City: Mumbai

Jaspreet Sachdev is a mother to eight-year-old Jasman, who has autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). After two years of online learning, he is back to school after the Maharashtra government allowed offline classes to begin in February. Jasman loved going to school and was really fond of his teachers and peers. School kept him busy and happily occupied for a major part of the day. But when schools started in February, Jaspreet had multiple meetings with Jasman’s teachers about some behavioural issues such as impatience, aggression and inability to focus, all of which had worsened during the COVID…

On April 24th, the popular account @RoadsOfMumbai held a poll on Twitter asking a simple question, ‘Will wrong-side driving ever end in Mumbai?’ The response was overwhelmingly negative; over 80% of respondents believed they would just have to live with it. The poll came nearly two months after the Mumbai police started a crackdown on traffic violations and road obstructions. They were particularly targeting offences of driving on the wrong side of the road and parking of defunct vehicles, ‘khataras,’ on the road. From March 6th to May 15th, the police claimed to have registered 12,390 wrong-side driving cases and…

COVID cases rise in Mumbai Concerns over rising COVID cases in the state were raised at the cabinet meeting on May 26th. On May 25th, the number of positive cases in the state was at 2,175, from 618 cases on April 15th. A large portion of the rise is due to Mumbai, exactly 67.27%. Despite lower numbers than last year, and the city removing the mask mandate in April, the government is now urging citizens to maintain masking.  "We removed the restriction of wearing masks on April 2 and within a span of 15 days the cases have gone up. If cases continue…

After a gruelling two years of the COVID pandemic, medical teachers from the Grant Medical college in JJ Hospital, Mumbai, went on strike starting January 5th. For over two months, they demanded regularisation of their services and the implementation of the 7th pay commission, which would mean standardised salaries and timely promotions. The situation in medical colleges and hospitals that are run by the Maharashtra government point to discrepancies in budget allocation and implementation for medical colleges, when other central and BMC run hospitals provide better working conditions for medical practitioners and teachers.  The working conditions coupled with the depleting…

With school admissions in Mumbai for the new academic year in full swing, parents from different socio-economic backgrounds are scrambling to secure seats for their children in the best schools. The opportunities for those from financially and socially disadvantaged backgrounds, however, are not equal. This is where the Right to Education (RTE) Act was supposed to come in - allowing more children a chance at equal education. Introduced in 2009, Section 12 (1)(C) of the Act mandates 25% reservations in private, unaided, non-minority schools for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and economically weaker sections. This includes students with disabilities, those from…

In 2021, Mumbai was ranked 5th in global vehicular congestion by the TomTom Traffic Index. Rates of car ownership in the city are growing — at roughly 10% per annum — against the backdrop of traffic congestion and a severe lack of parking space. For every vehicle in the city, at least three locations for parking are required. As car ownership increases, the need for parking spaces will grow three times that rate, roughly 30%.  In apprehension of such a situation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in January 2021 put together a committee of 15 experts and citizens to form the…

Pre-monsoon showers to hit Mumbai next week After a gruelling few weeks of a heatwave, Mumbaikars can expect cooler temperatures post-May 21st. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), rain and thunderstorms are expected in parts of Maharashtra, including South Maharashtra, Konkan, Marathwada, and Vidarbha.  “The exact date of the onset of the monsoon over Maharashtra can be predicted after the onset of the monsoon over the Kerala mainland. Until then, a variety of factors may influence or disturb the monsoon equatorial flow,” said an official from IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre in Mumbai. Monsoon is expected to hit Kerala by…

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,…