Articles by Eshan Kalyanikar

Trupti and Pravin travelled from Nagpur to Mumbai a day before April 14th. Having not visited Chaityabhoomi for five years, Trupti wanted to pay her respects at the place Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was cremated before it became crowded with devotees from across the country the next day. It was his 132nd birth anniversary the next day. "We've travelled all day to get here. Please let us in," Trupti pleaded with the security guard of the sanctum sanctorum, who had closed the gate for visitors at around 10:30 pm. Twice a year, on April 14th and December 6th, which marks the…

On the night following the March 13th fire that gutted more than 1,000 houses in the Appapada informal settlement in Malad East, a mini tempo arrived with a few items of clothing for the families. Fights broke out whenever a person tried to take as many clothes as possible, only to have them snatched away by another person in need. Weeks later, the situation has not changed much. The residents are trying to rebuild their homes with the little aid that is coming to their rescue. Sheela Ruke, a contractual sanitation worker with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has been…

A school in Andheri East has been requesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shift the open metal garbage bin situated near their entrance to a different location for the last ten years. Up until now, Tridha school has sent about 20 letters to their local ward office in K east, they have written to the state's health department and the state's education department. "The situation worsens during the rains and creates a scarier health hazard," says Dilshad, a teacher from the school. The school is surrounded by a local market and further ahead is an informal settlement. For both,…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be increasing the number of swimming pools in the city this year. It also announced 25 per cent discount for women at four of its existing functional swimming pools to increase the number of female users. The current annual fee for large pools is Rs 10,100 while for the smaller ones, it is Rs 8,000. The monthly fee varies as well, depending on the size of the pool, and ranges between Rs 1,300 to Rs 4,700. While the pools have special slots for women, from 11 am to 12 pm and 5 pm to…

Three years ago Shoaib (24) followed Aisha (21, name changed) on Instagram, she followed him back. He was from Nasik and she lived in Ghatkopar. Each was curious about the other, the attraction soon turned into a conversation and then many conversations. Unafraid of losing him, Aisha revealed a crucial detail at the very beginning of what would become a life-long commitment between the two—she had tuberculosis (TB). Six months after this, when Shoiab told his family about his intention to marry Aisha, it was only expected that her health condition would cause concerns. "I said, 'So what if she…

A day before this year's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) budget, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that he would urge the corporation to install air purifiers as a solution to Mumbai's worsening Air Quality Index (AQI). And the very next day, a substantial amount was allocated to the installation of air purifiers in the city. Estimated Rs 3.5 crores for one, there are plans to set up 14 air purifier towers, two each in seven municipal zones. Read more: Mumbai’s AQI worsens every winter, who is responsible? Additionally, there are plans to install air purifiers at 5 crowded areas of the…

On February 4th, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented a budget of Rs 52,619.07 crore for the year 2023-24. This marked a significant moment in the city's history, as Commissioner IS Chahal, serving as an administrator in the absence of an elected council, drafted and then presented and approved the budget. The BMC had earlier invited suggestions on the budget from the public. Chahal told the press that municipal corporation had received 965 suggestions "many of which were incorporated in the budget". Read more: BMC budget wishlist, from various experts in their field He said, "For example, we have allotted Rs…

The term of the municipal councillors of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, came to an end in March 2022. With elections delayed, control of the corporation fell into the hands of Commissioner IS Chahal. With him at the helm, BMC had its second administrator in decades. It has been nearly a year now since the elections have not been held and Chahal continues to run the corporation without a body of public representatives or a mayor. This meant that the municipal commissioner not only drafted the 2023-2024 civic budget but also personally presented and approved it…

The continued prevalence of certain infectious diseases in Mumbai highlights the need for improved urban planning for the city. For over a decade now, Dr Rajesh (name changed) has been seeing his patients complain about the same illnesses year after year at his civic-run dispensary situated inside Kurla’s slums. The most common of them all, he says, is tuberculosis and scabies. Kurla falls under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s L ward, which registered a total of 1,013 TB cases in 2021. Since 2012, the ward has registered a total of 10,326 TB cases, the highest among all the 24 wards. “I cater…

There are few people more well-versed about urban planning in Mumbai than Shirish Patel. The civil engineer and urban planner has been around for decades, watching the island city grow into the suburbs. He has witnessed the skyward trajectory of infrastructure in the city and at the opposite spectrum, degradation, crumbling under the Rent Control Act, Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA), and over dependence on floor space index (FSI) rules. He designed India's first flyover, at Kemps Corner. And then, along with Charles Correa, he was the one of the first to suggest and draft a plan for…