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,...
The City police have put in place a high-tech security plan for New Year’s Eve to ensure safe and peaceful celebrations. Sniffer dogs will be used to hunt down drug consumption on city roads, while drones will scan rooftops and isolated areas to prevent illegal activities. In addition, police will set up checking and nakabandi at 131 points across the city to keep strict watch on drunk driving and maintain law and order throughout the night. Around 2,500 policemen, from police constables to the Police Commissioner , will be deployed on city roads to ensure public safety and prevent any untoward incidents during the celebrations. Sniffer dogs to check drug consumption Commissioner of Police (CP) Dr Ravinder Kumar Singal said that rising drug consumption has been taken very seriously. To curb this menace, the police will use sniffer dogs to check vehicles on city roads. Three special dog squads will be deployed to detect drug use. “These dogs are trained to identify all kinds of narc...