Water crunch for half of Mumbai on Jan 30 and 31st
Due to the connection of a new 4,000 mm diameter channel to the water treatment plant in Bhandup and other repair works, several parts of Mumbai will face water cuts or reductions between January 30th and 31st.
Wards that will receive no water for the 24 hours from 10 am on January 30th are: H/East (Bandra East), H/West (Bandra West), K/East (Andheri East), K/West (Andheri West), P/North (Malad), P/South (Goregaon), R/North (Dahisar), R/South (Kandivali, Charkop and Poisar), R/Central (Borivai), N (Gatkopar), L (Kurla) and the west side of S Vikhroli and Bhandup). The portion of Dharavi in the G/North ward will not receive water between 4 pm to 9 pm on January 30th and 4 am to 9 am on January 31st.
Parts of the suburbs including Mahim, Dadar West, Prabhadevi and Matunga West will experience a 25% water cut on the two days. These areas may also notice low water pressure from January 29th to February 4th.
Source: The Times of India
Passengers throng the new metro lines 2A and 7
One lakh people are taking the newly operational metro corridors 2A and 7 daily, parallel to the Western Express Highway (WEH). But this ready reception has come with side effects.
The metro line 1 has consequently seen an increase in ridership of around 15,000, topping 4 lakh passengers in a day after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rickshaw unions have demanded 62 new stands outside the stations for last-mile journeys, to make up for the loss in long-distance rides. BEST buses have swapped out some longer routes for ten feeder routes on the lines.
Commenters have expressed confusion at the station names named after the government’s revenue records, instead of popular landmarks, often private entities like malls, that are more familiar.
Source: The Times of India and The Indian Express
Read more: Mumbai metro update: Now a two-year wait for the next line
Temporary warmer weather, low temperatures expected again
Even as Mumbai has seen a momentary rise in temperatures on Thursday and Friday, the cold will return to the city by the weekend. The minimum temperatures rose from 14.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday to 15.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday as the cold winds from the north were obstructed by the westerly winds from the Arabian Sea. But with the withdrawal of these, the mercury will drop.
The IMD has forecasted minimum temperatures will touch 16 degrees Celcius on Sunday and 14 degrees Celcius on Monday. Daytime weather will range between 27 to 29 degrees Celcius till Saturday, dipping to 26 degrees Celcius on Sunday and Monday.
Source: The Indian Express and The Weather Channel
New low for COVID cases
Of the 3,000 people tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday, none were found to be positive. This is the first time there have been no fresh cases of the virus in a day after March 16, 2020.
New cases have been in single digits for over a week now, with the total tally this month (till January 24th) being 116. Only one death has been reported. Health officials attribute this improvement to the city’s high vaccination rate, as 90% of the population has taken both doses of the vaccine. While further caution is advised, they do not expect a hike in cases again except for an outbreak of a new variant.
Source: The Indian Express
Five applicants per seat in non-state board public schools
Over 4,100 applications have been received for the 868 seats available in Mumbai Public Schools (MPS). The deadline for admissions for the forthcoming academic year ended last week, with non-state board schools coming out as the most popular.
All classes in the one ICSE, IGCSE, IB and 11 CBSE public schools are full, leaving room only in the entry-level classes. Due to the outsized demand, a lottery will be held to allot seats by February 10th.
Source: Hindustan Times
Compiled by Sabah Virani