City: Mumbai

Bhendi Bazaar is situated between Mohammed Ali road and Khetwadi in South Mumbai. It is home to several micro-economies that cater to the needs of the communities living in the area.  Interestingly, one of the etymological theories of the name ‘Bhendi Bazaar’ comes from the British era. According to Murtaza Sadriwala, Media Coordinator of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), when the British lived on the Southern side of Crawford Market, the Northern side was referred to as ‘Behind the Bazaar’, which over time was colloquially pronounced as Bhendi Bazaar. This was phonetically similar to the Hindi word for Okra…

In a small shop in Bhendi bazaar, owner Devendra Jain shows an elderly customer two polka-dotted ridas, the colourful skirt-scarf combo worn by Bohra women, trying to match to a picture on his phone. After decades of running the business that started with door-to-door sales, his loyal customers are now experiencing a more convenient shopping experience. In the last few years, the shop has gone from a dingy spot under a staircase in a chawl, to a spanking new space on the second floor of the newly redeveloped Al Sa’adah Towers. 13 buildings were demolished to make way for the…

Booster dose likely to be administered for frontline staff and children aged 12-18 Rising concerns regarding the new Omicron variant has led Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to direct the Health Department to increase vaccination coverage in Maharashtra. CM Thackeray has reportedly directed authorities to increase the number of vaccines carried out in the districts that are below the state's average. According to the report, the state health minister Rajesh Tope will suggest a plan for seeking booster shots for frontline staff in a meeting with Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on December 9th. The issue of high RT-PCR rates at…

The Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP), announced by the Maharashtra government on August 28th was meant to democractise decision making in order to make Mumbai sustainable by considering suggestions from citizens, experts and research organisations. However, the ground reality seems very different. Numerous projects currrently being executed in the city have drawn strong criticism from experts and citizens. Below are some of the concerns raised by experts which need to be addressed urgently. Induced demand phenomenon While some countries have dismantled their highways and coastal roads to promote public transport, Mumbai's approach is something called induced demand; the economic concept…

On any given day, 4173 million litres (MLD) of water flows towards Mumbai. It travels through 650 km of transmission pipes and 6000 km of service pipes, to eventually provide just 2300 million litres for its residents. The difference — 1,900 MLD — is lost due to a variety of reasons, including leakage, thefts, dysfunctional or rigged water meters and non-metered municipal connections. 7.74% - 323 MLD - is lost before the water is even made fit for drinking, en route to the two water treatment facilities at Bhandup and Panjrapor, northeast of the city. These are conveyance losses, and…

On October 3rd, Citizen Matters hosted a tweet chat on water supply in Mumbai with Sitaram Shelar and Purva Dewoolkar. The discussion covered how water is sourced in the city; the condition of lakes, the treatment plants, and reasons for water shortage. Sitaram Shelar is the Convener of the Pani Haq Samiti. He is a member of the core committee of the Hamara Shaher Mumbai Abhiyan and has initiated the 51 Mumbaikar campaign. His work has focused on youth development, governance,  poverty and the built environment. Purva Dewoolkar is a SEED funded PhD Scholar at the University of Manchester.  Her…

There are two kinds of childbirths, a ‘normal’ childbirth - vaginal  - and a ‘lower section caesarean section’, more commonly known as a C-section.  A C-section is a surgery performed to deliver the baby through an incision made on the stomach and the womb. It involves expensive medical bills and the possibility of a medical emergency. The choice between a normal childbirth and a C-section is a burden on every expecting woman for many reasons, primarily, the side effects, the risks and the costs. In 2019, experts said that India may soon have the ‘most caesarean births in the world.’…

Maharashtra issues revised air travel guidelines On December 2nd, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced revisions to air travel guidelines for domestic flights. Details will be released by the State government in the next couple of days, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus. This comes a day after the Centre asked the State to align its order with the SOPs issued by the Union Health Ministry. Institutional quarantine has been mandated for passengers from high-risk countries, notably, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. As of December 3rd, the State government confirmed that fully vaccinated domestic fliers will not require…

In September 2021, volunteers at Muse Foundation, a Mumbai-based youth organisation that works to build awareness around manual scavenging among other pressing social issues, received a response to an RTI query they filed with the Sewerage Department of Thane Municipal Corporation. The RTI had sought information on the ‘provisional list of manual scavengers published’ and a ‘list of self-declared manual scavengers and information on their rehabilitation.’ TMC claimed that the questions are ‘Not Applicable’. Additionally, responding to a request for the list of manual scavengers submitted to the District Level Survey Committee, they replied, ‘’The Thane Municipal Corporation’s Sewerage Department…

Homes in Siddharth Nagar, a slum in Andheri West, might soon get water connections after a 9-year long struggle. Members of Pani Haq Samiti, an organisation fighting for universal access to water, held a ‘Jal adhikari satyagraha' on November 15th, after which the Assistant Commissioner of the K West ward promised to write to the Municipal Commissioner (MC) for the connection. The approval of Iqbal Chahal, the Municipal Commissioner, is imminent. 2 million people in Mumbai are denied a legal water connection. This dates back to a policy by the Maharashtra Urban Development Department (UDD) in 1996 that cut off…