Articles by Hepzi Anthony

Hepzi Anthony is an independent journalist based in Mumbai, who writes about issues of public policy, urban development, planning and environment. Passionate about Mumbai and its people, she tweets from hepzia and shares her views on her LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. https://hepzianthony.contently.com/

When Jitendra Dixit, a journalist and author, who lives in Wadala, went by the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) or Atal Setu, he found that it barely saved him 5-10 minutes from Mumbai to Pune in spite of paying a toll of Rs 250.   The MTHL, which connects Navi Mumbai and south Mumbai, was inaugurated with great fanfare on January 12th 2024. But the toll fee seems to have put off a lot of people, because in its first month till February 13th 2024, only 8,13,774 commuters had used it. It collected revenue of Rs 1, 39, 585,310 with a…

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When the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link or Atal Setu was nearing completion, the most discussed issue about the project was not about it being an engineering marvel, but what the toll charges were likely to be. Whether it is the Mumbai-Pune Expressway or the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, when a project that improves the road connectivity for people, invariably tolls are charged - sometimes to recover project costs and later for maintenance. As more and more projects get unveiled, commuters feel frustrated about various toll charges they pay to use the roads that may ease and facilitate their travel, but escalate…

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Renie Baptista, lives in a 100-old-legacy house in Matharpacady. The house, inherited by her father-in-law from his mother, invokes a mixture of legacy, emotional attachment to the neighbourhood, where people share similar cultural and social ethos. She also enjoys a sense of space in her 2000 sq ft bungalow, which, even now, is a sturdy house.  Shifting into a flat that could come with water and other infrastructural issues bothers her along with the worry of losing her link with her community spaces forever. Many others in Matharpacady share her anxiety. The quaint old charming bungalows and bylanes of Mazgaon village…

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In a major development with long-term implications, the Maharashtra government on December 20, 2023 permitted sale or renting out of Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) housing on completion of five years after allotment. Earlier, it could be sold only after ten years. This amendment was unanimously supported by policymakers across all political parties. Incidentally, earlier when the state government had considered cutting the lock-in period to just three years, it met up with strong opposition from its law and judiciary department, which felt that it would lead to ‘profiteering’ by free tenement allottees.  Housing minister Atul Save also admitted in the…

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On the afternoon of 26 November, 2023 a group of about 50 people gathered for a unique meeting at tribal activist Prakash Bhoir’s house at Mumbai’s Aarey forest. Members shared anecdotes, recalled incidents as they came together to commemorate their nine-year-long fight to save Aarey forest from concrete urban projects, especially the 33 hectare-Metro 3 car shed.  Dafli in hand, Prakash, a prominent tribal face from Mumbai now, sang a song he wrote on Aarey. He recalled the night of October 4, 2019, when his wife Pramila Bhoir was arrested for opposing the massive tree cutting.  “We were just going…

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54-year-old Jyoti Kadam, who took voluntary retirement from being a writer with the Mumbai police to take care of her parents, feels lonely now.  Jyoti was widowed 22 years ago, when her son was just five months old and her daughter seven years old. She struggled throughout as a single working parent till she took voluntary retirement, only to take care of her mother suffering from Alzheimer's. Thereafter, she took care of her father, a paralysis patient.  Today, after her parents are no more and her children have grown up and started working, she has started pursuing her hobbies like…

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Starting November, the first batch of shops from Chor Bazaar, Mumbai's popular and unique market for antiques, artifacts and cheap vintage knick knacks, have started moving into their allotted spaces in the new Al-Ezz towers in Bhendi Bazaar. A cloud of questions about if and how the new market will manage to retain its distinct identity in the new skyscrapers surrounds the shopkeepers, who have been there for generations.  About 122 shops from a part of Chor Bazaar will be shifted into the shopping arena of four 50-plus storied towers in the next few years, as part of the Bhendi…

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The 148-year-old Sassoon docks, located at Mumbai's southernmost tip is set for a complete revamp to get rid of the foul smell emanating from the docks.  The docks were developed as a sea port over a century ago by Albert Abdul Sassoon, then a prominent textile trader. Today, it is Mumbai's oldest and biggest wholesale fishing harbour with an estimated daily fish catch of 150 tonnes brought in by around 600 registered boats.  The Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA), is the governing body of the 60,000 sq meters-huge dock (3.7 hectares of old dock and 3.8 hectares of new dock). It…

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The elderly population in India is rapidly rising with those above 60 years of age set to constitute 15% of the population by 2036 (22.7 crore), according to the India Ageing Report-2023 released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). From constituting about 10.5% (14.9 crore) of the population in 2022, the population of senior citizens is likely to increase to 20% in 2050 (34.7 crore), thus throwing up new challenges related to their safety, well-being and health. The report also stressed on the need to focus on policies and programmes to meet the needs of the elderly, especially older…

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The elderly population in India is rapidly rising with those above 60 years of age set to constitute 15% of the population by 2036 (22.7 crore), according to the India Ageing Report-2023 released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). From constituting about 10.5% (14.9 crore) of the population in 2022, the population of senior citizens is likely to increase to 20% in 2050 (34.7 crore), thus throwing up new challenges related to their safety, well-being and health. The report also stressed on the need to focus on policies and programmes to meet the needs of the elderly, especially older…

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