Articles by Hepzi Anthony

For the third year in a row, Rev Godson Samuel, 46, a Christian pastor has been collecting Palmyra palm seeds from Aarey during the monsoons and distributing it for planting. This year, he has already helped gather and distribute around 7000 seeds in Mumbai along with volunteers from citizen groups like Rewilding Aarey. This is apart from the 13,000 Palmyra seeds that he sourced from others for plantations in other parts of Maharashtra.  Godson wants to convert Mumbai into a 'Palm Bay' by encouraging growing over one lakh Palmyra plantations over the next few years. His passion for Palmyra is…

As of 6 August, the Mithi river in Mumbai became the first to have booms or 'thrash traps' installed across it. This machinery imported from Finland transfers garbage collected from the river, via a conveyor belt, to another conveyor belt that segregates the waste which is eventually recycled.  Booms are temporary floating barriers made up of light materials like plastic chained across water bodies to prevent and collect floating garbage from flowing into the sea.  Booms obstruct floating debris without affecting marine life in any way.  How will Mithi be cleaned up?  Booms placed near Bandra Kurla Complex on the…

With a massive shortage of vaccines staring in its face, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now devising ways to prioritise vaccination for its local population especially its lower-income groups. With an impending third wave of the pandemic, the BMC wants to ensure that it can reach and vaccinate a maximum number of people despite its limited resources. “We are now tieing-up with non-government organisations to help vaccinate those residing in the slums and the neglected, unpenetrated population,” said additional municipal commissioner, Suresh Kakani.  After focusing on specific high-risk groups like the frontline workers, pregnant and lactating women and even…

Mumbaikars are demanding that the city, especially the suburban trains be opened up for all as numbers drop to 259 new cases as on 2 August.  Many delegations were taken to the government demanding more relaxations on commute, to save livlihoods and revitalize the economy.  On 2 August, the state government relaxed certain restrictions and extending working hours of all shops - essential and non-essential -  till 10PM in Mumbai. They also allowed private offices and sporting facilities excluding swimming, to be fully open. Salons, gyms were open earlier but their timings have been extended. However, the one demand the…

Though the Union government claims that the Model Tenancy Act 2021 is meant to unlock more empty houses, many property owners in Mumbai are unsure.  Friction between the tenant and the landlord often result in long-drawn out legal battles. The new law is meant to govern the tenant-landlord equation through effective and faster dispute resolution.  Property owners fear legal disputes if tenants do not vacate their property on time. “....expensive legal costs deter landlords from giving their properties on rent in the first place. The risk of property litigations in cases of conflicts is a major deterrent which has made…

On 18 July, Renita D’Souza and her family woke up with neck deep water in their house at Hanuman Nagar slum along the storm water drains. They found themselves surrounded by houses laced with dirt. “Our house was full of muck and we had to wade through a foot-deep grime throughout the day and there was no water to either drink or clean up," she said.  The electricity supply to their house was disconnected as a precautionary measure. The entire neighbourhood could not light gas stoves. “We had to ask our children to buy vada pav because we couldn’t even…

The union cabinet approval of the new Model Tenancy Act on 2 June is causing unease among the 2.5 million tenants in Mumbai, especially those who have rented flats under the Pagdi system.   A pagdi system is a legal tenancy system that flourished in the 1940s in which tenants are part owners and the tenancy can be sold after sharing a part of the proceeds with the landlord. Unlike a regular rental property, where a tenant pays a deposit while moving in, in a Pagdi system, the tenant pays 60-75% of the market price to the property owner and…

According the Mumbai fire department, more than 60% of the fires in the city were from the Aarey region. In the first three months of this year, out of the 47 distress calls they received 31 were from Aarey. After fighting in the Supreme Court to prevent tree felling, activists are now fighting to save trees from suspicious fires. Though there is a lull in the fires for now due to the monsoons, Sanjiv Valsan of Rewilding Aarey feels that since the vested interests continue to be at play in  Aarey, it  could continue to be at the receiving end…

Mumbai lost about 812 roots including 308 trees in public spaces within two days of the Tauktae cyclone that ravaged the city between May 16-17, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.  Since then, over a thousand trees fell in subsequent rains, according to Ramakant Biradar, deputy municipal commissioner (gardens). Activists warned that more trees will fall due to faulty policies such as allowing concretisation near tree bases, allowing construction of concrete structures to come up close to trees, following unscientific and improper pruning that endangers life of trees. Mumbai’s per capita tree cover is 0.28 or less than one tree for…

The role that citizens and corporate entities played in the fight against the COVID19 in Mumbai was significant. "Our healthcare system is broken, there is no primary healthcare system available. The system is overwhelmed. We had a huge problem during the initial days of the second wave when hospitals refused patients with high oxygen needs. Our helpline handled more than 1000 calls in the three weeks of its operation," said Ruben Mascarenhas, National Joint Secretary of Aam Aadmi Party, which managed to arrange beds and medications for desperate patients in Mumbai through its helplines before the BMC had got its…