Latest news with #Line3
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Bus gets stuck in pit near Metro construction site in Mumbai; none hurt
A BEST electric midi bus got stuck in a pit near a Metro construction site at Girgaon in south Mumbai on Monday morning, officials said. No casualty was reported, they said, adding all the passengers were safely evacuated from the bus belonging to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking. As per initial information, the incident occurred on Dr Babasaheb Jaykar Marg at Thakurdwar near the Girgaon Metro station site, where work on Mumbai Metro Line 3 is underway. The rear portion of the bus got stuck in the pit due to a road which had partially caved-in, a civic official said. Some locals alleged a nearly five-foot-deep pit was created due to the ongoing Metro work. A spokesperson of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) said they were looking into the incident. BEST spokesperson Sudas Sawant said he was trying to connect with the officials concerned for details of the incident.
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Devendra Fadnavis launches NCM card for Mumbai Metro Line 3 passengers
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday launched the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) for Mumbai Metro Line 3, also known as the Aqua Line, in a move to unify the city's public transport system. The contactless RuPay NCM card that can be operated from Wednesday allows passengers to ride seamlessly between Metro Line 3 stations, from Aarey JVLR to Acharya Atre Chowk, without standing in long queues at ticketing counters. It is completely interoperable with other key Mumbai Metro lines — Line 1, Line 2A, and Line 7 — along with other transportation systems like Chalo Buses, providing a smooth multi-modal travel experience. The launch was held in the presence of Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, and other senior officials. The initiative by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRC) is being executed in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the State Bank of India (SBI). The existing commuters who already possess NCMC cards from SBI or other players can use their cards on Line 3 from Wednesday, officials said. New riders may get a free card from any Metro Line 3 station or SBI branches that are participating, with a minimum top-up of Rs 100 and a maximum of Rs 2,000, they added. Addressing the launch, MMRC Managing Director Ashwini Bhide stated, 'The NCMC card integration in Mumbai Metro Line 3 is a significant milestone in our path towards smart and commuter-centric urban transport. Being the city's first totally underground Metro corridor, Line 3 is planned with future-proof infrastructure and this contactless payment solution with ease is an integral part of that vision. We are excited to collaborate with NPCI and SBI to facilitate a seamless, hassle-free travel experience for Mumbaikars and enable the Government of India's National Common Mobility Card programme.'
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NCMC card for seamless tap & travel on Metro 3 launched
Mumbai: The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRC) on Monday launched the RuPay National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) for Metro Line 3 commuters. The NCMC card, introduced in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the State Bank of India (SBI), allows passengers to "tap and travel" across Metro Line 3's operational stretch—from Aarey JVLR to Acharya Atre Chowk. The card offers a secure, cashless travel solution and aims to eliminate queues at ticket counters. The launch event was held in the presence of state CM Devendra Fadnavis and DCMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and other top dignitaries. MMRC managing director Ashwini Bhide said, "The integration of NCMC with Mumbai Metro Line 3 is a significant milestone in building future-ready, smart infrastructure." The NCMC card will also be interoperable across Metro Lines 1, 2A, and 7, as well as with other transport systems such as the Chalo bus service. Cards issued by these operators can also be used at Line 3 stations, ensuring a unified transit experience. Existing NCMC cardholders can begin using cards on Line 3 from June 11. New users can get the cards at any of the seven Line 3 stations or designated SBI branches. The cards will be issued for free with a mandatory initial top-up of Rs 100.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Heliene Celebrates the Grand Opening of Rogers, MN Solar Manufacturing Facility
