For Malabar Hill resident Mehul N. Shah, the daily commute home has an ironic twist — after a swift drive on Coastal Road, nearly 40% of his total travel time is spent crawling through a 300-metre stretch after exiting at Breach Candy. Shah, who is also vice president of Bharat Diamond Bourse in BKC, is among a growing number of south Mumbai residents demanding an additional exit at Nepeansea Road (NSR) on the northbound arm of Coastal Road — a demand that has evolved into a citizen-led campaign called Unlock the Exit.The movement argues that a critical exit proposed in earlier planning stages was dropped in the final detailed project report (DPR) of 2016, leading to severe congestion today. While Coastal Road has reduced travel time from Bandra to south Mumbai — with the stretch from the Bandra-Worli Sea Link toll to Amarsons Interchange taking eight to ten minutes — the final 300 metres to Mukesh Chowk can take 20-25 minutes during peak hours.

Residents say a technically feasible solution exists, involving direct access via a plot under Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), without affecting ongoing garden and promenade plans. The proposal includes both a vehicular exit and a pedestrian walkway and has been discussed with stakeholders.Mahesh Malkani, a resident of Bomanji Petit Road, says that without a dedicated NSR exit, vehicles are forced to exit at Amarsons Garden. “This has created a massive bottleneck where 300-metre stretches can take 25 to 45 minutes to navigate during peak hours. Traffic diversion through Bomanji Petit Road, already burdened by school traffic and illegal valet parking, has worsened the situation.”Echoing this, Nandini Chabria, speaking on behalf of Breach Candy ALM and Breach Candy Residents Forum (BCRF), said the issue extends beyond one neighbourhood. “The bottleneck is affecting the entire Breach Candy-Kemps Corner-NSR-Malabar Hill corridor,” she said, adding that feasibility discussions have taken place with Coastal Road officials. Residents also noted that local MLA MP Lodha had written to the BMC chief in April 2025 requesting evaluation of the NSR exit.Documents reviewed by TOI show that earlier frameworks — including the Development Plan of 1991 and a 2011 joint technical committee (JTC) report — had recommended an NSR exit. However, it was omitted in the 2016 DPR without any publicly stated reason. Shah recalls opposition at the time: “Back then as well, I knew that this was a crucial exit and hence never agreed to those who said there shouldn’t be an exit at NSR.”Residents further argue that DPR recommendations to expand nearby roads remain unimplemented and impractical due to dense development. They have also called the traffic projections “flawed”, alleging they underestimated demand. The campaign, they stress, is a data-driven effort combining research and community mobilisation.The group has reviewed thousands of pages of planning documents, launched social media outreach under @UnlockTheExit, and initiated petitions with over 5,000 signatures. Housing societies across the area have begun endorsing the proposal, including Godrej Baug on Nepeansea Road, which has 495 flats.Civic officials have previously suggested that opposition from some residents led to the exclusion of the NSR exit — a claim the group disputes. With congestion worsening, residents insist the issue is now urgent. “Coastal Road was meant to ease traffic, not shift the bottleneck,” said Shah. “Without an NSR exit, that promise remains only half fulfilled.”Chief engineer of the Coastal Road project, Mantaya Swami, confirmed awareness of the demand. “BMC issued a letter in Dec 2025 to the PWD, requesting to handover of a 10.5 m-wide land strip from MSRDC… But no response has been received to date,” he said.On March 26, the NSR Citizens Forum wrote to BMC reiterating its earlier July 30, 2025 representation, stating residents have not been consulted and demanding formal inclusion in decision-making.

