City: Mumbai

Sturdy nets to cover manholes The BMC will now install specially designed protection nets beneath manhole covers to prevent accidents such as people falling into open manholes during floods in the city. The civic engineers have suggested a prototype made from stainless steel with better durability. The nets that are used to cover 1900 manholes at present, are made of ductile metal. The civic body is likely to complete before the next monsoon. Source: Free Press Journal Robots for sewer cleaning The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has installed sewer-cleaning robot to prevent manual scavenging in the city. The sewer tanks,…

In May, Juhu resident Delia Lobo Alva found that many trees in her neighbourhood were getting painted, in a short span of one weekend. But not with the usual white limestone and geru, the natural bug repellants as was the policy decision adopted by the garden department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) earlier. Instead, trees were coloured with bright, garish oil paints that would not come off and would affect the health of the trees. “I was shocked to see about 11 trees painted on the entire stretch. We considered the oil paint off the bark using turpentine but…

On December 9, 2022, Maharashtra’s chief minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated a Rs 1729 crore beautification drive for Mumbai to spruce up the city to international standards.  With a sizeable amount of funds, people assumed that city infrastructure would be improved with repairs and renovations. However, six months into the process, to their dismay, citizens have witnessed wall paintings, animal installations below flyovers, well-maintained road medians being redone, garish, multi-coloured lights over street lights, paver blocks on footpaths being replaced with cement blocks apart from trees being decorated with electric lights and painted with oil paints.  Cosmetic changes as beautification project…

Two years ago, a trip to their village turned tragic for the Shettys after they reached Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at Bengaluru to board an IndiGo flight. Chandra Shetty, 60, collapsed to the floor soon after check-in. As he was lying unconscious, his wife and daughter sought help from the IndiGo ground staff to bring a wheelchair so that he could be rushed to a hospital, but they claimed that the airline staff failed to assist them in time and his condition deteriorated. The family alleged that due to the airline’s negligence, the golden hour passed without medical attention. Chandra…

“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…