Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai)

Five-judge bench to rule on legality of EWS reservatio­n

- Badri Chatterjee badri.chatterjee@hindustant­imes.com BHUSHAN KOYANDE/HT Abraham Thomas letters@hindustant­imes.com ››FULL REPORT, P7

MUMBAI : Heavy rain and strong winds for a second consecutiv­e day brought chaos to the Mumbai Metropolit­an Region (MMR) on Wednesday as trees fell, signages of buildings were blown away and waterloggi­ng on roads and railways tracks caused disruption­s. The downpour, however, helped Mumbai cross its seasonal average rainfall figure with two months of the monsoon season still remaining.

The Colaba weather station, representa­tive of south Mumbai, recorded 293.8mm rain in 12 hours (8.30am to 8.30pm Wednesday), which is the highest ever in August even for a 24-hour period since 1974, when records began to be kept, according to the India Meteorolog­ical Department (IMD). The previous 24-hour highest rainfall was 261.9mm recorded on August 10, 1998.

Maximum wind speed over the city was higher than that recorded when cyclone Nisarga had brushed past Mumbai in June. The wind speed recorded at Colaba was between 70kmph and 80kmph, which increased up to 107kmph between 5pm and 5.15pm. The wind speed recorded during cyclone Nisarga was 92kmph. The normal wind speed for Mumbai is between 10kmph and 15kmph during rainy days and between 25kmph and 30kmph on heavy rain days.

NEWDELHI:THE Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to form a five-judge Constituti­on bench to scrutinise a central law introducin­g 10% reservatio­n in government jobs and college admissions for the economical­ly weaker sections among the general category of citizens.

The court, however, did not stay the law.

 ??  ?? People wade through a waterlogge­d street at Byculla on Wednesday. South Mumbai received 293.8mm rain in 12 hours, the highest ever in August even for a 24-hour period since 1974.
People wade through a waterlogge­d street at Byculla on Wednesday. South Mumbai received 293.8mm rain in 12 hours, the highest ever in August even for a 24-hour period since 1974.

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