Congress MLA and former minister Manikrao Kokate took a clear stand on this subject. He said, “The national president of the party will be only Sunetra Pawar. There is no second or third party. Even if both the nationalists come together, the post of president will remain with Sunetra Vahini.”

When asked whether signatures of MLAs and officials were being collected in her support, she said, “Whether there are signatures or not, only Sunetra Pawar will come to the post of president.” Kokate also said that Sunetra Pawar will be the political successor of Ajit Pawar and will become the leader of the party.

Officials also wrote letters demanding

Now not only the MLAs, but also key officials of the party have raised the demand to make Sunetra Pawar the national president. Under the leadership of NCP cultural cell president Babasaheb Patil, more than 30 officials wrote a letter demanding the appointment of Sunetra Pawar as the national president. This letter has been sent to senior leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel.

The letter said, “The party is saddened by the demise of Ajit Pawar. In such difficult times, the party needs a leadership that is strong, patient and keeps everyone together. Sunetra Pawar has proved her commitment by assuming the responsibility of the post of Deputy Chief Minister in adverse circumstances. Considering her experience, loyalty and affinity towards the workers, she is suitable for the post of National President. Therefore, the officials of various cells of the party unanimously demand that Sunetra Pawar be appointed the National President.”

Protest in the name of Patel?

Praful Patel, while denying the news of the post of president, said, “The news of my becoming the national president is completely baseless. NCP is a democratic organization. Such a big decision will be taken only by respecting the sentiments of the senior leadership, MLAs, office bearers and workers. The established procedure of the party will be followed.”

‘Praful Patel should support Sunetra Pawar’

After this, the demand to make Sunetra Pawar the president intensified. Party spokesperson Suraj Chavan said, “The post of national president belonged to Ajit Dada. After him, Sunetra Pawar should accept this responsibility. There is no opposition to Praful Patel, but he should work supporting Sunetra Pawar at the national level.”

What did the opposition say about the NCP president?

Opposition parties also commented on this issue. MNS President Raj Thackeray said, “Nationalist Congress is a party of struggling workers that has emerged from Marathi soil. The president of such a party should be a Marathi face. He can be ‘Patil’, but not ‘Patel’.” Apart from him, Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) MP Sanjay Raut also said that the command of the party should not go into the hands of Praful Patel.

There is intense political activity in Maharashtra regarding NCP. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday (February 1) claimed that some people from late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s party were stopping him from uniting the two factions of NCP, as it would lead to the political relevance of such people being lost.

In fact, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Sanjay Raut said, “Ajit Pawar played a leading role in uniting his NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) and the NCP (SP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and several meetings were organized for this purpose.

‘Sharad Pawar will not form alliance with BJP’

Uddhav Thackeray faction MP Raut said that Ajit Pawar had full faith in Sharad Pawar till the last moment. He claimed that in the event of merger of both the factions of NCP, Sharad Pawar is unlikely to form an alliance with BJP.

NCP should go into the hands of Patil, not Patel: Raut

Taking aim at NCP working president Praful Patel, Sanjay Raut said that NCP is a party of ‘Patil’ (Marathi) people and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar should ensure that its leadership does not go into the hands of ‘Patel’. Let us tell you that before Sanjay Raut, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had also said that the command of NCP should not go to any Patel but to a Patil i.e. Marathi person.

Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash

It is noteworthy that NCP chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati near Pune on Wednesday. After this, discussion started in the political streets whether Ajit Pawar wanted to merge his party and Sharad Pawar’s party or not.

Even after the Maharashtra civic elections, politics is intense in the state. Meanwhile, a leader of Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction said on Sunday (25 January) that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) should have first informed the Uddhav Thackeray-led party about its decision to join hands with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.

Yuva Sena secretary Varun Sardesai’s comments come days after MNS chief Raj Thackeray addressed an event with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray on stage, describing the political situation in Maharashtra as a ‘slave market’.

‘Should have discussed with us’

Sardesai told reporters, “MNS is a different party. I don’t need to tell them what to do. I am saying this in the context of Kalyan-Dombivli. We had fought the elections together. If they had to take a different decision, they should have discussed it with us. After discussion, a solution could have been found.”

‘This was our only expectation’

He said that this was our only expectation. He told that Shiv Sena (UBT) has 11 councilors in KDMC and MNS has five.

