INFORMATIVE

The past five years have seen public health crises, not only locally but globally. Considering this, it is only fair to expect that budgetary allocations for public health would be made more robust. But an analysis shows that the allocation of funds for public health has dropped, though the number of people seeking medical care from the public healthcare system has increased. Experts have pointed out that the public health budget for 2024-2025 is less than that for 2023-2024. Jan Arogya Abhiyan, a group of NGOs and healthcare professionals has released a health report card assessing the performance of the…

“Before we knew it, the truck had started, and it hit me. I was on the side where it hit, and it dragged us. There were big rocks kept as dividers on the road. Thankfully we didn’t hit those. Luckily, the truck stopped because it was not in full speed. The glass which was on my side fully shattered,” narrates Jyotsna Morris. In 2019, Jyotsna was coming from Navi Mumbai to Kandivali by an Uber cab. The road was badly jammed, and the driver decided taking the service road would be quicker, though on the wrong side. While trying to cross…

Table of contents Introduction Eligibility for applying for a learner's licence How to obtain a learner’s licence? How to apply for an LL using Aadhaar Card linked to mobile, if you are forty years or below If you are over forty years of age and use Aadhaar for authentication If you do not use Aadhaar card for authentication What is asked in the LL test? How long is the LL valid? Applying for a permanent driving licence (DL) Renewal of DL Also read Introduction Maharashtra, which has seen a spate of road accidents in the past few months, had the…

Nilesh Shinde, the organiser of the Mumbaicha Samrat Ganpati at Khetwadi, is confused. Just as many other organisers of Mumbai's famed Ganeshotsav, he has also been preoccupied with the Bombay High Court's recent order. The Court, in its order, asked all civic bodies to intimate sarvajanik Ganesh mandals that they have to mandatorily follow the Central Pollution Control Board  (CPCB) guidelines of 2020 and shun PoP idols altogether. Yet, not all are aware of the rationale behind this."Why didn’t they put a ban on PoP for the past so many years? It is not as if people have started celebrating…

On May 13,  a 140 X 120 feet billboard erected in 2022 collapsed in Ghatkopar, killing 17 people and injuring 74. It clearly violated the permissible limit of 40 X 40 feet specified by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It was reported that the advertising agency, Ego Media, which had put up the hoarding had been leased a total of nine billboards by the Government Railway Police (GRP)—four at Ghatkopar and five more at Dadar Tilak Bridge. Moreover, the due tendering process was followed only for three of them. Terms and conditions in the tender document related to the Ghatkopar…

You go to a pathologist to run some tests. Your blood is drawn out with a syringe, pressed down with a piece of cotton, and a tape is stuck on it. The needle, the syringe, and the cotton are biomedical waste and need special handling for its disposal. In the second part of our series on solid waste management in Mumbai, we look at specialised waste—waste generated in restaurants, e-waste and biomedical waste. Previously, in the first part we looked at how household waste is disposed and explored various agencies of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that handle waste. Waste…

I take a delivery of vegetables, remove the vegetables from the plastic bag, and the plastic wrapping. The bag and the wrapping go into the bin, followed a while later with the peels and discarded bits of vegetables. The bin seems forever ready to take in whatever I throw into it: medicine wrappers, sanitary waste, paper, old batteries and so on.  While researching for this series of articles I realised both the quantum and variety of things that we, a household of four, end up throwing in the bin every day, and quite thoughtlessly so. The results: one full bin…

On July 8th, rains lashed Mumbai, disrupting regular life and causing waterlogging and floods in low-lying areas and on important routes. Central Railway officials mention that almost 900 train services were cancelled leaving several commuters stranded, while many BEST buses were diverted. Since then several incidents of heavy rains and flooding have been reported in the city. Commuters, civic activists and residents have questioned the claims made by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about being prepared for the monsoons.  “The half-constructed, newly-built DP road number 9 in Chandivali was waterlogged, which caused inconvenience to commuters,” said Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder…

(Citizen Matters, Bengaluru, organised a citizen clinic, 'Decoding property documentation—your guide to sale deeds, khata, EC and more’, where advocate Mithun Gerahalli, who specialises in property law, answered questions regarding property documentation. Part 1 of the three-part event report series covered the legal issues related to property documentation and the due diligence that new buyers should follow. Part 2 dealt with the khata quagmire, Digital Property Ownership Cards (UPOR) and discrepancy between the owner’s claim and the information in the RTC [Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops]. Part 3 is about Apartment Associations Registration and Laws) Bengaluru's expansion both horizontally and…

Part 1 of the three-part event report series on property documentation covered the legal issues related to property documentation and the due diligence that new property buyers should follow. The queries were addressed by Mithun Garehalli, an advocate specialising in property law. Part 2 highlights Mithun's insights into the complexities of land ownership, the importance of understanding property history, and the need for expert advice in property transactions. Khata quagmire What is A Khata vs B Khata issue?  A Khata is a document used for tax assessment in Bengaluru. It includes essential details such as the property owner’s name, site…