Civic

Mumbai Coastal Road project given priority in 2022-23 budget In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s 2021-22 budget for Mumbai, Rs 3500 crore was allocated to the Coastal Road project, 50% of which has been completed. For the financial year 2022-23, Rs 3200 crore has been allocated for a 90% completion of it. The base construction cost of the project is 8,429.44 crore, and Rs 12,950 crore including taxes, supervision charges, consultancy charges and others. A total of Rs 22,647 crore has been allocated for capital expenditure for spending on projects dealing with infrastructure, drainage systems and water supply. Source: Mid…

Can the government modify or usurp public spaces as to wishes to? Or should it be the people's decision? This question has been the crux of the multitude of protests to protect Cubbon Park since the 1990s. The park, which spread across 300 acres at one point, was portioned for government buildings along with some private ones over the years. As per a state government notification of 2015, after excluding the land used up for various establishments, the park area now stands at 197 acres. The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975, mandates the government to maintain parks as horticultural…

After over a decade, elections to the council of the Greater Chennai Corporation have been announced. As the city authorities waited for the dates to be announced, work to resurface the pothole-ridden roads of Chennai was taken up in different parts of the city. This starts with milling, a process in which a portion of the surface on the top of the road is removed with the help of a milling machine before it is resurfaced in accordance with the guidelines specified by the High Court of Madras. Given our bad experience in the past, members of the local residents’…

Omicron cases start to plateau Since the beginning of the Omicron surge in India in late December 2020, the trajectory of this third wave seems to have now begun to recede. Since January 20th, daily cases have shown a declining trend, with the country registering 233,779 new cases on January 28th. One consoling aspect of this third wave has been the reduced need for hospitalisation and the resultant reduced burden on the public health infrastructure. Experts, however, continue to emphasise the need for caution and strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour, especially wearing of masks. Even as many states start…

COVID cases dipping  Bengaluru continues to report a dip in COVID cases. On January 26th, the State Health Department reported 38,083 fresh cases, of which 17,717 were in Bengaluru. The city had 1,89,853 active cases, and test positivity rate of around 22% on the day. Health minister K Sudhakar said 185 new Omicron cases have been confirmed in Bengaluru, taking the tally of the variant in the State to 1,115. BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta directed officials to control the spread of infection in areas with higher numbers of cases. “Case trend over the past week across all the eight…

89% COVID-19 samples from Mumbai show presence of Omicron From 280 samples sequenced at civic-run Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Mumbai, 89% had the Omicron variant of COVID-19. 8% had Delta derivatives, and the remaining 3% had other subtypes. “This explains the reason behind the spike in cases by the end of December last year. As Omicron doesn’t involve the lungs, we are witnessing very few cases of pulmonary pneumonia, which was high in the second wave when Delta variant was predominant in Mumbai,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Source: Indian Express Mumbai's double decker buses to…

Mega sports city to come up on East Coast Road A mega sports city spanning 500 acres is slated to come up on the outskirts of Chennai, along East Coast Road near Thiruvidanthai. The site encompasses 9 villages and will be located on either side of the Buckingham Canal.  The sports city will have facilities such as athletic tracks, indoor cycling velodrome, a hockey stadium, a multipurpose indoor stadium housing a boxing ring, basketball and volleyball courts. Tamil Nadu Sports Minister stated that the project has been planned after observing the construction of Pune’s Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex and…

In the first two waves of COVID-19 in Mumbai, the standard protocol to prevent the spread of the virus was stringent. Strict night curfews were implemented, public spaces were closed and buildings were sealed if five or more positive cases were found. This helped control the spread of what was deemed to be a more lethal variant of Coronavirus, Delta. But, citizens raised an objection to the rule of sealing buildings, claiming that it was impractical, inconvenient and didn’t do much to contain the infection. With the onset of the Omicron variant, the city witnessed a sudden surge in COVID-19…

Delhi and Mumbai see dip in daily cases On January 21st, Delhi and Mumbai logged 10,756 and 5,008 single-day cases respectively, with a reduced positivity rate of 18.04 per cent in Delhi. Mumbai logged a decline in cases for the third day in a row. Delhi recorded 38 deaths in the previous 24 hours, and Mumbai logged 12. In the light of decreasing case numbers, the Delhi government announced lifting of weekend curfew. However, the lieutenant governor vetoed the decision. The Union Health Ministry announced that institutional isolation would not be mandatory for international travellers arriving from at-risk countries starting January…

Weekend curfew lifted On Friday, after a two-hour meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the government decided to lift the stay-at-home order on weekends. The decision came as the government was under pressure from the public, trade and business establishments. However all other curbs such as night curfew and 50% occupancy in restaurants, have been retained. Schools and colleges in Bengaluru Urban district, where the positivity rate among children is high, will remain closed for Classes 10, 11 and 12 (pre-university). However, if the rate of hospitalisation in the State crosses 5%, the weekend curfew would be reimposed, said…