What did MNS say behind the decision?

Let us tell you that after the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had given its support to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. Explaining the reason behind this step, former MNS MLA Raju Patil had said that this decision has been taken to ensure political stability and to give priority to local development rather than the fight for power.

Uddhav group got a shock

At the same time, Shiv Sena-UBT had suffered a major setback after MNS’s decision to support Shinde faction in KDMC, as both the brothers had fought the elections of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies on the common issue of ‘protecting the interests’ of ‘Marathi manush’ and Marathi identity.

Speaking to the media at Konkan Bhavan after registering a group of party councilors, Raju Patil had said, “The game of numbers and the constant threat of switching sides was not going away. This chaos was likely to continue in the coming committee elections also. To bring stability in the city, we decided to support the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.”

After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the excitement regarding the post of Mayor has increased in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is of the clear opinion that Shiv Sena will respect the mandate given to the BJP-led grand alliance in BMC.

Sources also said that the shifting of 29 elected Shiv Sena councilors to a five star hotel in Mumbai is being unnecessarily exaggerated. In fact, after the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance got a slight majority in the recently held Municipal Corporation elections, these 29 newly elected councilors were shifted to the hotel.

‘There was no discussion on this with BJP leadership’

There is speculation that Shinde wants the post of BMC mayor for Shiv Sena at least for the first two and a half years as this is the year of birth centenary of party founder late Bal Thackeray. Shiv Sena sources said that Shinde knows that his party will not get this post and he has not even talked to the BJP leadership on this issue till now. However, he also does not want to give the message that he has backed down.

Will get a place in important committees!

A close aide of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde said, “Shiv Sainiks want the party to have its own mayor on the occasion of Balasaheb Thackeray’s birth centenary. Although Shinde knows that BJP will not accept the Shiv Sena mayor’s demand, still there is no harm in a public discussion. Shinde cannot be seen as a leader who will back down. At least the party will get a place in some other important committees.”

No intention to violate the mandate – Shinde

According to sources, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde has clearly said that he has no intention of violating the mandate given to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Mumbai. He also said that there is unnecessary talk of shifting 29 elected Shiv Sena councilors to a five star hotel in Mumbai to prevent them from switching sides.

Sources said it is a training workshop for the newly elected members and an opportunity for Shinde to get acquainted with them and tell them what he expects from them.

Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar has intensified the political stir in the state by giving a statement on Saturday (January 10). He said that the joint manifesto of the Nationalist Congress Party and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) means that both the factions have effectively come together. He mentioned the speculations about NCP (Supriya) leader Supriya Sule possibly joining the central government.

He alleged that this ‘reunification’ appears to be motivated by the attraction of power rather than ideological cohesion or concern for party workers. Wadettiwar was reacting to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NCP (Supply) working president Sule releasing a joint manifesto for the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, indicating growing closeness between the two factions after the split in July 2023.

‘Reunification happened for ideology or for power’

Responding to the ongoing speculations regarding the reunion of NCP and NCP (Supply), the Congress Legislature Party leader said that the real question is whether this step was taken for ideology, workers or only for power.

Supriya Sule likely to be included in cabinet – Wadettiwar

Wadettiwar said that if their (NCP and NCP-SP) manifestos are the same, then it can be said that they have come together. According to him, the possibility of inclusion of NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Baramati MP Sule in the Maharashtra Cabinet and the Central government respectively is being widely discussed.

On the political situation between allies Shiv Sena and BJP in Ambernath Municipal Council, Wadettiwar termed it a ‘sham fight’. He said that today they are fighting, but will they be out of power tomorrow? This is all temporary. Later they will come together again to enjoy power.

Eknath Shinde’s candidate Haji Salim Qureshi was attacked during the BMC election campaign. While campaigning, the candidate was stabbed directly in the stomach. There is panic in Mumbai after this incident. At present the treatment of the candidate is going on.

Shiv Sena candidate Haji Saleen Qureshi had gone to campaign in Dnyaneshwar Nagar area of ​​Bandra. During this time an unknown person attacked him. The attacker stabbed Qureshi with a sharp knife in his stomach. Qureshi was admitted to the hospital immediately after the attack. At present he is undergoing treatment at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. Even before this, cases of such attacks have come to light, which has increased the concern.

