City: Mumbai

What do we talk about when we talk about climate change? In Mumbai, most people hark back to the 2005 deluge. Between July 26 and 27 that year, the city received 944 mm of rain in 24 hours. Many parts of the city and its suburbs were flooded; the water rose to our knees, our waists, even our necks. According to a 1992 report by the Central Water Commission, this could be considered a once-in-a-hundred-years flood. Scientists predict that with global warming the frequency of extreme climate events is likely to increase in the future. So Mumbai’s once-in-a-hundred-years flood could…

Monsoon tragedy: Passenger's four-month-old baby falls in nullah, landslide in Raigad  In a heartbreaking incident, a four-month-old baby fell in a nullah on Wednesday, when the train service was disrupted between Thakurli and Kalyan due to waterlogging on tracks. As the train was stuck for hours, the child’s mother Yogita Rumale accompanied by the child’s grandfather Gyaneshwar decided to get down from the train and started to walk on the tracks. While walking on the slippery tracks, the baby slipped from Gyaneshwar’s arms and fell in nullah. Railway Protection Force, National Disaster Response Force, local police team along with local…

Chandivali is an upscale residential locality in Andheri East. It is isolated and connectivity to public transport is limited. The nearest railway station on the western, Andheri station, and on the central line, Ghatkopar station, are 6 km and 4 km away respectively. This makes the citizens of the area heavily dependent on roads for commuting. Unfortunately, the roads in Chandivali are one of the worst in the city. The DP road-9, Powai is an important road that connects the Chandivali Farm Road with the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. The road is riddled with numerous potholes making it dangerous for commuters,…

More than four days after his younger brother died in a flooded sewer in Govandi in suburban Mumbai, 27-year-old Rahul Kumar was still in a hearse, headed to Gogri in Bihar’s Khagaria district, nearly 2,000 km from the financial capital, where the brothers worked as daily wage labourers.  “He did not want to enter the manhole, usko jabardasti utaara gaya (he was forcibly lowered into the sewer),” Rahul said of his brother Ramkrishna, 25, who died along with their uncle Sudhir Das, 35, on June 24. Rahul said they were construction labourers, who had worked earlier on building underground drainage…

When the first rains lashed Mumbai in the last week of June, the Andheri subway was flooded, waterlogged and completely shut. This is the best alternative to the now-closed Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge for East-West connectivity. Gokhale bridge closed last year after it was found to be structurally weak. "Difficulties have multiplied, because of the delay in construction of the Gokhale bridge. It creates havoc in Vile parle, Andheri and Jogeshwari because of the unending traffic snarls, says Vinod Cherian, a daily commuter.  The Gokhale bridge, which closed in November 2022, was supposed to open, at least partially by May…

Mumbai's monsoon season is a spectacle of natural beauty and vibrant celebrations. As the dark clouds gather overhead and the first droplets of rain descend, the city undergoes a magical transformation. The monsoon showers bring respite from the scorching summer heat, refreshing the city with their cool embrace. Monsoon in Mumbai is not just a season, but a celebration in itself. Mumbaikars eagerly wait for the arrival of rains. Children are the most excited to drench themselves in the drizzle, their laughter blending with the sound of the rhythmic pitter-patter. "Clouds bring with them a lot of rain and I…

Three years ago, when Dharmesh Barai moved to his new residence in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, he received a interesting tip from a friend. The friend informed him about a mangrove stretch, near Flamingo Point, in Seawood, Navi Mumbai, renowned for its annual congregation of migratory birds. Intrigued by the recommendation, Dharmesh, who held a deep affection for mangroves, decided to explore the place. But what he encountered left him dismayed. The once-pristine mangroves were entangled with knee-deep garbage, choking the delicate ecosystem. As a passionate nature lover, Dharmesh couldn't bear to see such destruction. He knew that the city’s civic…

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…