Mumbai winter's only just arrived

As far as the weather is concerned, it’s getting better all the time. “The winter took Mumbaikars by surprise when it arrived in the city between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Temperatures dipped to as low as 16.4 degrees Celsius-the lowest of this season yet. Between Saturday and Sunday, Santa Cruz recorded a minimum temperature of 16.4 degrees Celsius, whereas Colaba recorded 21.2 degrees Celsius,”  says Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_153948” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Temperatures dropped to delicious lows over the weekend. Reuters”]  [/caption] There will be some level of closure today. “Eight years after the twin blasts that left 57 people dead at the Mumbai’s Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar, the Bombay High Court on Monday is expected to give its judgment on the fate of the three accused. Earlier the court had reserved its order on whether to confirm the death sentence handed out in 2009 to the accused. The judgment expected on whether the death sentence will be upheld or reduced to life imprisonment is expected post 11 am on Monday,” reports IBNLive. Travelling at 200 kmph? That’s unlikely, but that doesn’t change the truth — that drinking and driving is very, very dangerous. “A Saturday night binge followed by an impromptu drag race ended, predictably, in tragedy for four youngsters in Navi Mumbai early on Sunday morning. The driver of the car, 18-year-old Rakesh Chavan, lost control of his Honda Accord, skidded off the road, turned turtle several times and rammed into a tree with enough force to snap the trunk in two. According to eye-witnesses, they were travelling at 200 kph on Palm Beach Road when they crashed,” says Mumbai Mirror. While on the road, commuters’ lives get a little bit better. “After a break on Saturday, the RTO took rogue auto drivers by surprise on Sunday morning when it nabbed 95 of them — 65 for tampering with meters and 30 for refusing passengers — in the western suburbs, especially in Bandra, Vile Parle, Andheri and Jogeshwari. Since the regional transport department launched its drive on December 5, the total number of auto drivers booked in both the suburbs has added up to 313 in just a matter of one week. The RTOs at Andheri and Wadala, which have started its campaign against errant auto drivers fleecing passengers, refusing to ply and behaving rudely, have collectively imposed fines of over Rs 5.5 lakh,”  says Times of India. More on the roads. You will have to wait for seven years, but it’ll be worth the wait. “Motorists heading to Pune, Goa and parts of south India from the city can look forward to some relief by 2018. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is planning to build two separate road links that will connect the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the National Highway 17 that takes traffic towards south India. Usually, vehicles from the island city that need to reach these highways have to take a 90- to 120-minute detour from the Sion-Panvel Highway. But, after the construction of these links, vehicles will be able to shave off nearly 60 minutes from their travel time,” says Hindustan Times_._ This is precedent-setting for the families of many who die in similar circumstances every day. Reports the Times of India, “The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently ordered an insurance company to pay around Rs 9 lakh to the widow of one Ganesh Sawadekar, who died while crossing the tracks in Pune in 1999. National Insurance Company Ltd had repudiated the claim on the grounds that the act of trespassing the railway line was criminal and illegal act and hence the insurance claim would not be payable. However, stating that the act cannot be called criminal, the commission observed, “When a railway line is going through the city area, we find that at many places people have to cross from unmanned crossings.”