Articles by Jeet Mashru
Three injured in Borivali fire shifted out of Shatabdi hospital
A member from the society office said that while the firefighting operations ended on Tuesday morning, the work of restoring electricity and gas lines was still under way. Wings G and F were without electricity on Tuesday afternoon
Updated on Oct 25, 2023 07:54 AM IST
Committee submits 15 measures to prevent mishaps like Goregaon SRA building fire
A committee in Mumbai has submitted a report with 15 measures to prevent future fires in SRA buildings, including the installation of fire escapes and conducting fire audits. The committee also recommended wider staircases, steel-enclosed doors for lifts, and proper parking management. Buildings with conditional NOCs will be checked for compliance.
Updated on Oct 24, 2023 08:48 AM IST
Gokhale Bridge: Chahal calls for meeting with WR to allocate railway blocks
“The meeting will be held on Friday at the municipal headquarters to speed up the work of the bridge, including the launching of the first girder,” BMC said in a press note, adding that the girder weighs around 1,300 tonnes and is at a height of around 25 metres
Updated on Oct 24, 2023 08:36 AM IST
On the garba beat
Mumbai Metro's extended service hours during Navratri have allowed garba enthusiasts to easily travel between venues, boosting participation in the traditional dance form. The extended service on line 2A has been particularly popular among the city's large Gujarati population. Additionally, new dance moves and modern twists on traditional garba songs have added to the festive atmosphere. Organizers have also introduced comfort features, such as air-conditioned venues and affordable food and water, to attract more participants.
Updated on Oct 22, 2023 08:06 AM IST
BMC’s toothless mandate to mitigate air pollution exposed; only 4 wards comply
As part of these SOPs, a three-level task force was to be formed at every ward comprising of eight different departments. They were authorised to take speedy action on builders by issuing warning and stop work notices on construction activities in case of non-compliance
Updated on Oct 20, 2023 05:36 AM IST
BMC razes structure on footpath hours after Powai residents’ protest
Residents in the Powai-Chandivali area of Mumbai staged a protest against encroachments on footpaths. After media coverage, the BMC demolished a structure, but residents want all encroachments cleared.
Updated on Oct 18, 2023 08:46 AM IST
Jeet Mashru, Mumbai
Beautification drive faces snag as fancy lights conk out in city
Over the past few weeks HT inspected busy spots across the island city as well as the suburbs to find the lights across the Western Express Highway, Santacruz Chembur Link Road, internal roads of Borivali, Kandivali, Dadar, Parel and Vikhroli, have stopped working
Updated on Oct 14, 2023 08:34 AM IST
Dog feeders attacked, housing society members file cross-FIRs
The mob chased us till our tower and kept beating us till the police arrived,” said Diya. She said she was beaten hard by a lathi on the back of her head. “Police filed an FIR against my husband and kept him in the lock up till 5am on Wednesday. He was released only when our lawyer intervened
Updated on Oct 12, 2023 08:12 AM IST
How ‘Chakachak Dadar’ team makes it their business to collect thermocol at fish market
A group of volunteers in Dadar, Mumbai, known as 'Chakachak Dadar', is collecting thermocol waste from the fish market and sending it to a recycling plant. The volunteers took action after the municipality failed to pick up the waste. The thermocol is recycled into beads for making other products.
Updated on Oct 11, 2023 08:58 AM IST
Jeet Mashru, Mumbai
Goregaon fire: After 16 yrs, SRA bldg to get water in 8 days
The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in Mumbai has announced plans to provide water supply, conduct a structural audit, and repair a building that caught fire, resulting in seven deaths and 62 injuries. The decision comes after a meeting with the chief minister, and follows reports that the building had been without potable water for 16 years. The SRA, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and MHADA have been engaged in a blame game over the lack of basic necessities in the building. A committee has been set up to investigate the cause of the fire.