Imtiaz Jalil’s car was also attacked

Earlier, former Sambhajinagar MP and MIM leader Imtiaz Jalil had gone to campaign, but his car was attacked by people. It is being told that this attack was carried out by MIMIM workers. Information has also come to light about people present with Jalil being assaulted, some videos of which have also gone viral.

After the incident, Imtiaz Jalil reached the police station to lodge a complaint. Serious concern is being expressed over the implementation of the code of conduct and the emergence of such violent incidents during campaigning.

Mumbai Police has launched the biggest war till date against the black drug trade in the year 2025. Between January 1 and December 21, 2025, the police have broken the back of smugglers by seizing drugs worth more than Rs 814 crore 17 lakh. A total of 7,372 cases were registered and 6,628 accused were arrested during this operation.

DCP Navnath Dhawale of Anti Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Police spoke to ABP News and said that to ensure that drugs are not used in the party on 31st December this year, a special team is being formed which will work on the basis of every input and will take care that drugs are not consumed.

Raid in 6 factories

The promptness of the police can be gauged from the fact that this year, along with smuggling, drug manufacturing units have also been directly attacked. Police raided 6 factories manufacturing narcotics and seized goods worth about Rs 597 crore from there.

used these codewords

To avoid getting caught in the world of drugs, smugglers are now using strange code words. Heroin is now being called ‘Potla’ among smugglers, while the most sought after MD (Mephedrone) is called by names like ‘Chachi’, ‘Madhuri’, ‘Pills’ and ‘Bakra’.

By decoding these code words, the police have seized more than 275 kg of MD this year. Also, giving a strong message against drug addiction, the police has completely destroyed the old stock (2,560 kg drugs and 40,221 codeine bottles) worth Rs 136 crore.

MCOCA imposed on two big gangs

Mumbai Police has also set new records on the legal action front. Action has been taken against two big drug gangs involved in organized crime under the amended MCOCA (MCOC) Act, which is considered to be the first such historic action in Maharashtra. Apart from this, two vicious criminals have been detained in jail for one year under the PIT NDPS Act.

The scope of police investigation was not limited to the country only, four big international smugglers Salim Suhail Sheikh, Tahir Dola, Mustafa Mohammad Kubawala and Salman Sheikh alias Shera (Batlawala), who were running drug factories in India from abroad, were extradited to Mumbai and arrested.

This year’s total seizure includes 10.949 kg cocaine (₹84.40 crore), 1340 kg ganja (₹44.69 crore) and 3.712 kg heroin (₹11.51 crore). Apart from this, the campaign against people addicted to drugs also continued, under which 5,242 people were arrested in 6,276 cases of consumption. These all-round actions of Mumbai Police have not only stopped the supply at the local level, but have also exposed the masterminds sitting at the international level.

Before the municipal elections including BMC in Maharashtra, the alliance between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray has created a new stir in the politics of the state. Now the reaction of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde has also come out regarding this alliance. He has said that this alliance has been made not for the people of Mumbai but for the chair.

Ahead of the elections, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde said, “Mahayuti is strong and we have a clear agenda of development, but today some people have come together just for the agenda of the chair. They have nothing to do with Mumbaikars.”

Congress- Uddhav group workers join Shiv Sena

In fact, on Wednesday (December 24), hundreds of Shiv Sena UBT and Congress officials and workers from Nashik and Kolhapur districts joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Shinde. On this occasion, Eknath Shinde, while targeting the Uddhav Thackeray group, said that some alliances are in the interest of the public and the state, while some are done for selfishness, power and survival. No matter who has alliance with anyone, Mahayuti is strong in Maharashtra.

‘The public showed them their place’

He further said, “Mahayuti has won both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. In the city councils, Shiv Sena alone has elected the maximum number of city presidents as compared to the three parties of Mahavikas Aghadi. The people of Maharashtra have shown their place in three and a half years to those who left Balasaheb’s ideas.”

‘Mumbai is considered a hen that lays golden eggs’

Deputy Chief Minister Shinde also said, “Till now, Mumbai was considered a hen that lays golden eggs. Earlier they kept eating the eggs and now they have come together to slaughter the hen. In today’s press conference, they did not say even a word on the development of Mumbai. Mahayuti has an agenda of development, whereas they have an agenda of power and chair. They have gathered to get power and save the chair.”