City: Mumbai

On March 21st, Citizen Matters hosted a tweet chat to discuss the recently launched Mumbai Climate Plan (MCAP) with Lubaina Rangawala, Tanmay Takle and Saurabh Punamiya. After its inception in 2021, the MCAP was opened up to suggestions and criticisms from citizens, environmental experts and other stakeholders. This creates an opportunity for the city to work with the government towards an effective climate policy, as we stand at a critical juncture in Mumbai’s climate history. The tweet chat addressed points from the Plan to understand whether the Mumbai government is truly prepared for the climate crisis, and where the city…

Mohammed Irshad, a garment worker in Dharavi, recalls being gripped by the fear of policemen lathi-charging him when he would step out in search of odd jobs during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. His garment unit was shut down. He wasn’t the only one, and many workers were suddenly faced with a crisis that appeared to have no solution ahead. Laxmi Kamble, co-ordinator with Acorn Foundation, which distributed food and ration kits during the lockdown, recalls the humiliation, desperation and embarrassment faced by workers, who were suddenly stuck with no tiffin service or hotels, no vessels to make food and no…

Modern lifestyles in cities often see most of us buying more, despite the acclaimed ‘Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Repurpose and Recycle’ mantra. When tired of the clutter, we repurpose pre-owned belongings like old clothes and toys by passing them on to domestic help. But, a step further could help support underprivileged communities throughout the country. There are many organisations in Mumbai supporting local communities in need by distributing pre-owned items in the city and rural Maharashtra. “We can’t say we’re solving the poverty crisis, but there’s a need and we’re filling it,” says Pradeep Tripathi, founder of Green Yatra, a foundation…

With different electoral constituencies in Mumbai for national, state and local elections, finding which one you belong to can be a little confusing, but is important to know before exercising your democratic right to vote for an elected representative at different levels of government. What is a constituency? A constituency refers to a geographical area which votes for an elected representative. Each constituency corresponds to a seat in a government body, depending on the election. Given there are three levels - national, state and local - of elections in India, each place falls into three constituencies of different sets. What…

COVID hospitalisations at an all-time low For the first time since the first wave of COVID hit the country in April 2020, hospitalisations due to the virus dropped to below 100 in Mumbai between March 14th and 19th. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), only one person was hospitalised on March 18th, taking the total count to just 74, of which seven were critical. “Even when the first and second waves were waning, the city’s daily caseload did not drop to what we are seeing now. Hospitalisations, therefore, were also on the higher side,” said additional commissioner Suresh Kakani.…

Archana Yadav of Mumbai is an excited soul today. In just a few days, she will be starting classes under a free skilling programme offered in Kandivali under the Skill India initiative and hopes that it will help her secure a much-needed job in the domain of nursing. Archana knows the trials of having to look for a job without formally acquired skills or certification. Pre-pandemic she had been working as an unpaid trainee in an orthopaedic clinic in Mumbai, in the hope that the skills acquired in this position would help her get a better job in the future.…

With a growing population of over 12 million, Mumbai generates 2,700 - 3,000 million litres of sewage everyday. But just as water needs to be purified before it is fit for drinking, sewage needs treatment before it re-enters the water cycle. Untreated sewage is a dangerous mix of bacteria and organic matter, making it an excellent breeding ground for diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, gastroenteritis, hepatitis B, etc. Once in water, it also wreaks havoc in the environment of marine organisms, stealing from their oxygen stores, suffocating and eventually feeding on them. At present, sewage treatment in the city is divided…

Congestion and pollution in Mumbai is an ever-increasing, annual problem. By 2030, transport emissions will replace industrial fumes to become the biggest contributor to air pollution in Mumbai. One wonders, then, why the demand for a livelihood in what is now arguably a difficult city to live in, is still so high. Why do citizens put up with slow development and still pay the highest taxes? Metro work seems to have slowed down, while other bridges and coastal roads continue to be prioritised. Potholes, illegal parking and unattended vehicles obstructing pathways are ignored in many parts of town. As Mumbai…

BMC elections likely to be held in October According to sources, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections for 2022 are likely to be pushed to October. This is due to the temporary halt in judicial proceedings for the reservation of Other Backward Castes (OBC) seats in the local elections. The state government passed a resolution in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly that local body elections will not take place without OBC reservation. In a protest conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 9th, BJP leader Chandrakant Patil told the media that BMC elections may be postponed by 6 months.…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election is an election of members who govern Greater Mumbai. The BMC is Asia's largest municipal corporation and elections for its members are scheduled to be held in April 2022. The current tenure of the sitting corporators came to an end in February 2022, and on March 8th, current municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal was appointed as administrator of the city, in the backdrop of delayed civic polls. A study conducted by the non-profit organisation Praja has revealed that 90% of Mumbai’s corporators have performed poorly based on criteria set by the organisation, with only two corporators scoring “A”. The…