Articles by Hepzi Anthony

The Maharashtra government’s handling of the 2021 lockdown holds lessons for students of public policy about how a simple tweak in government attitude and policy could prevent so many tragedies and prove beneficial for so many. In April 2020, the sudden closure of rail services and public transport forced migrant workers in many states to flee on trucks, cycles, cement mixers and on foot for hundreds of kilometers back to their villages facing death, starvation and suffering.  Forced by the public outcry, the railways did start Shramik trains. But the 4621 Shramik trains that ferried 63 lakh passengers in 2020-21…

Last week, the Bombay High Court asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe into irregularities in toll collection on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Activists had filed a Public Interest Litigation to stop toll collection fee on the Expressway, claiming the capital costs was already recovered from it in the past 16 years since 2004.   This pushed us to ask, what do Mumbai residents pay toll for?  Currently, Mumbaikars have to pay a toll at five points. Dahisar on the Western Express Highway, Vashi on the Sion-Panvel Highway, Airoli bridge and two points at Mulund - Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg…

Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced a new vehicle scrapping policy in the 2021 budget, which  is expected to impact the automobile sector in a big way and could have a negative impact on small and medium entrepreneurs associated with it.  While the government is pushing it as a move to revitalize the automobile manufacturing sector, the small-scale entrepreneurs and/or vehicle owners say that it could lead to unemployment of unskilled labour working in the sector. The small entrepreneurs are also concerned with the timing of the new policy, given the economic slowdown triggered by Covid19-induced lockdowns.  Another common concern…

For the first time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has gathered a team of experts and citizens to frame and implement a parking policy for the city of Mumbai. The committee of 15 members was set up in 2019, but was defunct during the lockdown but has been reconstituted and met for the first time on January 18, 2021. This committee will envisage the setting up a new body - the Mumbai Parking Authority. All civic policies are usually conceived and drafted by civic officials or elected representatives. Also read: Mumbai, this is how you can tackle traffic jams Mumbai Parking Authority…

Two hundred and six 'unrecognised' schools function in Mumbai, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Their numbers have reduced from previous years. In 2019-20, there were 230 such institutions and the year before that, there were 244. Getting Maharashtra government's Education Ministry to recognise the school means to get a certificate to function on the basis of predetermined requirements such as building safety, teacher-student ratio and curriculum specifications. In short, the government checks to see if the schools meet the basic minimum criteria required for schools to function well. Therefore, 'unrecognised' schools might put the students at risk. But lakhs…

Almost a year ago, on January 30 2020, air conditioning was introduced on some routes of the Central Railway network. This was meant to be an additional cog in Mumbai's public transport wheel. A year later, that experiment has all but failed. On January 16, only 3 ticketed passengers and 200 monthly season ticket (MST) passengers were on the ten AC trains operational between CST and Kalyan stations. Result: revenue earned was just Rs 7610 till 5 pm.  Earlier, in the period from December 17 (when AC locals re-started after lockdown) and January 15, the Central Railways registered a remarkable losses…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is spending about Rs 1600 crores over a period of about three years to desalinate water from the Arabian Sea to make it drink-worthy or potable. In November 2020, Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that Mumbai's first desalination plant should take care of the water shortage that the city invariably faces in the summer months of April- May, by accounting for about 10-15 % of its annual water needs. Similar proposals were planned back in 2005 but were rejected as they were considered too costly. This time around, the proposal has officially been approved despite being…

Once the Dahisar toll naaka starts using FASTag from January 1, the city would go completely cashless in toll collection. Although, there is still some distance to go before Mumbai becomes fully high-tech. Since electronic toll collection infrastructure is yet to be set up, the toll collection personnel will scan FASTags with handheld scanners.  Four other toll points - Airoli, Vashi, LBS Marg and Eastern Express Highway- had the option to pay both through cash and FASTag. Dahisar was the entry point, where only cash was being collected.   FASTag, a Radio-frequency identification technology-enabled electronic toll fee collection (ETC) system, has…

Sandwiched between the swanky Bandra Bandstand and posh Carter Road promenades lies the rocky patch of Chimbai beach, that continues to be a source of dirt and squalor. Though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) regularly cleans the narrow sandy stretch with dumpers and JCB machines, the beach continues to stay dirty and unattractive, unlike the promenades on both sides, that have become vibrant and popular community spaces. A survey by NGO ReefWatch Marine Conservation had named it to be the filthiest of the ten beaches of Mumbai. Photo: Hepzi Anthony 46-year-old Pravin Gohil who has been staying here since his…

Launched 15 years ago, Mumbai Mirror reportedly had a circulation of about 7,00,000 copies. The tabloid, which started as a daily, stopped publishing this month. It is all set to be re-launched as a weekly. Media observers and readers of the newspaper lamented this shift especially because Mumbai Mirror had a rather excellent coverage of a complex city. Officially Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL), which owns the newspaper, blamed the losses on the pandemic. They even announced the closure of Pune Mirror. Curiously though, there was no mention of the status of Ahmedabad Mirror or Bangalore Mirror. A report…