City: Mumbai

The Mumbai Development Plan (DP), a statutory document which lists policies and proposals for land-use in an area, has undergone a tumultuous journey. First proposed in 2015, it was scrapped owing to a number of serious flaws, and a new committee was set up. Around the same time, women in the city started to raise clamour for how the development plan needs to pay attention to gender and recognise that women and men experience cities differently.  Led by the Akshara Centre, a non-profit working for women's rights, the activists advocated for a chapter on gender in the DP. But what got…

The Wetlands in India, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai included, are under severe threat. Time to take action is now. "According to the environment ministry, 35 per cent of wetlands have disappeared since the 1970s and 87 per cent have been lost since the 1700s. Causes of wetland loss are drainage and infilling for agriculture and construction, pollution, overexploitation of resources (like overfishing), invasive species and climate change." - Hindustan Times Read more: How a Navi Mumbai citizens group fought for the flamingos World Wetlands Day World Wetlands Day, that is observed on 2nd February every year, was celebrated by several…

Newspaper reading has been a habit quite lost in the recent years. However, in a city where thousands of people spend many hours commuting, newspapers are a way to kill time. Here's a how people used to read newspapers in the 'old normal' or before the pandemic struck and lockdown was imposed. Kurla 2019. (Pic: M. Gopal) Bandra 2018. (Pic: M. Gopal) Chembur 2017. (Pic: M. Gopal) Chembur 2017. (Pic: M. Gopal) Chembur 2016. (Pic: M. Gopal) Andheri 2018.(Pic: M. Gopal) Lalbag 2020. (Pic: M. Gopal) Kurla 2019. (Pic: M. Gopal) Harbour Line 2019. (Pic: M. Gopal) GTN Nagar 2020.…

Two hundred and six 'unrecognised' schools function in Mumbai, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Their numbers have reduced from previous years. In 2019-20, there were 230 such institutions and the year before that, there were 244. Getting Maharashtra government's Education Ministry to recognise the school means to get a certificate to function on the basis of predetermined requirements such as building safety, teacher-student ratio and curriculum specifications. In short, the government checks to see if the schools meet the basic minimum criteria required for schools to function well. Therefore, 'unrecognised' schools might put the students at risk. But lakhs…

Local trains to resume in slots from February 1 Suspended since March 2020 and restarted in phases, Mumbai local trains will be open to the general public under fixed time slots from February 1. The time slots are the first service to 7 am, 12 pm to 4 pm and 9 pm to the last service. Frontline workers, healthcare staff, single women travellers will be allowed to travel between the timings as well. Source: NDTV Government Extends Lockdown Restrictions Till March 28 The state government imposed a lockdown from the third week of March 2020. Since then, almost all restrictions…

Unlike the centre and state budgets, there's little discussion on municipal budgets in India. Multiple media reports highlight that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is India's richest municipal corporation with a budget higher than most states. But there's little awareness on what the budget entails, how BMC earns or spends its money, and how can a citizen keep track of its revenue or expenditure. Here's a look at some of its core features before BMC presents its 2021-22 budget. Who prepares the budget? Budgets at the centre and state are prepared and presented by the respective Finance Ministers. But the…

We, the citizens of Mumbai are extremely thankful and grateful to Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner's extraordinary leadership during this Corona Pandemic. In most of the actions, they have taken citizen’s voice at the centre of decision-making and particularly while overseeing the “chase Corona” policy. This piece is regarding the agents responsible for collecting the Mask Penalty of Rs 200. (Read about the penalty here.) Taking strict measures to check on the spread of coronavirus, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) imposed strict rules for people travelling in public transport and visiting shopping malls in September 2020. It also announced that people…

After the anti-CAA protests last year, for the first time Mumbai's Azad Maidan was teeming with people throughout this week. On Sunday, farmers affiliated with the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) marched 165 kilometers from Nashik to reach Mumbai. They farmers spent the night in Azad Maidan. Farmers gather in Azad Maidan on 16 January 2021. Photo: Kisan Alliance Morcha On Monday, several other organisations joined them in support. On India's 71st Republic Day, they unflured the flag and hosted programmes with leaders of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government agreed to the…

Almost a year ago, on January 30 2020, air conditioning was introduced on some routes of the Central Railway network. This was meant to be an additional cog in Mumbai's public transport wheel. A year later, that experiment has all but failed. On January 16, only 3 ticketed passengers and 200 monthly season ticket (MST) passengers were on the ten AC trains operational between CST and Kalyan stations. Result: revenue earned was just Rs 7610 till 5 pm.  Earlier, in the period from December 17 (when AC locals re-started after lockdown) and January 15, the Central Railways registered a remarkable losses…

Kurla (East)'s Qureshi Nagar is defined by its assortment of big and small slaughterhouses. The neighbourhood gains its name - Kasaiwada or a settlement of butchers - from the many abattoirs. In the past few years, the government has passed some cow slaughter legislations which have affected the people of Kasaiwada immensely. Since the slaughter of bovines became political, many in the neighbourhood were forced to pick up other odd-jobs, mostly in the unorganised sector. The vagaries of life have kept the people of Kasaiwada from paying much attention to their children's education. Young boys of Kasaiwads studying English. Photo:Santoshee…