City: Mumbai

On a typical summer day in Mumbai, crowds of workers from different professions descend onto local train platforms in the city, waiting for the next train to fight their way into. Some of them are street vendors who are headed for the area where they will set up shop, on the streets, under large umbrellas or under the shades of trees. But there are also others — construction workers among them, who have no choice but to work while being directly exposed to the sun and hence face uniquely challenging conditions.  Gopal Ahlawat, one such worker, has to meet his…

Private and green sewage treatment plants (STP) are slowly gaining prominence. With the growing threat of water scarcity, climate change and pollution, Mumbai is grappling for ways to meet current and future demands of water in the city, and one avenue that has emerged is recycling the water from sewage treatment plants (STP). They treat wastewater at the source and replace as much as half the water requirement of a housing society. How much fresh water is wasted daily for activities that can be carried out using recycled water?" asks Prasad Khale, senior conservation officer at the NGO Conservation Action…

Being an urban citizen today involves an informed understanding of the climate crisis and its impact on our livelihoods. But beyond just the knowledge of issues plaguing the world, there are individual measures we can and must take to reduce the local impact of climate change. This is especially true since citizens, and not just corporations and governments, are also responsible for urban warming.  Segregating waste generated in our homes and residential communities could be one of the first steps we take as responsible citizens. The majority of our waste generated goes to landfills. 70% of our garbage is wet waste,…

Article 21 of the Constitution is interpreted as the right to safe drinking water for all citizens, even as Mumbai residents have struggled with an unequal and unreliable water supply. But from May 1st, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) has started to change this with its new water policy. BMC’s new ‘water for all’ policy will ensure all residents - including illegal, informal settlements, buildings without occupation certificates (OC) and pavement dwellers - are eligible for water connections. An estimated 2 million+ people in 150 slums do not have access to adequate water, and 50% of buildings (over 50,000) in…

BMC to launch 4 new initiatives for children studying in BMC schools On 11th May, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and its education department launched four new initiatives in their schools. The initiatives include awareness programs and workshops for diabetes, mental and dental health. They also include making infrastructural changes to the inside and outside of the schools to make access to them safe. The safe access to schools initiative was created as Mumbai Public Schools are usually located around areas where there is heavy traffic flow. It will cover introducing safer options for commuting to schools, and also childrens’…

Between March 6th and April 16th, the Mumbai police started a drive to clear streets of abandoned vehicles, an issue that has caused nuisance across the city. Known as the Khatara Hatao campaign, they seized about 10,496 vehicles, as per information shared by the Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey on his Twitter handle. As part of this drive, the Mumbai police tows away abandoned vehicles to a dump yard and sends notices to the vehicle’s registered owners asking them to claim them back within a month, failing which the vehicles would be auctioned. “Most of these abandoned vehicles are in…

Mumbai has had a rough start to the summer. Along with the rest of the country, a heat wave in the city began in March, as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded a temperature of 39.4 degrees Celsius (°C). A lack of pre-monsoon showers and warm, dry winds from northwest India have been the causes, driven by climate change. Another three heat waves followed, when the peak season for them, May, is yet to pass. The high minimum and maximum temperatures have meant that the city has spent the majority of the two months without any respite. This…

As Mumbai returns to normal after the COVID pandemic, offices and schools have reopened. With them, the number of commuters travelling through public transport is steadily approaching pre-pandemic levels. 30 lakh people boarded the BEST buses daily in April 2022, and the number will soon cross 35 lakh. 70-72 lakh passengers travelled on the suburban railway every day, just 6-8 lakh shy of the 2019 figures. The familiar scenes of congestion have returned. Mumbai’s suburban railways are known for the often dangerous rush hour, for which the term ‘super dense crush load’ was coined. Over 16 people stand chest-to-chest on each square…

We're currently living in a climate crisis. Temperatures are rising and waste in Mumbai is piling up. While policy changes and government intervention are important to combating the future impact of the crisis, there is a lot we can do as individuals to reduce emissions and be more climate-conscious.  In a city like Mumbai, people wonder if it is possible to live a low-waste and sustainable life. After trying it myself, I’ve realised that it’s not as difficult as I had imagined. Sustainability is merely a mindful choice, more than anything else. There are many options in Mumbai to support…

Failed power lines cause outages in parts of Navi Mumbai and Panvel On 5th May, a 400 kilovolt transmission line that runs from Kharghar to Talegaon tripped, causing power outages in areas surrounding Vashi and Panvel. The outages wreaked havoc in the neighbourhood due to the hot weather. This is the 4th time in two years that the power lines have tripped, highlighting the urgent need to strengthen the transmission corridor that provides Mumbai with electricity from 5 entry points. The union power ministry has asked the state to expedite work on 3 new corridors that will ensure this doesn’t…