Articles by Shruti Gokarn

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot/ With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot. These words of the Joni Mitchell classic Big Yellow Taxi filled a corner of Pushpa Narsee Park in Juhu on a bright Sunday morning in March. Though the song was released in 1970, the words resonate in 2026, especially for this park. There have been several attempts to convert Pushpa Narsee Park into a parking lot, only foiled by the vigilance of the locals, says Anca Florescu Abraham, co-founder of Love Your Parks Mumbai (LYPMumbai). This initiative advocates for the…

"We are literally risking our lives with floods. We are a coastal city. To mess around with mangroves is digging your own grave," says Pooja Domadia of Save Mumbai Mangroves, a campaign born in the wake of the decision to construct the Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road in Mumbai. This mega project is going to impact 45,000 mangroves. The cutting of the mangroves has already begun to make way for the 26.3 km Coastal Road. In March this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Bombay High Court's go-ahead for the project. But concerned Mumbaikars are not giving up. Save…

Maya Pawar was only 14 when she got married and moved to Pardhi Wada, an informal settlement located at Raey Road in Mumbai. Surprisingly, it was just a month ago that Maya, now a 62-year-old woman, received a legal water connection in her home.  For nearly fifty years, she was deprived of access to water. Her daily routine of fetching water was filled with challenges. Along with a group of other women, she walked 1.5 kilometres four to five times a day to collect water from a  Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) toilet. At one point, their desperation led them to…

This reserved constituency, carved out of the Perambur constituency, presents a mix of high-rise buildings along with lower-middle-class neighbourhoods. Named after Tamil scholar Thiru V. Kalyanasundaram, it comprises areas such as Pattalam, Otteri, Jamalia, Pulianthope, and parts of Perambur and Ayanavaram. It covers roughly around 7 sq km. As of 2019, it had around 2 lakh + voters, with a high proportion of Scheduled Caste communities. The constituency is 100% urban. It is primarily a residential area with many small workshops and a high population industrial/garment workers, making it a critical constituency for welfare-driven politics. Thiru Vi Ka Nagar (SC)…

Mylapore is one of the 16 constituencies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu’s largest district, encompassing areas such as Alwarpet, Santhome, Raja Annamalaipuram, and F.S. Estate and Mandaveli. Steeped in history yet firmly rooted in the present, the constituency blends cultural legacy with contemporary urban life. It is home to prominent places of worship—Mylapore is renowned for its temples, while Santhome is closely associated with churches. The area holds deep historical and spiritual significance: the revered Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar and the saint Peyalvar are believed to have been born here, and Santhome marks the martyrdom of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who preached…

Madhavaram — located in North Chennai and geographically part of Tiruvallur District — is one of the 16 Assembly constituencies of Chennai and serves as a key gateway for road travel between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. From the 1960s onward, Madhavaram has remained in the limelight for one reason or another. What began as a modest milk-producing hub gradually transformed into a major urban node. The visionary leadership of former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj led to the establishment of the Madhavaram Milk Colony—a move that laid the foundation for the area’s long-term growth. Over the decades, this steady progress…

​“What happens when we remove this natural infrastructure of the city? What happens if it floods? What happens if the air quality (index) goes really high?” asks Pooja Domadia, a member of the Save Mumbai Mangroves campaign. These are questions that many Mumbaikars have as work begins on the Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road, which is set to affect 45,000 mangrove trees. In March this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Bombay High Court order to greenlight the cutting of mangroves for the project. Is the SC decision a fatal blow to the movement? The BMC has already begun…

Every morning, Samidha Dhumatkar travels from her home in Mumbai’s western suburbs to Churchgate, where she works as a telephone operator at a university campus. Her journey involves taking a rickshaw, boarding a train, and walking to her workplace, similar to thousands of other Mumbaikars who commute daily. However, as a person with a visual disability, Samidha’s commute is fraught with threats to her safety. In their book, Why Loiter? Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets, writers Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan, and Shilpa Ranade, argue that spaces are not neutral. Moreover, they are not designed equally. “Across geography and time,…

After nearly four years of delay, Mumbai is finally set to hold its municipal elections on January 15. The last elected council completed its term in 2022, and in the absence of fresh polls, the city’s civic body was placed under an administrator for the first time in forty years. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), established in 1888, is the governing authority responsible for delivering essential civic services — from water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management to public health, infrastructure, roads, and education. With a staggering budget of ₹74,427 crore for 2025–26, it is the wealthiest municipal body in…

Children and adults pedalling to school, work and play — this was a common sight on Pune's streets not so long ago. Once known for its vibrant cycling culture, the city still has many groups and communities that promote non-motorised transport. However, with the rise of motorised vehicles, cycling has not only taken a back seat, but has also become unsafe and inconvenient due to poor infrastructure. This is despite Pune having dedicated cycle tracks and lanes. The decline in cycling infrastructure is reiterated by a recent audit, which found that only 11% of cycle tracks in Pune fell in…