BENGALURU: A video of a faculty insulting a student from a minority community in PES University went viral on Friday, prompting the university to suspend the faculty. Muralidhar Deshpande, an adjunct faculty with the private university in Bengaluru was teaching the class on Thursday. As per the social media post, he called a student terrorist 13 times and made further insults in front of his classmates. As the video went viral, the university suspended him. Jawahar Doreswamy, chancellor, PES University said that they are verifying the authenticity of the video.According to accounts and a video recording from the classroom, Dr Muralidhar Deshpande reacted aggressively, allegedly calling the student a “terrorist” in front of the class.“The moment the class is going on, you come and disturb it. Sharm nahi aati tumko (do you feel no shame)? Useless fellow, terrorist — I will call you terrorist,” the professor is heard shouting in the video.“I thought today I will be very calm,” the professor added.“Kya kha ke aate ho, sharam nahi aati?” he is also heard saying.“Terrorist,” he repeats later in the video, which is marked by significant background noise.“All our classrooms lectures are recorded. We have asked our technical team to check the authenticity of the video. We are verifying to know the truth in the matter. Meanwhile, we have immediately kept the lecturer under suspension. Disciplinary committee will look through the evidence and proceedings have to be initiated against the faculty. Anything like this has never happened in the history of the institution,” he said.“We also have a policy that all faculty members will be trained in the beginning of the year on how to deal with situations inside the classrooms. Sometimes, there could be indiscipline in the classroom, and people can overreact. In this particular case, this faculty member is not full time faculty member, he is an adjunct faculty. We are looking at our protocol on what message is being given to adjunct faculty members. They will also be included in the trainings henceforth,” he said.“This is 100% unacceptable. The faculty has a PhD, it is surprising he has reacted this way. We don’t want to suppress anything. We will take necessary action,” he assured.However, no police complaint has been made yet. City police told TOI that after the video went viral, they approached the college authorities and students, asking them to file a police complaint so that they can take legal action against the professor.

“However, the management asked us to wait for sometime. They said after holding an internal departmental enquiry, they have placed the professor under suspension. They told us that they will discuss before filing the police complaint,” a senior police officer said.

GURGAON: A birthday celebration at a club in Sector 88 in Faridabad ended in violence after a man, his daughters and their friends were assaulted by a group of youths over a dispute in playing music.An officer said one of the youths, Rishit Chitkara, has been rounded up and further investigation is underway to learn the role of the other accused youths.The complainant, Raman Grover, a resident of Sector 21A, alleged he had booked Vayu Brewery on the night of March 26 to celebrate his elder daughter’s birthday. According to his statement, his daughters and her friends requested the DJ to change the song at one point in the evening, which triggered an argument with a woman present there. The argument escalated and the woman slapped his daughter, Grover claimed. “They started abusing and misbehaving with my daughters and their friends over a simple request to change the song,” Grover stated.Around midnight, Grover had to allegedly rush to the club after he received a distress call from his daughter. He claimed that when he reached the venue and tried to rescue the children, he was attacked by a group of around 10–12 young men, including Rishit Chitkara. “When I tried to save my daughters, they attacked me as well and chased us out of the premises while assaulting us,” he said.Grover further claimed that during the attack, his wallet containing Rs 22,000 and a diamond earring worth approximately Rs 10.5 lakh were snatched. He said club bouncers were also part of the group carrying out the assault on them and accused the club management of negligence.Describing the group, he said each member was heavily intoxicated. “They were under the influence and showed no restraint,” he said. She planned the celebration before leaving the country. “The owner’s son was present but no one tried to stop the assault or protect us,” Grover said. The victim added that his daughter, who is pursuing a finance degree in Canada, was scheduled to return on March 28.Following the incident, the complainant said he managed to take the children to safety and later returned to the spot with police. BPTP police station officials confirmed that a complaint had been filed and an FIR has been registered against Rishit Chitkara, Vaibhav and others under multiple sections of the BNS) including sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation).

Station house officer Arvind said CCTV footage from the club is being examined to ascertain the sequence of events.

Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge continues to win praise from across the film industry, and the latest to join the chorus is filmmaker Karan Johar. The director-producer said the blockbuster took him back to the era of 70s Hindi cinema, often experienced in single-screen theatres.

‘Reminded me of 70s solid Hindi cinema’

Taking to Instagram, Karan Johar shared a long note reflecting on the film’s impact and his personal connection to cinema.“The discussions on testosterone, hyper alpha energy and deep-rooted patriotism will continue as they must… but Dhurandhar 2 is so much more than that,” he wrote.