Articles by News Desk

Pre-monsoon showers to hit Mumbai next week After a gruelling few weeks of a heatwave, Mumbaikars can expect cooler temperatures post-May 21st. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), rain and thunderstorms are expected in parts of Maharashtra, including South Maharashtra, Konkan, Marathwada, and Vidarbha.  “The exact date of the onset of the monsoon over Maharashtra can be predicted after the onset of the monsoon over the Kerala mainland. Until then, a variety of factors may influence or disturb the monsoon equatorial flow,” said an official from IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre in Mumbai. Monsoon is expected to hit Kerala by…

T Nagar Skywalk to be inaugurated in June A skywalk connecting Mambalam Railway Station to T Nagar Bus Stand will be inaugurated in June after a delay of one year. The project costing Rs 27 crore began in December 2020, and was supposed to be completed in 15 months. However, due to pending dues from contractors, the COVID-19 pandemic, and various design related interventions, the project was delayed.  The project comes under the Smart Cities Plan, and aims to reduce the congestion in Usman Road and Ranganathan Street, which sees a high footfall of more than 5000 passengers who use…

City records second-coldest day in May in past 50 years Thursday, May 12th, was the second-coldest day recorded in May in Bengaluru in the last 50 years. On The maximum temperature on the day was 23°C, way lesser than the normal of 34°C. The minimum temperature was 19.5°C. The coldest day in May in the last 50 years was on May 14th, 1972, when the maximum temperature stood at 22.2°C. A senior IMD official attributed the weather change to Cyclone Asani, adding that temperatures would rise again after May 14th. Source: Deccan Herald Hailstorm, heavy rainfall On Sunday, southern and…

Food and beverage stalls at MRTS stations The Southern Railways is all set to introduce food and beverage stalls across MRTS stations in Chennai. The move has been in limbo for many years due to stringent norms for setting up stalls at stations. When this was attempted previously, only two stalls came up, one at Thiruvanmiyur and Mandaveli each.The move to set up stalls will also improve the overall safety of the stations which currently have long, deserted platforms. The reason for few takers for the stalls is that the rules demand a fixed fee from the contractors who are…

BMC to launch 4 new initiatives for children studying in BMC schools On 11th May, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and its education department launched four new initiatives in their schools. The initiatives include awareness programs and workshops for diabetes, mental and dental health. They also include making infrastructural changes to the inside and outside of the schools to make access to them safe. The safe access to schools initiative was created as Mumbai Public Schools are usually located around areas where there is heavy traffic flow. It will cover introducing safer options for commuting to schools, and also childrens’…

New BBMP Chief Commissioner appointed On Thursday, Tushar Giri Nath replaced Gaurav Gupta as the BBMP Chief Commissioner. Giri Nath, a 1993-batch Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, was serving as Principal Secretary in the Revenue department. Gupta will now be Additional Chief Secretary in the Infrastructure department. The state government has transferred several other IAS officers as well. Of late, BBMP has been mired in controversies related to pothole accidents, waterlogging and incomplete infrastructure projects. Source: Indian Express Govt yet to approve BBMP budget BBMP is still awaiting the state government's approval for its 2021-22 budget which has an outlay of Rs…

Failed power lines cause outages in parts of Navi Mumbai and Panvel On 5th May, a 400 kilovolt transmission line that runs from Kharghar to Talegaon tripped, causing power outages in areas surrounding Vashi and Panvel. The outages wreaked havoc in the neighbourhood due to the hot weather. This is the 4th time in two years that the power lines have tripped, highlighting the urgent need to strengthen the transmission corridor that provides Mumbai with electricity from 5 entry points. The union power ministry has asked the state to expedite work on 3 new corridors that will ensure this doesn’t…

New 'Chennai Bus' application launched to help commuters navigate city Transport Minister S.S.Sivasankar launched the Chennai Bus App to provide commuters with real time information on the location of MTC buses in the city. The app was developed in collaboration with ‘Chalo’, a transport technology company. The application tracks around 3233 MTC buses, running through 622 routes, and halting at 6022 stops.  The application is currently only available for android devices, but will be branching out after its initial launch. In addition to tracking, users can also send distress signals to their contacts or police offices in the case of…

Increased vigilance as COVID cases rise On Thursday, 142 COVID cases were reported in Bengaluru Urban out of 154 in the state, with zero deaths. The day’s TPR (Test Positivity Rate) was 1.49%, while the weekly TPR touched 1.16%. The TPR in Bengaluru has been increasing slightly since April 9th. Cases of mucormycosis or black fungus were back in at least one private hospital, Manipal Hospitals in Hebbal. This is despite the absence of risk factors such as sharing of oxygen cylinders or unhygienic treatment facilities, which were suggested as the possible causes of black fungus in the second COVID…

Fires in Perungudi and RGGGH A fire began in Chennai's Perungudi dumpyard on Wednesday and continues to rage over many days. Several families living within a 1 km radius of the dumpyard had to move out owing to the toxic fumes in the air which were causing respiratory issues. Residents in some parts of Velachery even faced power cuts as the fire destroyed many overhead electrical lines in the area.  According to many residents nearby, smoke could be seen from the landfill as early as Sunday, but city officials were not responsive to it until Wednesday when the fire was…