City: Mumbai

In 2019, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses were on their deathbed. Once known for buses that never broke down, it was going through a particularly rough phase. Daily ridership had halved in the previous decade, down from 42 lakh to 25 lakh. Higher ticket fares, discontinuation of the AC Super Routes, rising competition and a workers’ strike in January meant it was losing crores by the month. Things took a turn for the better in the latter half, when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) promised monthly financial aid of Rs 100 crore to tide them over. But…

India's first double-decker electric bus on the streets of Mumbai India's first air-conditioned double-decker electric bus was opened for public use on February 21st. It is one of 200 buses that Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has leased from Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland. The bus operated on route number 115, running between CSMT and Nariman Point in South Mumbai at 8:45 am on Tuesday. Despite an overwhelming response from the public on its first day, news reports suggest that the bus schedule did not meet commuters' expectations. The bus was non-operational in the afternoon, and it…

Just breathe. Take a deep breath and let your body and mind relax. Easy enough to say but a difficult thing to do for a Mumbai resident. Given the severe lack of public open spaces (POS) or, to put it differently, spaces to breathe.  The first day of 2023 saw record crowds flocking to the city’s Zoo and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), as the city lacks enough healthy options for family outings. The Mumbai Zoo was so overflowing with over 33,000 visitors that at one point during the day, it closed its gates and refused to take in…

You've probably seen the Ulhas river on your escape from the city, as it flows through Mumbai’s favourite holiday haunt in Khandala valley in interior Karjat. But there is a lot more to the river, which originates in the Sahyadri hill ranges of Raigad district to the south of Mumbai. It is fed by multiple small rivers, rivulets, and streams and then flows through Neral, Badlapur, Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, and Kalyan. Before joining the Arabian sea, it splits at Balkum, one going to Vasai creek and the other to Thane creek. The river supplies drinking water to 45 lakh people in…

Dalit student's death: Family says he faced harassment at IIT-Bombay The family of an 18-year-old Dalit student at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, who reportedly died by suicide earlier this week, told NDTV that he had faced caste discrimination on the campus. The first-year student hailed from Ahmedabad and was enrolled in the Bachelors in Technology (Chemical) course at the institution in Mumbai. The institute had earlier said that “discrimination by students, if at all it occurs, is an exception”. However, the institute said that it had carried out two surveys, in 2022, across its campus, to record various forms…

Four persons lost their lives in 2022 in accidents caused primarily due to poor maintenance of lifts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). About 25 instances of malfunctioning of lifts were reported. Around one lakh lifts are installed across the MMR and apart from the serious accidents. Elevators have become a crucial part of the housing infrastructure with buildings registering large-scale vertical growth to cater to the huge housing demand. Even the slum redevelopment buildings, that are being built, have 40-70 floors, which pose a different set of challenges. Despite the regulations, lift accidents are far too common. Pic: Adam…

On January 4, a lift accident at Vikhroli claimed the life of a 20-year-old labourer of a 25-story building at Vikhroli, when the lift crashed from the 21st floor. Two persons died when the cord of their lift trolley snapped from the 15th floor at a Worli tower on January 9. Three months ago, a 5-year-old child, Mohammed Huzifa Shaikh lost his life on November 28, 2022 when he got stuck between the wooden door and the grill door between the fourth and the fifth floor of his Dharavi building. Another child, 16-year-old girl Reshma Khairavi, lost her life, when…

In the past few months, Mumbai's worsening pollution levels have made headlines. It has even been compared to Delhi, which has one of the worst winter pollution levels, year after year. Increased construction activity, industrial pollution and vehicular emissions continue to worsen pollution in Mumbai. To understand this better, Citizen Matters spoke with Ronak Sutaria, Founder and CEO of the Climate Tech startup Respirer Living Sciences in an interview that is now available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtLkl7WkyFQ In the discussion, Ronak explained that Mumbai’s pollution levels were lower than Delhi but emphasised the need to increase monitoring in Mumbai. “Mumbai has…

A day before this year's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) budget, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that he would urge the corporation to install air purifiers as a solution to Mumbai's worsening Air Quality Index (AQI). And the very next day, a substantial amount was allocated to the installation of air purifiers in the city. Estimated Rs 3.5 crores for one, there are plans to set up 14 air purifier towers, two each in seven municipal zones. Read more: Mumbai’s AQI worsens every winter, who is responsible? Additionally, there are plans to install air purifiers at 5 crowded areas of the…

Highest municipal budget for Mumbai till date On February 4th, Saturday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) released its budget estimates for the year 2023-24. The total added up to Rs 52,619.07 crore - a near 15 percentage increase from the previous year and the highest in its history. Over half of the budget is for capital expenditures, to be used for infrastructure and development works. However, despite the eye-popping amount, the civic body had barely spent 40% of its capital expenditure a week before the budget presentation. The allocation for healthcare, fire safety and education dropped, while Rs 800 crore…