City: Mumbai

Stalin Dayanand is an environmentalist who has spent two decades building citizen movements to protect wetlands and forests in Maharashtra. Environmental litigation, environmental education, and ground-level conservation are the planks of his activities. The director of Vanashakti—a conservation nonprofit in Mumbai—Stalin has been at the forefront of several environmental campaigns. These include the Save Aarey movement, the protest to protect Sindhudurg’s forests from mining, the Save Ulhas River project, and the pushback against constructing an international airport on wetlands in Navi Mumbai.        Stalin spoke to India Development Review about what it takes to build a people’s movement, why such movements…

Keeping the slum dwellers at the core of its planning, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme was initially conceptualised way back in 1995. With about half the Mumbai's population living in informal settlements, the SRA scheme is critical for ensuring better quality housing for all Mumbaikars. The city has about 2149 SRA projects, involving 5,29,434 proposed tenements and 2,49,887 tenements already handed over to people. As we saw in the first part of this series, the buildings are poorly maintained and affecting the not just quality of life but also causing extreme stress to the residents due to various issues.…

September has ended and we will soon bid goodbye to the monsoon season. Monsoons not only give new life to nature, but also drape the surroundings in lively greens. Starting now, we celebrate new lives, new crops and a lot of festivals. During monsoons, one can witness various interesting phenomena. One can hear frogs and toads croaking in and around rain puddles. A large number of butterfly species like Lime, Plain Tiger, Common Emigrant are spotted. Bees and moths also engage in extracting nectar from flowers that bloom in rain. Deep inside the forest, a lot of snakes come out…

Highest number of Ganpati pandals since 2018 Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are back to pre-pandemic fervour this year, with more than 2700 mandals getting a green signal to set up their pandals. The highest since 2018, the civic body has been busy preparing for the festival and is gearing up for immersions now. The BMC approved 72% of the total 3767 applications. The final number of pandals could be even higher, said Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS). The single-window system has been a success. Ramakant Biradar, deputy municipal commissioner, said, “Organisers are no longer required…

At the entrance of the Jankalyan Society at Dahisar, near the lift, a blackboard asks residents to clear their pending maintenance charges. Signed by the building's Mahila Mandal Sudhar Samiti (MMSS) or resident women's group, the note also urges residents that they would be able to offer better services to residents if maintenance dues are paid on time.  Though a number of garbage bins lie below their building, the provisional committee members of the Society are convinced that their building is cleaner and better maintained compared to other buildings provided by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) Mumbai. Even so, at…

Ganesh Chaturthi, a beloved festival in Mumbai, is about enthusiastic celebrations, but increasingly nudging citizens to engage in deep environmental reflection. In recent years, there has been a notable shift towards embracing eco-friendly practices in the festival's preparations, particularly in the material used for the creation of Ganpati idols. According to Mumbai murtikars (idol-makers), the sale of eco-friendly idols have almost doubled this year. This shift marks a positive departure from the traditional use of Plaster of Paris (POP) idols, which can have detrimental effects on our water bodies after immersion. Many Ganesh mandals and families have taken the initiative…

Over the past two decades there has been much political posturing about turning various Indian cities into a ‘Singapore or Shanghai’. While we may have mimicked the glass and steel façade buildings, airports and some freeways, why is it that we have not been able to mimic the public realm and walkability aspects of these and other cities? Is it the municipal bodies and politicians who are responsible for the sorry state of pedestrian infrastructure and the public realm? Or do we, as a society, hold pedestrians in disdain?  Providing a great walking experience is one of the easiest (and…

Private aircraft skids and crashes during landing, injuring 8 Eight people including the pilot and co-pilot were injured after a private aircraft veered off the runway at the Mumbai airport and crashed on Thursday evening around 5.45 pm. “VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Vizag to Mumbai was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at Mumbai airport. There were 06 passengers and 02 crew members on board. Visibility was 700 meters with heavy rain," the directorate general of civil aviation said in a statement. The eight passengers were admitted to the Criticare…

Mumbai's beloved red double decker buses, steeped in memories cherished by millions over the decades, made their last journey on the streets of Mumbai on September 15. The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) authorities announced that these vehicles, reaching the end of their 15-year operational lifespan, will go off the roads completely. These buses have been replaced by electric AC double decker buses and a few are already operational. On late Thursday evening, a day before the last ride of the double-decker bus, the BEST officials also announced that the AC electric double decker fleet will be taken to…

With the pandemic threat now largely behind us and life returning to normalcy, this year has witnessed a notable shift in the enthusiasm of citizens and approach of state and civic authorities towards the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. In contrast to previous years, many groups wish to celebrate and the officials have eased many restrictions, and also encouraged and promoted greater celebrations. In Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been inundated with as many as 3,500 applications from Sarvajanik (public) Ganeshotsav mandals from various parts of the city. Among these applications, 2,900 have already received a go-ahead for their festive…