The new facility expands the Company's annual U.S.-made solar PV module output to 1.3GW and creates hundreds of new jobs in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area ROGERS, Minn., June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heliene, Inc., a customer-first provider of North American-made solar PV modules, celebrated the grand opening of a new solar PV module manufacturing facility in Rogers, MN on May 30. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, MN Commissioner Matt Varilek, and Rogers' Major Shannon Klick together with other State elected officials were in attendance to mark this milestone achievement for domestic clean energy manufacturing, regional job creation, and economic development. The Rogers facility houses Minnesota Line 3, Heliene's third U.S.-based manufacturing line. Minnesota Line 3 has been operational since April 29 and has an annual capacity of 500MW. Heliene also owns and operates 300MW-Minnesota Line 1 and 500MW-Minnesota Line 2 at its existing Mountain Iron, MN facility. The opening of Line 3 brings Heliene's total U.S.-made module manufacturing output per year to 1.3GW. 'Heliene is experiencing continued demand for our high-quality, high-domestic content solar PV modules,' said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. 'By nearly doubling our manufacturing capacity at our new Rogers, Minnesota facility, we can continue to provide best-in-class fully domestic content products and service to our customers, while we deliver on our broader goal of onshoring U.S. solar supply chains, by incorporating domestically-produced, cells, frames, polymers and other critical components.' The completion of Minnesota Line 3 expands Heliene's commitment to offering U.S. solar developers high-quality PV modules made with an industry-leading percentage of domestic content. The Company is hiring more than 220 new employees in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area to support operations, maintenance, and engineering at the new facility. Heliene received $2.3M in funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), with specific funding from the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF), Minnesota Job Creation Fund (JCF) and the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP), to support the above mentioned job creation. 'The opening of this new manufacturing plant means high-quality solar panels will be produced in Rogers to meet increasing demand for energy across our state and throughout the country—and it will create hundreds of new jobs for the region,' said Senator Klobuchar. 'I'm committed to working together to strengthen our manufacturing economy, increase affordable clean energy, and bring the jobs of the future to Minnesota.' Across all its U.S. manufacturing lines, Heliene is producing bifacial, high-efficiency crystalline solar PV modules with the highest possible percentage of domestic content available on the market. To support this effort, Heliene has secured a number of strategic partnerships with domestic solar module component manufacturers in recent years. About HelieneHeliene is one of North America's fastest-growing, domestic PV manufacturers serving the utility-scale, commercial, and residential markets. With an in-house logistics team and remarkably responsive support staff, Heliene delivers competitively priced, high performance solar modules precisely when and where customers need them to accelerate North America's clean energy transition. Founded in 2010, Heliene consistently ranks as a highly bankable module manufacturer. For more information, visit For more information, please contact:HelieneMedia inquiries:heliene@
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Business Standard
27-05-2025
- Climate
- Business Standard
Why a few hours of rain still bring India's biggest cities to a standstill
On Monday morning (May 26), commuters on Mumbai's much-hyped Aqua Line 3 metro were met not by the promise of smoother travel, but by ankle-deep floodwater. The newly inaugurated underground station at Worli was inundated after an intense burst of monsoon rain, water poured down its walls, flooded the platform, and leaked through the roof. The city's earliest monsoon arrival in 35 years had made its entrance, and left the latest civic showpiece in tatters. Meanwhile, in Delhi, Saturday's record-breaking downpour turned the capital's roads into rivers. With 185.9 mm of rainfall this May, nearly nine times the usual, the city is witnessing its wettest May ever. Flights were delayed, traffic choked, and low-lying areas submerged as thunderclouds ripped across the skyline. Down south, Bengaluru, last week, was battered by a 12-hour rain marathon that flooded 500 homes, killed at least three people, and filled over 20 lakes to capacity. The city, perched on a plateau with no natural river drainage, turned into a bowl of chaos, yet again. From north to south, the script is the same: a few hours of rain and entire cities collapse. Why do Indian cities flood so easily? Why haven't years of warnings, policies, and crores in spending fixed this? And more importantly, who is really accountable? People are left stuck, governments rush to react, and the damage runs deeper than just flooded roads—it hits lives, livelihoods, and the economy. Why are cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai so flood-prone? Much of urban India relies on colonial-era drainage systems designed over a century ago. Take Mumbai: the city's stormwater network, laid out by the British in the 1860s, was engineered to carry 25 mm of rain per hour during low tide. That might have sufficed for a coastal town of 2 million people—not for a mega-metropolis of over 20 million that now routinely sees rainfall exceeding 100 mm/hour. In Delhi, the