Source: by Sudhakar Anchan, dated Sep 30, 2011

The Mankhurd police have found a decomposed body of a person in a creek behind Tata Power House near Sion-Panvel Highway on September 22. The deceased was in his late thirties and the body was beyond recognition.

Shakir Patel, police sub-inspector of Mankhurd police said, “The deceased was wearing a yellow check shirt with full sleeve and grey jeans. He was of a medium built having a height of 5’6” with wheatish complexion. His entire body was swollen and face was unrecognizable, but did not bore any injury mark”.

After receiving information from control room, the Mankhurd police lead by senior inspector S. Rajput rushed to the spot. The body was recovered from the creek with the help of fire brigade. “After completing spot panchanama and inquest panchanama (procedure to find injury mark if any), the body was sent to Rajawadi hospital for post mortem. The victims information is forwarded to all the nearby police stations,” said Assistant Police Inspector Haridas Kumbhar, the detection officer of the case.

Kumbhar further said, “Hospital authorities have sent viscera of the dead body to forensic laboratory in Kalina for chemical analysis. The actual cause of the death will be known only after forensic report. Anyone known to the deceased should contact Mankhurd police station.”

In a similar incident three years back, a dead body of a woman was found in the creek near Mumbai Vashi Highway. The case was registered in Shivaji Nagar police but till now the identity of the woman could not be ascertained by the police.

Recently (six months ago), a dead body of a man came floating in the same creek. Mankhurd and Vashi police officials had tough time in dealing with the case regarding jurisdiction of the case then.

Sources say that criminals from outside Mumbai, after robbing victims murder them and dump the body in this creek. This highway leads to Express Way on the northern side. In such incidents, most of the time victims do not belong to Mumbai suburbs. Hence police find it difficult to detect identity of the victims.

Forensic experts say hypertensive man died after being given anti-cancer drug which had a name similar to the one he had been prescribed.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, reported by Yogesh Sadhwani on May 02, 2011: Read Full Article

Next time you go to your neighbourhood chemist to get medicines, make sure you’re given the same drugs as prescribed by your doctor, not something which sounds similar.

Abdul Gaffar Khan (above) died at Sion hospital; (middle) the prescription and (right) what the chemist sold

A 65-year-old tailor from Mankhurd Abdul Gaffar Khan, who had hypertension, was erroneously given medicine for cancer by the chemist a few days ago. He died in hospital on Saturday afternoon.

Khan, who was undergoing treatment at the out-patient department at Sion hospital, had recently been prescribed a list of medicines one of which was Met XL 50. Instead of giving him this drug, the chemist gave him an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug called Methotrexate. Within 24 hours of taking this, Khan’s body broke into a rash, and he started feeling uneasy. He was taken to Sion hospital where he breathed his last.

The sole breadwinner of an extended family of 10, Khan is survived by his wife, a daughter of marriageable age and four sons.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, reported by Lata Mishra on April 29, 2011: Read Full Article

This is just a glimpse of the city’s ugly underbelly. A civic body survey of the slums in Govandi and Mankhurd, where almost 90 per cent of slum dwellers are rehabilitated, reveal children there start smoking, consuming alcohol and sniffing glue and drugs by the time they are seven.

Pic for representational purpose

A team of 12 doctors from civic hospitals interviewed 1,500 children from around 300 families. Almost every kid indulged in substance abuse, and suffered various ailments.

Dr Ravikant Singh, who led the team of doctors, said: “More than 80 per cent kids smoked and consumed alcohol, while the percentage of those sniffing glue to get a high was almost 90 per cent. Most of these kids are pushed into crime by the time they are 10.”

Excerpt from Hindustan Times Mumbai, reported by Pooja Domadia on March 06, 2011: Read Full Article

More than 1,000 people held a protest march at Mandala, a slum in Mankhurd to pressurise the state government into opting for redevelopment schemes other than the Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s (SRA) scheme. Mandala residents had applied for Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) three years ago. But, they allege that the Urban Development Department and the housing ministry have still not approved the proposal because there are no builders involved in the project.

“The government is not allowing us to redevelop the slum on our own. We want people to know about other schemes other than the SRA’s because it is very corrupt. There are better redevelopment schemes which benefit the people more and builders less,” said Atique Ahmed, a Mandala resident.

