City: Mumbai

Remember Arvind Desai ki Ajeeb Dastaan? In his very first film, eminent Bollywood film maker Saeed Mirza had showcased the view of the city from the upper deck of a double decker bus, wherein the characters stated that this was the best way to see the city of Mumbai. Many films like Shaan (an entire song was shot on a double decker bus) and even a much more recent hit, Ghajini (the Tamil version) had scenes in which these buses had provided the perfect backdrop. Unfortunately, very soon, scenes such as these will be the only place where you can…

At Versova jetty one morning some months ago, I asked Ramji bhai, who was sitting on a rock at the edge of the creek, what he was doing. “Timepass,” he replied. “I’ll take this home and eat it.” He pointed to a small tengda (a type of catfish) he’d just caught. I saw other fishermen cleaning nets they had floated in the creek the night before – they had caught loads of plastic but no fish. “Fishing in the khadi [creek] today is barely possible,” says Bhagwan Namdev Bhanji, who has lived all his 70-plus years in Versova Koliwada, a fishing village in north Mumbai’s…

At Versova jetty one morning some months ago, I asked Ramji bhai, who was sitting on a rock at the edge of the creek, what he was doing. “Timepass,” he replied. “I’ll take this home and eat it.” He pointed to a small tengda (a type of catfish) he’d just caught. I saw other fishermen cleaning nets they had floated in the creek the night before – they had caught loads of plastic but no fish. “Fishing in the khadi [creek] today is barely possible,” says Bhagwan Namdev Bhanji, who has lived all his 70-plus years in Versova Koliwada, a fishing village in north Mumbai’s…

The new chief minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray may have granted interim stay pending review on the development of the Metro car shed inside the Aarey forest for now, but the battle to save Aarey – the 4.8 lakh trees that the forest is made up of --  is far from over.  Though work on tree cutting and the Metro car shed inside Aarey was already under a stay ordered by the Supreme Court since the en masse overnight cutting of over 2141 trees on October 5th, the state support for Aarey comes as a huge boost for the Save…

The new chief minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray may have granted interim stay pending review on the development of the Metro car shed inside the Aarey forest for now, but the battle to save Aarey – the 4.8 lakh trees that the forest is made up of --  is far from over.  Though work on tree cutting and the Metro car shed inside Aarey was already under a stay ordered by the Supreme Court since the en masse overnight cutting of over 2141 trees on October 5th, the state support for Aarey comes as a huge boost for the Save…

October 11, 2019: Nida Shaikh, 25, died on the spot after she was run over by a truck. She was riding pillion with her cousin, and both fell off when the scooter hit a pothole causing her cousin to lose control of the vehicle. While her cousin was injured, Nida, a doctor, was crushed by the truck. October 13, 2019: Ramprasad Goswni, 56, died on the spot after a truck hit him as the driver was trying to dodge a pothole. It was in the same place where Nida Shaikh lost her life. October 29, 2019: Ranjendra Dongre, 42, was…

Over 56% of the city's transplanted trees in Mumbai failed to survive their shifting, revealed a Bombay High Court-appointed fact finding committee, entrusted to determine the status of such trees. The court-appointed committee inspected about 1483 fully grown trees transplanted since 2017, of which 824 trees were found to be either dead or on the verge of dying. The report presented in court found inadequate tree care and lack of scientific transplanting methods to be the root cause of the problem.  "The proportion of dead trees keeps on rising. In January 2018, 478 trees (42%) were found dead. The number rose…

On Monday, October 21st, Maharashtra will be voting to elect the members to its Legislative Assembly. Take a look at the profiles of candidates in the fray in the four key constituencies of Kurla, Kalina, Vile Parle and Wadala. Constituency: Kurla Incumbent MLA: Mangesh Kudalkar, Shiv Sena Name, Education & Profession Party Assets Pending Court Case Ratings* Agenda Ratnakar Daware LLB Advocate All India Majlis E-Ittehadul Muslimeen 9.09 Lakh None Will work with the Vidhi mandal in making and improving policies for better employment, education. Slum rehabilitation, improving the drainage system, local road transport Ganesh Shinde SSC Business Ambedkarite Party…

On Monday, October 21st, Maharashtra will be voting to elect the members to its Legislative Assembly. Take a look at the profiles of candidates in the fray in the four key constituencies of Kurla, Kalina, Vile Parle and Wadala. Constituency: Kurla Incumbent MLA: Mangesh Kudalkar, Shiv Sena Name, Education & Profession Party Assets Pending Court Case Ratings* Agenda Ratnakar Daware LLB Advocate All India Majlis E-Ittehadul Muslimeen 9.09 Lakh None Will work with the Vidhi mandal in making and improving policies for better employment, education. Slum rehabilitation, improving the drainage system, local road transport Ganesh Shinde SSC Business Ambedkarite Party…

On Monday, October 21st, Maharashtra will be voting to elect the members to its Legislative Assembly. Take a look at the profiles of candidates in the fray in the four key constituencies of Andheri East, Andheri West, Versova and Goregaon. Constituency: Goregaon Incumbent MLA: Vidya Thakur, BJP Name, Education & Profession Party Assets Pending Court Case Rating* Agenda Amol Sawant HSC Service Bahujan Samaj Party 99 Thousand None Save Aarey, reopening of Siddarth Hospital, SRA, access to health, education, water, sewage in slums Vidya Thakur 8th Std Politician Bharatiya Janta Party 3.73 Crore None Did not share Mitesh Varshney LLB…