City: Mumbai

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…

2023 has arrived and with it, hopeful Mumbaikars are looking forward to some of the key infrastructure projects opening to the public this year. Surrounded by barricades in all parts of the city for the past five years, at least a few of these barricades will be pulled down and new modes and alternatives of transport and commuting will be thrown open to the public. These promise to change the face of Mumbai, and most likely, they will! The Trans-Harbour Link, metro lines 2A & 7, the underground metro line 3, the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road extension, and the coastal road…

On February 4th, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented a budget of Rs 52,619.07 crore for the year 2023-24. This marked a significant moment in the city's history, as Commissioner IS Chahal, serving as an administrator in the absence of an elected council, drafted and then presented and approved the budget. The BMC had earlier invited suggestions on the budget from the public. Chahal told the press that municipal corporation had received 965 suggestions "many of which were incorporated in the budget". Read more: BMC budget wishlist, from various experts in their field He said, "For example, we have allotted Rs…

With each passing year, the government owes private schools the reimbursements for students taken in free of cost under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The amount has racked up to around a crore for some schools, with several school associations alleging Rs 1,200 crore is due in total. “Last year, we received the RTE reimbursement for the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18,” says Anushka Pradhan, head of primary at Gyan Kendra school in Andheri. The school takes in 52 new students from financially and socially weaker backgrounds with the promise of a free education till the eighth grade every…

The term of the municipal councillors of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, came to an end in March 2022. With elections delayed, control of the corporation fell into the hands of Commissioner IS Chahal. With him at the helm, BMC had its second administrator in decades. It has been nearly a year now since the elections have not been held and Chahal continues to run the corporation without a body of public representatives or a mayor. This meant that the municipal commissioner not only drafted the 2023-2024 civic budget but also personally presented and approved it…

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival returns The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) returns on February 3rd, when the streets of Kala Ghoda will be turned into workshop spaces, theatres, and dance stages. Restaurants in the area will also be showcasing curated menus for the occasion. Earlier art installation at the festival. Pic: Indu Harikumar, Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0) The popular nine-day festival, founded in 1999, draws visitors from Mumbai and around the world. It showcases multicultural arts, crafts, urban design and architecture events and is considered as one of India's largest street art festivals. Kala Ghoda, in south of Mumbai, is…

After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) put out an open call on Twitter for suggestions on the upcoming BMC budget, over 1,000 responses poured in. Citizens, by virtue of their lived experience, have plenty to ask from the budget of the municipality, expected to be released today (February 4th) and likely to entail allocations of over Rs 45000 crore. As the city's most popular and effective citizen welfare and grievance redressal forum, we at Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF) too have a list of demands from the municipality. Our network of 110 members come from different walks and areas…

On January 18th, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) asked people for their suggestions on the municipal budget, a step towards the making of a democratic participatory budget. And while there have been criticisms of the timing and structure of the call, many have responded. Below are a few suggestions from a few citizens, some of whom are experts in their fields. Rini Annie Cherian, program coordinator at Praja Foundation The 2022-23 BMC budget speech had made some progressive proposals for infrastructure and environmental rehabilitation of various locations in the city, but fell short in carrying forward the proposed plans of…