Puja Banerjee & Kunal Verma accused of abduction, extortion by film producer Shyam Dey's wife Malabika
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Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Garbage left to rot as sanitation workers don't turn up for duty fearing crackdown in Gurgaon
Gurgaon: As police began detaining suspected illegal immigrants, especially those from the Bengali-speaking minority community, several neighbourhoods in the city are struggling with mounting garbage and deteriorating sanitation conditions. Residents say that garbage collection has come to a near halt in many sectors and colonies, with sanitation workers failing to turn up for duty since the crackdown began. With nowhere else to dispose it of, some are resorting to dumping garbage in open spaces, further adding to the civic mess. Rajkumar Yadav, RWA president of Sector 46, said, "This has become a full sanitation crisis. Garbage wasn't picked up from our households for over a week. It's rotting in the heat, and the stench is spreading to nearby homes. Some are even dumping waste in open plots. MCG has not provided any backup plan." You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon Across several parts of the city — including Sectors 9A, 10, 37D, 46, and arterial stretches like Southern Peripheral Road — mounds of garbage now lie swarming with flies, stray dogs, and cattle. Suraj Bhola, general secretary of the Sector 9A RWA, echoed the concern, saying the situation was spiralling out of control. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like $30K Goes a Long Way in This Clementi Condo squarerooms Read More Undo "We are fed up with the MCG functioning. They give contracts to firms that don't even have sufficient vehicles or manpower to collect the waste regularly. Even the private vendor has now suddenly disappeared. Many of the workers haven't shown up since the police started detaining people," he said. Meanwhile, MCG officials confirmed that waste collection has slowed down in several zones and attributed the disruption to crunch in manpower. "We are aware of the shortfall and have asked the agencies to engage backup staff and hire locals where possible. As of now, 100 vehicles have been deployed for door-to-door collection," said a senior official of MCG. One contractor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Nearly 60-65% of our workforce are Bengali-speaking Muslims. After the raids began, there was panic. Some were beaten by police; others heard rumours and just left. Now they have gone to nearby districts or back to their villages. Replacing them with local workers is proving very difficult — the scale is too big and few are willing to take up waste collection. " In Suncity, residents say garbage was not collected for ten days. "It's becoming unbearable. We've been keeping garbage inside our homes. There has been no communication from the civic body on when normal service will resume," said VMK Singh, a long-time resident of the township. Despite assurances that the crackdown is focused only on undocumented foreign nationals, many workers feel unsafe. "I have Aadhaar, voter ID, everything. But I heard that people with documents were still picked up and kept for days. I don't want to take that risk," said Azirur Rehman, who works as a waste collector and lives in Islampur. However, some RWAs say they've been left to manage the crisis on their own. At Ardee City in Sector 52, the RWA moved quickly to fill the gap after all 12 of its waste collectors left the city. "We coordinated with the same private vendor and managed to deploy four local workers and a garbage pickup truck," said Chaitali Mandhotra, an RWA member. "We created an alert system using WhatsApp lane groups and a PA system. As soon as the truck reaches a lane, residents are notified to hand over their garbage bags. This has helped us maintain cleanliness and avoid pile-ups." Similarly, DLF City facility management has rolled out a set of temporary interventions to ensure continuity of services. To deal with the shortfall, the management has introduced mobile central collection points (MCCPs) — tractor trolleys stationed at fixed locations like parks and gates within each block. Dhruv Bansal, residents representative, DLF City Residents Groups said, "The sanitation collapse in DLF City is not just a civic failure—it's the result of poorly executed verification drives that led to the abrupt removal of experienced Bengali sanitation workers. These workers formed the backbone of our daily waste management system. Their sudden exit, without trained replacements, has triggered a garbage emergency across DLF phases. Residents are now dealing with overflowing waste, foul stench, and a serious public health threat. We demand immediate restoration of proper staffing and long-term planning from authorities."
Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
Govt contractor found dead; ‘was owed 1.4cr': Kin
Kolhapur: A 35-year-old govt contractor from a Sangli village, who was allegedly under immense financial duress over pending payments for projects, was found dead at his farm on Wednesday. A family member told police that govt owed him Rs 1.4 crore in dues and he had also incurred debt of Rs 65 lakh from banks and private lenders. The contractor, Harshal Patil of Tandulwadi village in Sangli's Islampur taluka, was said to have worked on pipe laying and tank construction projects of Jal Jeevan Mission, a rural water supply scheme. Sangli ZP chief executive officer Trupti Dhodmise, however, told TOI, "He was not registered with us. Some big contractor may have leased out works to him, which we need to find out." According to the family, Patil left home at 7pm on Tuesday. When he did not return, his relatives went looking for him in Satara and Pune. They also registered a missing person complaint. The next afternoon, they found him dead at the farm. Patil is survived by his wife, parents, two younger brothers and a four-year-old daughter. His family was financially dependent on him. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy the Dip: Top 5 Dividend Stocks with Growth Potential Seeking Alpha Read More Undo You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Assistant police inspector Vikram Patil said, "We have not found any suicide note. We are, however, getting the statements of the relatives. We have registered the death as a suicide." Many contractors across the state are awaiting govt bill payments. Contractors had held a statewide strike on July 4 demanding immediate clearance of dues. Since Jan, contractors have held at least five protests in different districts. Milind Bhosale, state president of the contractors' association, said he has written at least 25 letters to govt to hold a meeting over Rs 90,000 crore dues. "Govt's Jal Jeevan Mission department alone has pending bills of Rs 12,000 crore. PWD also has Rs 46,000 crore dues. In March, we met PWD minister Shivendraraje Bhosale. There are pending bills of Rs 8,500 crore with the rural department and Rs 20,000 crore with the water resources department. We met [water resources minister] Girish Mahajan, who assured us of a meeting with CM Devendra Fadnavis during the assembly session, but the session has ended and there is no word from govt's side yet."
Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
Surprise Lokayukta raids uncover IAS officer's property worth 9 crore
1 2 Bengaluru: An IAS officer has come under the Lokayukta scanner after surprise raids on her house at RT Nagar and five other places across the city. The anti-corruption police action revealed properties worth Rs 9 crore, which are alleged to be disproportionate to the known sources of income of Vasanthi Amar, special deputy commissioner of K-Ride (Rail Infrastructure Development Company Karnataka), the nodal agency for implementing the Bengaluru suburban railway project. "We have seized various land documents from her and her husband's possession; these documents include various gift deeds. We have to ascertain who gave them and the relationship they share with her," a Lokayukta source said. On July 15, the govt filed an FIR at Halasur Gate police station against Vasanthi for allegedly issuing an illegal order related to a 10.2-acre land parcel in Dasanapura hobli, Bengaluru, in 2024. A few days prior to the FIR, she had got an injunction from a court refraining media from printing or circulating unconfirmed news about her. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru According to a press release from Lokayukta, its sleuths found her to be in possession of three sites, four houses, and three acres of agricultural land, all valued at around Rs 7.4 crore, among others. "Also, we found Rs 66,000 in cash and Rs 12 lakh worth of ornaments," the press note stated. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 15 most beautiful women in the world Undo This apart, Lokayukta raided seven other govt officials, including a former personal staff of a minister. The officers raided are: Bagli Maruti, assistant director and a minister's former staff in Bengaluru (he owns assets to the tune of Rs 6.34 crore); BBMP executive engineer HV Yarappa Reddy (CV Ramanganagar); Manjunathaswamy M, joint director (Madikeri), skill development, entrepreneurship and livelihood department; B Venkataramana, office assistant (administration), Mysuru City Corporation; Rajesh M, KIADB assistant executive engineer (Tumakuru division); Sunil Kumar, executive engineer, health and family welfare office in Kalaburagi; and Sheku Chavan, assistant director, district industries centre, Koppal.