Excerpt from India Infoline, reported by ndia Infoline News Service on Feb 16, 2011: Read Full Article

The World Bank team was oriented by the women belonging to the Sankalp Mahila Audyogik Utpadak Sahkari Sanstha set up by the Livelihood Cell established by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The World Bank team, led by Ms.Inger Andersen, Vice President, Sustainable Development Department, met the womenfolk from project affected families and left impressed by their empowerment. “It was quite heartening to learn about the initiatives undertaken and the way women feel empowered.

It was also inspiring to know that few of the women are confident of providing for their children’s education in the fields such as advertizing and communication”, said Ms.Andersen after meeting womenfolk from the resettlement and rehabilitation colony at Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, reported by Vibha Singh Mankhurd on January 29, 2011: Read Full Article

With the vehicle population exploding day by day on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road, the residents living in and around Mankhurd, Deonar and Govandi are among the worst hit. As a solution to the perennial problem, they have sought construction of foot over bridges along the three km stretch.

After repeated complaints from the area about increasing number of accidents on the road, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to give a Republic Day gift to residents of the area by announcing two foot over bridges on the road.

Pedestrians and school-going children from these areas literally run the risk of being hit by speeding vehicles while crossing the road near Deonar dumping ground junction and at Govandi school junction. Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road, is one of the busiest in the area. Thousands of vehicles use the stretch almost round-the-clock to reach Eastern Express highway and Vashi.

Excerpt from Mumbai Mirror, reported by Ashutosh Patil on January 28, 2011: Read Full Article

The 21-yr-old lost his balance as he and other commuters tried to duck the stones hurled at them near Kurla station.

The railway track near Kurla station is gaining notoriety among Central line commuters. On Wednesday, Avinash Talkar, 21, died after he fell off the train as he tried to duck the stones hurled at his compartment.

The incident took place a few hundred metres before Kurla station only seconds away from the spot where a 34-year-old woman, Daksha Gugal, fell off the train and lost her limbs after she was attacked by robbers with rope and sticks.

Avinash’s father, Manohar Talkar, told Mumbai Mirror on Thursday that his son and his physically challenged friend, Vimal Bodh, were on their way to a Republic Day celebration organised by their friends.

Excerpt from Mid-Day, reported by Poornima Swaminathan on 2011-01-25: Read Full Article

Armed thugs beat up vada pav vendor who had filed extortion complaint and then assault two constables who had come to arrest them

In a deadly game of cat and mouse, three inebriated thugs assaulted a vada pav vendor for refusing to bow down to their extortion demands, and then went on the rampage attacking policemen who came to arrest them.

Sanjay Nirale and his younger brother Shankar were assaulted for standing up to extortionists

According to the police, three thugs, Selva, Murgesh and Raghav went to a vada-pav stall around 4 pm to extort Rs 500 from the owner’s brother, Shankar Nirale (25). When he refused to pay them, they assaulted him and fled. Nirale approached the Mankhurd police station to register a complaint and returned to the stall thereafter. When the thugs discovered that Nirale had filed a complaint with the police, they returned, armed with choppers and bamboo sticks and this time, however, assaulted Nirale and his elder brother Sanjay.

PTI : A fire broke out in a slum in suburban Mankhurd in the wee hours today, gutting down godowns and several huts in the area, fire officials said.

The incident took place around 0430 hours. Five godowns and over 50 huts were gutted down in the blaze, they said.

However, no casualties have been reported. About 16 fire engines and nine water tankers were rushed to the spot to fight the flames, which was doused within 15 minutes. The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials added.

Excerpt from TOI, reported by TNN on Sep 30, 2010: Read Full Article

This could be good news for those staying in eastern suburbs. The RTO on Tuesday launched 23 new share-an-auto service between Kurla and Mulund or Mankhurd. Passengers can now alight from trains and catch an auto back home for fares as low as Rs 5 per person.

Said regional transport officer Vikas Pandkar, “We have installed the RTO-approved rate boards and set up auto shuttle stands outside every railway station between Kurla and Mulund and also along the harbour line.” These stands were formally launched by local MLAs/corporators and, in some places, by RTO officials, on Tuesday evening.

The share autos will be available from Kurla station to Shalimar Hotel, Camp area, Shell Colony, Chembur to Camp area, Ghatkopar to Amrut Nagar, Bhandup East to Village Road, Mulund East to Tata Colony, Mulund West to Thane checkpost, Veena Nagar, Meghal industrial estate, Vikhroli East to Kannamwar Nagar, Kanjur Marg to Hanuman Nagar among other places, said Pandkar.