Articles by Hepzi Anthony

As proposals of building new skywalks in the city meet with stiff public opposition, Mumbai faces the dilemma of whether to continue building skywalks or to gradually phase them out.  Skywalks are elevated pedestrian walkways connecting various heavily targeted destinations either to railway stations or to other high-concentration commercial areas. The purpose of the skywalks is the efficient dispersal of commuters from congested areas to strategic locations, such as bus stations, taxi stands, shopping areas, etc, according to the MMRDA website. But opinions are divided on whether skywalks as an infrastructure project are useful or not. While the government is convinced…

On September 23 2022, a seven-year-old boy was killed when the battery of the Electric Vehicle (EV), which his father had kept for charging, exploded on him at their Vasai residence. While this unfortunate incident led to the loss of an innocent life, electric vehicle fires have been regularly reported in newspapers raising concerns about EV safety. Exact figures of EV vehicles (cars and bikes) catching fire or their batteries exploding are not available for Mumbai. Earlier, fire in a Tata Nexon EV at Vasai on June 23, 2022 had prompted the Union government to issue notices to all EV…

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) unearthed a major milk adulteration racket operating from Dharavi recently, on September 15th. The accused were found slitting the milk packets and removing the milk. They replaced it with water before sealing the cut part with candle flame. The FDA officials seized and destroyed about 807 litres of adulterated milk worth Rs 45, 852. The FDA launched criminal proceedings in a joint operation with the Shahu Nagar police station. A milk adulteration racket busted at Dharavi during a joint operation raid by the FDA and the Mumbai police. Pic courtesy: FDA In another instance,…

On August 24th, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis announced that about 17,000 slum dwellers residing around the Mumbai airport would soon be rehabilitated in the Premier Colony buildings at Vidyavihar. The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) would repair and improve the existing tenements to make them habitable for people to live in, he added. The Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) would later allocate it to slum dwellers occupying the 276 acres of the airport. The purpose was to clear 100 acres of airport land for the expansion of the airport, he explained in his statement in the legislative…

Several years have passed since the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) was launched to rehabilitate slum dwellers of Mumbai, and promises of free housing and proper water and sanitation facilities remain unfulfilled.  After facing eviction from their own homes, residents are stuck in rented houses with developers neither completing the project nor paying rent - owed to them - to slum dwellers. Some projects have failed to take off the ground due to reasons such as disputes between co-developers. In other cases, people are stuck in transit camps for years together.  Those who have managed to get houses, claim poor living…

In 1995, the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) scheme was launched to provide free housing for slum dwellers. Twenty-seven years later, the scheme remains stuck in a maze of unkept promises, incomplete projects and poor slum dwellers caught up in rented houses waiting to get their own houses in Mumbai. Urban planners blame the builder-centric approach for the lack of progress on this scheme.  Since its inception, the SRA scheme has built only 2.36 lakh houses. As of date, about 5,20,645 houses are proposed to be built and approvals have been granted to start work on 2,75,942 houses.  The task to…

Flash strikes have plagued Mumbai’s public buses at least five times in the past three years, since private buses were introduced in the Brihanmumbai Electric and Supply Transport (BEST) fleet in 2019. Two strikes by BEST workers happened in Mumbai Central bus and Magathane bus depots on April 2nd and 26th, 2021. This year, Kurla depot saw no buses turn out on April 22nd, 2022 and for three consecutive days on May 17th-21st, 2022. Similar strikes happened on July 17th-18th at Vikhroli, Wadala, Bandra and Kurla depots. After the strikes, the workers were cajoled and convinced or were paid (overdue) salaries to return to their jobs. …

The recent formation of a new Maharashtra government and the appointment of a new chief minister has quickly led to abrupt policy changes for Mumbaikars. On June 29th, ex-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned from his post, and on the next day, Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the new CM of Maharashtra. The new government, a coalition of BJP and rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, is set to bring in policy changes, especially in the face of the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.  The result of a widely publicised and unpredictable political conflict was sudden changes in government decisions, particularly the controversial reversal of Uddhav…

As the monsoons intensify, Mumbai’s beaches are getting dangerous. Since June this year, they have claimed six lives, according to information from the Mumbai fire brigade. While three youngsters from Chembur drowned together on the Juhu beach on June 14th, yet another life was lost at Dadar’s Chowpatty. On July 3rd, a courier employee, Ashish Dusar lost his life at Juhu beach while trying to save the life of a ten-year-old boy. Over 27 people have been rescued and saved from drowning by lifeguards since the onset of monsoons in June this year.  The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Iqbal…

Tanker water supply, a crucial supplementary source of water for Mumbaikars, could soon become costlier with the implementation of new restrictions on groundwater abstraction. Though the restrictions were introduced way back in September 2020, their implementation was delayed because of clout enjoyed by the water tanker lobby and the city’s heavy dependence on the tanker water supply. Now, tanker owners have to get permission for extracting groundwater for domestic and commercial use. If the rules are not complied with, penalties and police cases follow. How did they go about implementing restrictions? Earlier, in February 2022, officials of the Central Ground…