City: Mumbai

“When travelling by the local train, sometimes we hear loud and long train horns followed by an announcement stating - on duty stretcher personnel please report to the station master's office - this indicates that something unpleasant has happened and the injured will be attended by the concerned trained railway staff,” says Vidya K, a regular commuter of the Mumbai local trains. The bustling railway platforms of the Mumbai suburban railway system bear witness to numerous incidents of medical emergencies. With a vast number of commuters using the local train network, some or the other health crises are common on…

Two killed after BEST bus skids and crashes into auto-rickshaw Two people, travelling in an auto, were killed in a BEST bus accident. The bus crashed into the auto rickshaw after it skidded and collided with another BEST bus. The deceased were identified as Johnny Sankhram, 42 and Sujata Panthaky, 38. Both people sustained severe head injuries. The incident took place at the Goregaon check Naka on the Eastern expressway Highway.  The police booked the driver of bus number 1453 for causing death due to negligence under section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. The officials said that since…

For the past three years, Anjana’s family of seven has had only one earning member. Anjana and her father, both workers at India United No. 5, a National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill in Mumbai, have been without work ever since the mills closed down during the COVID pandemic. Her brother works at a vegetable store. Expectedly, the income is not sufficient to run the household. “I dropped out after class 9 and started working at the mill in 2019 because the family needed more income. Once COVID happened, the mill closed down. We got full salaries for two to three…

With admission season in full swing, students and parents in the city are busy choosing courses and colleges. Amidst this anxiety and nervousness, another issue on the minds of students is the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). A total of 57 institutes in Mumbai will roll out the NEP from this academic year (2023-2024). One of the major changes that NEP implementation requires is the duration of courses. Three-year undergraduate courses are now a four-year course. An additional year is for the students to attain an honours degree, with a research option in the final year. The policy…

Banganga is known as the mini Banaras of Mumbai. It is a popular tourist attraction, with hundreds of tourists visiting the Walkeshwar temple every day.  It is located at Malabar Hill, one of the posh areas in Mumbai, known for its charm and beauty. However, a stark contrast to everything around Banganga, is the condition of the informal settlements, especially the sanitation facilities. Most of the community toilets are not usable. They are either locked or are not well maintained. Kalimata Nagar and Sagar Nagar in Banganga are the closest to the sea front. The two toilets constructed for women…

Gangaram Hivrale has been making trips to the ward office to ask about the “promised” rehabilitation. However, he is yet to get a positive response. It’s been six years since his family was evicted. In 2017, the Bombay High Court had ordered removal of houses for the security of Tansa Pipeline and also ordered rehabilitation based on the 2000 cutoff date for informal housing.  “Every time we go to the ward office to ask about our status of Annexure-2 finalization, we are told there are no houses available in the city. We have all the documents yet, we have to…

Few days ago, a reel on Instagram made it to several groups of citizens involved in civic action. It was about residents of Chimbai lamenting the condition of the beach, where they grew up. They reminisced about how Chimbai beach looked like a ‘beach’ and it was used by the people as a playground. The residents said they used to play on the beach when they were young but now their children play on the road, which is unsafe. They all spoke about how Chimbai has lost its beauty over the years. Several women spoke about the absolute lack of cleanliness…

Fast-filling lakes make BMC rethink water-cut plan After heavy rains in lake catchment areas, the BMC will revise its decision on the implementation of water cuts in the first week of July. On Tuesday the local body had announced a ten percent water cut that would have taken place from July 1. Since then the lake levels have shown improvement and heavy rain is expected in the next three days.  Monsoon arrived late and the water levels in the five lakes of Thane and Nashik had dropped but heavy rains have compensated. As per the status of 24 hours till…

“I had sleepless nights for months, even now when I recall those days, I feel uneasy,” says Neelam Lilaramani, a senior citizen residing in Goregaon - a suburb of Mumbai. Last year, as she was scrolling through her Facebook app, she stumbled upon an advertisement for a dress that she liked. She added her address, checked for payment details, and chose the ‘cash on delivery’ option to avoid any unwanted online scams - and then clicked ‘buy’. A few days later, when the parcel arrived, she wasn't at home. On his third attempt, the delivery person handed the parcel, Neelam…

Even as the Maharashtra government announced the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 in the state, parents and educators are confused about age criteria for entry into primary schooling. One of the major concerns that parents have expressed is about the new age criteria. According to the old criteria, in order to be admitted to nursery class, the child should have completed 2 years and 6 months by the month of June of the academic year. But the new criteria requires the child to have completed 3 years for the same.  Similarly, for class 1, the minimum age for…