Articles by Hepzi Anthony

In Maharashtra’s urban forests, such as Yeoor forest in Thane district, drones are helping forest patrol teams detect and crack down on encroachment attempts.

Mumbai has an estimated 3 million migrant workers. Even if the railways ferry about 2400 people in two trains per day, it will take a couple of months to transport them back home.

Over 90 health care workers, including nurses and doctors, have tested positive in Mumbai with an additional 150-200 nurses under quarantine. The United Nurses Association has moved the SC seeking mandatory protection kit for all health care workers in isolation wards.

Mumbai’s health officials are working on a war footing to ensure containment of the virus by creating containment zones and sanitising entire localities besides extensive screening. But they face a humongous task.

Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the state’s nodal agency for public housing provision, is no longer able to build and sell houses at affordable rates. Many blame the tweaks in government policies that conveniently favour the corporate builders’ lobby.

Lack of public housing for low and middle income families has left them with few options in the city. They are forced to move to the peripheries, which lack physical and social infrastructure. Meanwhile, of 193 affordable housing projects listed, only four, including three slum redevelopment projects, are planned for Mumbai city itself.

A year-long survey done in 2019 conducted by ITDP found that Mumbaikars spent an average of 85 minutes daily stuck in traffic. That also means an estimated productivity loss of over Rs 3600 crores per annum. Is congestion pricing the solution?

6.48 lakh houses remained unsold across India’s top seven cities in 2019, and Mumbai alone accounted for nearly a third of these. Yet scarcity of affordable housing pushes people further and further away from the city. What could explain this?

Running the iconic and popular double decker buses is economically unviable, says BEST. Activists, however, question the transport utility’s myopic approach and the wisdom of phasing out a service that holds such a special place in the hearts of Mumbaikars.

Shortly after taking charge, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announced a stay on the metro car shed project in the forest land, but that is just one of the many projects planned. Some of these are even known to have enjoyed Shiv Sena support in the past. What, then, could be the future of Aarey?

Mumbai faces transplantation of about 5000 trees to compensate for the loss of tree cover due to various Metro projects across the city. Yet, environmentalists have little hope as 56% of the trees transplanted in the city since 2017 have failed to survive the relocation.

Mumbai’s Tree Authority had for long led a quiet existence, issuing permissions without fuss to cut trees to make way for the city’s rapid urbanization. People are now looking up to the courts as a last resort to save the green cover of the city.