drainage network was built for just 50 mm of daily rain, based on standards from 1976. The capital, however, now regularly receives four times that amount in a single day. Bengaluru's stormwater drains are equally archaic and poorly maintained, clogged with silt, debris and sometimes even furniture. The result then is that rainwater that should drain away instead turns city streets into cesspools. How poor planning and lost wetlands made urban flooding worse Rapid and unplanned urbanisation has only made things worse, argue infra experts. Across cities, construction has bulldozed through natural buffers like lakes, wetlands and drainage valleys. Mumbai has lost nearly 80 per cent of its natural water bodies over the last four decades. So has Bengaluru, where once-interconnected lakes like Bellandur and Varthur are now flanked by tech parks and apartment blocks. In Delhi-NCR, high-rise colonies and malls stand where floodplains once soaked up excess rainwater. These wetlands acted like sponges. With them gone, there is nowhere for the water to go, except up into homes and down into basements. Even where drains exist, they often serve as dumping grounds rather than water channels. Solid waste, silt and construction debris routinely clog drainage lines, reducing their capacity by as much as 40–60 per cent. Mumbai, for instance, produces over 9,000 tonnes of garbage every day. Much of it ends up in the city's waterways. In 2025, despite a ₹550 crore desilting budget, only 37 per cent of the silt in the Mithi River was removed before the rains began. Court delays were blamed. The consequences were predictable. In Bengaluru, experts estimate that only 10 per cent of the city's stormwater drain capacity is functional. The rest is filled with solid waste, sewage or hardened silt. Why flood-control budgets don't solve India's waterlogging problem Infrastructure breakdowns are only part of the story. At the heart of the waterlogging crisis lies broken urban governance. Drainage systems fall under a patchwork of agencies, municipal corporations, state departments and central bodies, each working in silos, often at cross-purposes. In Mumbai, the long-delayed BRIMSTOWAD project, launched in 1993 to modernise stormwater drains—its Phase II remains just 50 per cent complete, while Phase I is at 75 per cent completion. Disputes between the BMC and state authorities have stalled key pumping stations for years. Delhi's new drainage master plan has been in the works since 2016 but remains unapproved. In its absence, the city continues to combine sewage and stormwater in the same pipes—a recipe for disaster when it floods. How topography and encroachment magnify urban flood damage Topography plays a cruel trick on Indian cities. Many of the worst-hit areas are built on reclaimed or low-lying land, where water naturally collects. Mumbai's plush neighbourhoods like Worli and Nariman Point are built on reclaimed land. When it rains, water from higher parts of the city rushes down to these pockets, often blocked by construction or tidal backflow. In Delhi, the Yamuna floodplains have been encroached upon by both formal and informal settlements. During intense rains, these areas are the first to drown, and the last to receive relief. Is climate change accelerating urban flooding in Indian cities? Climate change has turbocharged these vulnerabilities. Extreme rainfall events are now more frequent, intense and unpredictable. Mumbai received 944 mm of rain in a single day in 2005, a record many dismissed as a freak event. But by 2024, such 'freak' events are becoming annual. Climate models predict a 30 per cent increase in extreme rainfall by 2030. Delhi saw over 200 mm of rainfall in 24 hours in 2024. Bengaluru, too, has faced cloudbursts that its outdated infrastructure simply cannot handle. When heavy rains coincide with high tide or construction blockages, the system collapses, and the city drowns. Who is responsible when floods claim lives and paralyse cities? The toll is not just infrastructural, it's human. In 2024, Mumbai recorded at least seven deaths from open manholes and submerged drains. Delhi saw the death of nearly 20 people last year, mostly children and workers, to drowning or electrocution. In May 2025, Bengaluru saw three flood-related deaths, including a child and a 63-year-old man electrocuted while trying to drain his home. The economic losses are equally staggering. Flood-related disruptions in Mumbai alone have cost the city thousands of crores over the years, with halted trains, shuttered offices and damaged infrastructure. Meanwhile, authorities continue to offer reactive, band-aid solutions: temporary dewatering pumps, emergency desilting drives or new bylaws for rainwater harvesting. But without long-term, integrated planning, these remain cosmetic fixes. Upgrading city-wide drainage systems requires multi-agency coordination, consistent funding and data-driven design based on updated rainfall and runoff patterns, none of which urban India currently has in place. As the climate crisis intensifies, the water will only rise. The real question then becomes how long can Indian cities tread water before they sink under the weight of their own neglect?
