Infrastructure

Within weeks of the terror attack on a Jammu air force base using drones, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, on July 15th, released a new set of Draft Drone Rules, 2021. While inviting public comments on the draft rules, the ministry said that the new rules are built on a premise of trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring and will replace the existing Unmanned Aircraft Existing Rules, 2021, which had been released in March 2021. The ministry has been working towards developing a world class drone ecosystem in India. But formulating the rules took time as drone technologies have constantly been…

Though the Union government claims that the Model Tenancy Act 2021 is meant to unlock more empty houses, many property owners in Mumbai are unsure.  Friction between the tenant and the landlord often result in long-drawn out legal battles. The new law is meant to govern the tenant-landlord equation through effective and faster dispute resolution.  Property owners fear legal disputes if tenants do not vacate their property on time. “....expensive legal costs deter landlords from giving their properties on rent in the first place. The risk of property litigations in cases of conflicts is a major deterrent which has made…

The deadline for the “Housing for All by 2022” Mission is a few months away, but we have some way to go. I would like to draw public attention to a very critical subject - the land at Rifle Range Santa Cruz (CTS 12), Mumbai 400029 / 400055. It may not be critical for everybody but it definitely is for those residing on the land. Defence land, Golibar The land belongs to Air Force Station Mumbai, Ministry of Defence, Government of India as per the property card and records held by the Office of Defence Estate Officer, Mumbai. The said…

The union cabinet approval of the new Model Tenancy Act on 2 June is causing unease among the 2.5 million tenants in Mumbai, especially those who have rented flats under the Pagdi system.   A pagdi system is a legal tenancy system that flourished in the 1940s in which tenants are part owners and the tenancy can be sold after sharing a part of the proceeds with the landlord. Unlike a regular rental property, where a tenant pays a deposit while moving in, in a Pagdi system, the tenant pays 60-75% of the market price to the property owner and…

About a month ago, on 12th June 2021, the square bastion tower on the periphery of Belapur Fort premises, in Navi Mumbai, collapsed. It had been raining heavily in Navi Mumbai and it seems that this, together with the strong winds, caused a large part of the tower, to crash in a heap of rubble. The bastion tower is located opposite the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) headquarters, and is the only piece of the 'fort', visible to external passers-by. "Videos were doing the rounds in social media, and this is what brought our attention to heritage that is situated…

With accelerating climate change and rising sea levels due to global warming, there has been a significant disruption in hydrological cycles globally. Heavy rainfall and flooding regularly inundates most of our cities, destroying natural and infrastructural ecosystems. Mumbai, home to around 20 million people, is no different. The monsoon downpours bring the city to a standstill year after year. There is also the threat of cyclones and storms from the Arabian Sea such as Takutae earlier this year – those that can potentially cause havoc in the coastal city. Why is it that the city is not equipped to deal…

Healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes normally see a continuous flow of people. Almost all of them operate on a 24x7 basis. Hospitals are not only required to take care of patients but must ensure that their safety is prioritised. Fire accidents at healthcare facilities should not force anyone to run for their life. Ever since COVID-19 made an appearance, medical facilities have been stretched beyond their capacity. Right in the middle of the pandemic, when work load of hospitals has been on an all-time high, there have been several instances of hospital fires resulting in tragedies, across…

Our cities, today, appear doomed under the threat of the dreaded coronavirus. Faced with a ‘novel’ virus, researchers have been continuously trying to keep pace with its various mutated strains, and come up with proven ways of transmission, prevention and cure. In studies related to the first, a team at Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering has found that public toilets, with cramped spaces, heavy foot traffic and inadequate ventilation, could be a hotbed of spread, as flushing a toilet generates large quantities of microbe-containing aerosols (depending on design, type etc). COVID risk in public toilets In…

When a new government came into power in Maharashtra in 1995, and changed the name of India’s financial capital, we were told that the city was going to get 80 new flyovers to solve its traffic woes. The flyovers did come up, but we all know how the dreams of lesser traffic turned out.  Sixteen  years later, Mumbai is being promised a mega infrastructure project with the exact same promise! The Rs 12,000-crore Coastal Road Project that is reclaiming land from the Arabian Sea promises a smooth and effortless commute from the southern part of the city to its northern…

A vertical pole stands tall at the Ashok Pillar junction, right next to the bus stop. Apart from a loudspeaker, a street lighting system and a CCTV camera fixed to the pole, it also sports a Wi-Fi router. Any member of the public can access free Wi-Fi in this area for half-an-hour at the speed of 2Mbps. That’s a smart pole for you! Chennai has 50 such smart poles.  Internet service for the 50 smart poles has been provided by Airtel, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. According to a senior official from Chennai Smart City Limited, the approximate…