Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
CP Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal adressing a press conference while Joint CP Navinchandra Reddy (left) and DCP Lohit Matani (right) were looks on. By Dheeraj Fartode With 131 checkpoints across the city, the City Police have launched a special campaign to strictly control drunk driving and rash driving in the city ahead of New Year celebrations . The special action will be carried out from December 22 to December 31 under Operation U-Turn , Commissioner of Police (CP) Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal announced at a press conference on Monday. Every year, a large number of people visit pubs , bars , hotels , and party spots on December 31 which lead to a rise in drunk driving cases. Such incidents not only endanger the lives of drivers but also put pedestrians and other road users at serious risk. Keeping this in mind, the police have decided to intensify checks across the city to ensure public safety. 131 checkpoints for drinkers Under this special campaign, 131 checkpoints have b...