City: Mumbai

Numbers of tuberculosis patients are sharply rising in Mumbai. And that is good. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data, the city records 45,000 new patients a year on average. However, last year, it was down to less than 1% of that. The health department authorities at BMC say that Covid-19 and Tuberculosis (TB) have similar symptoms. Therefore, if TB patients go unchecked in times of the pandemic, the number of patients of Covid-19 may also increase as they are difficult to differentiate. TB is a bacterial disease, which mainly affects the lungs. The bacteria that causes TB spreads when an…

Mumbai starts partial lockdown According to joint guidelines produced by the BMC and Mumbai Police, a weekend shutdown and strict night curfew beginning at 8 PM will be followed for public spaces. With Section 144 now imposed on the city, no more than 5 people are allowed to crowd public spaces and gardens from 7 AM to 8 PM on weekdays while the weekends will see a total shutdown except for essential services. Home delivery of essential items will be allowed 24x7. Beaches will remain completely closed until April 30th. Public transport will continue at full capacity except for autos…

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is the busiest airports in India, after Delhi. But unlike the Delhi airport CSMIA is located in the middle of a densely populated, congested area.  Therefore balancing biodiversity and wildlife alongside the airport infrastructure is an unusual challenge for the airport authorities. All living things, including plants, animals, and humans are part of the biodiversity of the area.  CSMIA in a press release states “it has undertaken numerous measures towards biodiversity management and wildlife conservation at the airport and its vicinity. The principles of biodiversity and wildlife management have been integrated right from the…

Respected Sir,We, civil society organisations and activists from Maharashtra, who are engaged in human rights work with different communities and have also been extensively involved in relief work and advocacy throughout the pandemic and consequent lockdown, address this letter to you to put forth some of our pressing concerns regarding the new restrictions announced in light of increasing number of COVID cases in the state of Maharashtra. We also request for a personal meeting with you to discuss our below suggestions and explore possibilities of civil society collaborations through constructive engagement and consultation, with an aim to create an effective…

Any Kharghar resident who takes the local train to work, would have easily noticed what is going on across the creek as they leave or reach the railway station. Rivers, mangroves, wetlands, hills that mother nature has bestowed us are being ravaged — all for one purpose: building the Navi Mumbai International Airport. It is definitely a good thing to have an airport nearby as it will bring down airport commute times from hours to just a few minutes. It will also lead to general economic development for Navi Mumbai and surrounding suburbs. The scale at which works are being…

Hardik Joshi, Unsplash,Com Fire results in the death of 11 COVID-19 patients On March 25th, a fire rapidly spread in Dreams Mall Sunrise Hospital resulting in the death of 11 COVID-19 patients. Relatives of the deceased ran around the city for almost 10 hours searching for their bodies. Dreams Mall had been declared fit for housing a make-shift COVID hospital days before an audit last May claimed that fire-fighting systems of the building are non-functional. Despite this audit, Mumbai’s Fire Brigade granted a fire safety compliance report for the mall on July 22, 2020. Draft rules published in 2009 would…

In July 2003, I stepped out of Dadar station for the first time with two big bags worth of belongings, starry eyes and dreams of adventures. My heart sank when I saw the crowd of people buzzing around like there was some emergency. Did I land in Mumbai in the middle of a calamity? But soon, I realised this was the way of life here.  Growing up in laid-back Pune, where people believed that afternoon naps were an important part of their existence, my first impression of Mumbai was ‘what the hell is going on’.  Soon I learnt that this…

COVID-19 cases above 5000, highest ever Last Wednesday, Mumbai reported its highest-ever single-day spike with over 5,000 new cases for the first time since the pandemic's outbreak. The city's total tally increased to 3,74,611, according to Mint. The active containment zones in the city stand at 39 and a total of 432 buildings are sealed. The recovery rate of Mumbai city is 90% while the overall growth rate of Covid cases stands at 0.79%, the Livemint reported. In a random antigen test, seven hawkers at Dadar station were found to be positive in Mumbai, the Times of India reported. Source:…

Last week, the Bombay High Court asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe into irregularities in toll collection on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Activists had filed a Public Interest Litigation to stop toll collection fee on the Expressway, claiming the capital costs was already recovered from it in the past 16 years since 2004.   This pushed us to ask, what do Mumbai residents pay toll for?  Currently, Mumbaikars have to pay a toll at five points. Dahisar on the Western Express Highway, Vashi on the Sion-Panvel Highway, Airoli bridge and two points at Mulund - Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg…

On 2nd March, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started a vaccination drive for senior citizens and those over 45 years of age with comorbidities. Since then, over two lakh people have been vaccinated in the city. But due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, where 3,260 patients tested positive just yesterday, BMC is trying to make the process of vaccination easier. On 20th March, BMC announced that those eligible can now simply walk-in to their nearest vaccination centre and get vaccinated. They don't have to wait for their scheduled appointment. But even if you don't have to wait…