Overview

• Sixteen-month-old Riyan Sheikh fell from a fourth-floor balcony in Pelhar, was stabilised at Galaxy Hospital in Naigaon, and doctors advised immediate transfer to a larger Mumbai facility.
• The transfer toward Mumbai was trapped for hours in a 20–25 km traffic jam on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Highway, and the child was later declared dead on arrival at a nearby Sasoon Navghar facility, the hospital confirmed.
• Repair work prompted closure of a Thane-bound stretch from 6 am to 9 pm, while a separate advisory restricting heavy vehicles on NH-48 and Ghodbunder Road worsened congestion.
• Police enforcement saw thousands of trucks pulled over to park on the highway without staging infrastructure, with drivers reporting waits up to 18 hours and a daily flow of roughly 25,000 heavy vehicles on the corridor.
• Local activists and a BJP legislator accused authorities of mismanagement and demanded green corridors, revised restrictions, and accountability, with no policy reversal announced.