City: Mumbai

Pratishtha Shelatkar, a student of Suvidyalaya High School in Borivali, a government-aided private school, used to attend morning classes before the pandemic struck and schools were shut down. Most kids in Pratishtha’s class come from underprivileged families with their parents working as labourers, cleaners or other low income jobs; hence, families of these children can barely even afford to pay bills, let alone be able to afford a smartphone and timely data recharges.  In most of these families, only one of the parents has a smartphone but the children don’t have access to it until the parents come back home…

Stalin Dayanand is an environmentalist and Director of the Mumbai-based environmental NGO, Vanashakti. His passion for environmental protection and conservation has resulted in many success stories in Mumbai and elsewhere in the Maharashtra.Some of his landmark works include keeping wildlife corridors in the western Ghats  of Maharashtra from falling prey to to mining, securing protection for wetlands in Maharashtra, protecting mangroves in the Thane creek and Sewri and saving over 3000 trees from being cut for a road widening project in Wada.He is campaigning hard to protect 3000 acres of open spaces and forest lands in Aarey Colony Mumbai from being…

Vaccinated Mumbaikars allowed to board local trains Around 35 lakh vaccinated Mumbaikars breathed a sigh of relief on August 16 as they finally boarded local trains. Although a power outage caused the harbour line to cease operations on August 18, the line has now resumed. Commuters living in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) especially rushed to stations in Mira Road, Dombivali, Vasai and other MMR locales. However, citizens are required to now purchase monthly passes if they wish to ride Mumbai's trains. This move has angered railway passenger associations as they say that non-regular travelers who have been vaccinated may…

With a massive shortage of vaccines staring in its face, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now devising ways to prioritise vaccination for its local population especially its lower-income groups. With an impending third wave of the pandemic, the BMC wants to ensure that it can reach and vaccinate a maximum number of people despite its limited resources. “We are now tieing-up with non-government organisations to help vaccinate those residing in the slums and the neglected, unpenetrated population,” said additional municipal commissioner, Suresh Kakani.  After focusing on specific high-risk groups like the frontline workers, pregnant and lactating women and even…

The pandemic has deepened the difficulties and dangers faced by sex workers in gaining and maintaining clients. Lockdowns and lack of relief have wrecked any semblance of financial stability they previously had. Moreover, while sex work is not illegal in the country, police violence against women categorized as ‘prostitutes’ continues unabated.  Such public sentiments and aggressive policing are rooted in a long history of brutally criminalizing sex workers. In fact, it has resonance in various legal and medical regulations enacted during British rule of South Asia. Historically, British authorities painted sex workers not only as purveyors of disease but as…

Bombay’s pivotal role in the Independence movement and particularly in the Quit India movement has not been recognized enough, according to Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, who is also the Managing Trustee and Honorary Director of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum in Byculla. What can be done about it? “We strongly feel that our museum should now take up this subject,” she added, recalling that institution was once a British museum and its origins are reflected in the collection. It was established in 1872 as the Victoria and Albert Museum. It got its current name only in 1975. Mehta was…

E-Pass facility launched for Mumbai's trains Maharashtra government launched an online e-pass facility on August 12 to enable fully vaccinated people to travel in suburban trains in Mumbai from Independence Day onwards. Officials said that the state's Relief and Rehabilitation Department had developed a web link to provide e-passes to employees and essential workers. Representative Image The same link will now make e-passes available to fully vaccinated citizens who have completed 14 days after their second dose, for Mumbai suburban railway travel. The digital process will not be a replacement for the offline ticketing system which will continue to be…

Citizens deciding to take a walk on Mumbai's beach to enjoy the monsoon weather, need to beware of getting stung by Portuguese Man-of-War, a marine species that wash ashore on Mumbai’s beaches. Also known as Blue Bottle, they are usually found on Mumbai’s beach during the monsoon season every year. This year too, citizens have spotted hundreds of them at Versova and Juhu beach. Last year, due to lockdown, there were hardly any cases of residents getting stung by this marine species, reported in the city . A group of marine enthusiasts from Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), posted an…

Mumbaikars have multiple avenues for lodging complaints to civic authorities. The toll-free number 1916, MCGM website, MyBMC 24*7 mobile application and even written complaints form the centralised complaint registration system (CCRS).  Through a SAP (a data management software for enterprise and resource planning) interface, the complaint gets routed to an officer in charge of the particular department in the complainant's ward. The complaint can then be tracked, escalated and given feedback on.  However, this process has faced several glitches in the recent past. So much so that residents have begun using social media instead to draw the attention of the…

As one walks into the infinitesimal lanes in Daulat Nagar, Borivali, the houses, one over the other, start to narrate the story of their occupants. The slum is primarily  home to the transgender community in the locality. Renting a 30meter square house costs anywhere between  Rs 5000- Rs 6000 per month. This is one of the biggest expenses for the transgender community, who mainly earn by begging. A 32-year-old transwoman lives in the slum of Daulat Nagar. Since the lockdown, she and other community members are not earning much as they can’t go begging in trains or in streets or…