Civic | Citizen Matters, Mumbai

Moving homes is cumbersome. Here’s how you can make it broker-free

January 21, 2021 Arathi Manay Yajaman

Are you wishing that you can escape paying rental brokerage charges in Mumbai? This may help you do it.

Concerned citizens work alongside the municipality. Story of ALMs in Mumbai

January 18, 2021 Apekshita Varshney

Advanced Locality Management (ALM) is a voluntary body of concerned citizens to take meaningful civic action in the city.

Parts of Mumbai are warmer than others

October 23, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

The variance in temperature is broadly because of three factors: the building material (impervious concrete, asphalt and metal are known to have a higher surface temperature), access to open spaces, and green cover.

The sad story of Mumbai’s first “slum self-development project”

October 17, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

17 years ago, a slum community in Mumbai tried to self-develop their settlement. As the project was moving towards completion, an alleged scam halted the construction and deprived the city of its first success story in self-development

Funding Mumbai’s municipality: many options, no solutions

October 6, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

BMC is cash-strapped. It urgently needs to find newer sources of revenue and improve its financial management.

How the pandemic hit BMC’s coffers

October 5, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

India’s richest municipal corporation has found itself in a logjam. The pandemic has impaired its ability to meet expenses, even though its budget remains unspent year after year.

COVID-19 Relief: how to reach the marginalised among the marginalised

August 21, 2020 Doel Jaikishen and Dr. Sheeva Dubey

Communities such as Hijras or sex workers have unique needs which are often not met. COVID-19 relief efforts need to be tailored to meet their needs.

COVID-19 Relief: Youth empowerment vital to usher change

August 19, 2020 Vindhya Jyoti

Youth groups show how they can function as changemakers in their community, building self-sufficiency, furthering participation, leadership and accountability

COVID-19 Relief: Access to food remains a struggle for Mumbai’s poor

August 17, 2020 Doel Jaikishen and Vindhya Jyoti

With their livelihoods and income compromised, people’s food insecurity will only magnify.

Time to involve Corporators in Mumbai’s fight against COVID-19

August 4, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

In a tussle between the Corporators and senior BMC bureaucrats, COVID-19 relief work in Mumbai is taking a hit.

The story of Dharavi’s elusive redevelopment

July 22, 2020 Aarohi Damle and Marina Joseph

Dharavi gives us a wake up call that social distancing is physically impossible on 250-odd hectares of land with a population of approximately 8,50,000 residents and where 10 or more people often stay in housing units measuring 250 sq. ft.

Can Mumbai metro or monorail save the day as monsoon submerges the suburban lines?

September 8, 2019 Jahanvi J

Thousands of crores have been spent on these two public transport projects, but as rains throw usual life out of gear, can they really provide effective alternatives or support to the Mumbai locals, the lifeline for commuters in the city?

Why the Bombay High Court had to don Mumbai tree panel’s hat

September 4, 2019 Hepzi Anthony

Mumbai’s Tree Authority had for long led a quiet existence, issuing permissions without fuss to cut trees to make way for the city’s rapid urbanization. People are now looking up to the courts as a last resort to save the green cover of the city.

Why Mumbaikars are getting angrier about tree felling

July 16, 2019 Hepzi Anthony

Around 500 people from different walks gathered at a public hearing on July 8th to raise their voices against the proposed felling of 2702 trees in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony. This is just the most recent example of growing citizen engagement and efforts to save the green cover of the city.

Smoggy, but unfazed: Mumbai needs to take air pollution more seriously than it does

June 5, 2019 Apekshita Varshney

For many Mumbaikars, ‘air pollution’ is a Delhi or at most a North Indian problem. Yet, Mumbai air itself says otherwise on many a day. But are city authorities really aware and equipped to take the steps they need to?