Updated on Oct 10, 2023 07:18 AM IST
‘Nuisance fee’: BMC levies fines to have a cleaner Mumbai
The Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started imposing ‘nuisance fines’ on people for offences that include debris on roads, hawkers/vendors creating a nuisance, shops throwing waste outside, among others
Updated on Oct 10, 2023 07:00 AM IST
BMC acts against illegal bhattis on Khairani Road
The issue of illegal bhattis, on account of which Chandivali residents have been facing serious pollution issues, has been a long-pending one. BMC officials, however, said that the factories on Khairani Road preceded the residential complexes by two decades, and they thus took action only against the illegal ones
Updated on Oct 08, 2023 07:12 AM IST
Goregaon fire: Residents cannot return home as police continue probe
While most residents have shifted to their relatives’ homes, around 40 to 50 people have been shifted to a temporary shelter set up in a nearby civic-run school
Updated on Oct 08, 2023 05:30 AM IST
Social worker who lost cousin ferries patients in his ambulance
Sanju Tusamad, a social worker who owns an ambulance, was woken up by a frantic call from his cousin, Kiran
Updated on Oct 07, 2023 09:06 AM IST
Jeet Mashru, Mumbai
No water supply in bldg for 16 yrs
Residents of Jai Bhawani SRA Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai have been living without fire-fighting equipment and potable water for 16 years. They rely on expensive bottled water and have to beg for water from neighbors or collect it from a nearby temple. The building's lift has also been out of service for at least a year, making it difficult for residents to carry water to upper floors. The responsibility for the issue has been passed between the BMC, SRA, and MHADA, with no resolution in sight.
Updated on Oct 07, 2023 08:12 AM IST
7 dead, 62 injured in Goregaon SRA bldg fire
A fire broke out in a building developed under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in Mumbai, killing seven people and injuring 62. The building, which was constructed in 2006-2007, did not have fire extinguishers. The incident has prompted the chief minister to order a fire audit of all SRA buildings.
Updated on Oct 07, 2023 07:42 AM IST
BMC and L&T move arbitration over ₹200 crore dispute on Coastal Road
The civic body has been trying to resolve this for a year, but despite this, it has not impacted the project’s work, claims the official. “We have tried resolving this at consultant level, then a committee was formed at deputy municipal commissioner level, and then a committee was formed by the commissioner comprising of three additional commissioners”
Updated on Oct 05, 2023 08:18 AM IST
Now, Deepak Kesarkar gets an office in BMC
While the BMC said that this was being done for a better connect with citizens, opposition parties have reacted strongly. Their contention is that despite having public offices in Mantralaya, ministers are being given offices at the BMC to garner more votes for the upcoming civic elections
Updated on Oct 04, 2023 08:30 AM IST
Why walkers and riders formed 50% of road fatalities in last 6 months
Lack of footpaths and punitive measures on speeding, along with a 6% jump in the number of vehicles lead to deaths
Updated on Oct 03, 2023 08:10 AM IST
No public hospital for 5 years: Vikhroli residents up in arms
Residents of Vikhroli in Mumbai are protesting the delay in constructing a new hospital after the closure of the only civic-run peripheral hospital in the area in 2018. The BMC had planned to set up a temporary hospital but has struggled to find a bidder for the project. Frustrated residents, who went on a hunger strike in May, have intensified their protests, citing the lack of healthcare services in the area. The residents are currently forced to travel to other hospitals for emergency care.
Updated on Oct 03, 2023 07:52 AM IST
750 hawkers take cleanliness pledge, sweep 500kg waste off Dadar’s roads
Over 750 vegetable, fruit, and flower vendors and hawkers in Mumbai participated in a cleanliness rally organised by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The vendors pledged to keep the roads clean and not contribute to garbage. The rally was held to raise awareness of cleanliness on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and Swachchta Abhiyan. The BMC collected 500 kg of waste during the rally.
Updated on Oct 03, 2023 07:40 AM IST
Jeet Mashru, Mumbai
15,000 dogs in 6 ‘risk zones’ to be vaccinated in 10 days
The BMC in Mumbai will vaccinate around 15,000 stray dogs in six wards with high rates of dog bites. The annual vaccination drive will then extend citywide.
Updated on Sep 30, 2023 08:24 AM IST
No water cut till next June due to sufficient lake levels, says BMC
The lake levels of seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai reached 99.6% on Wednesday, ensuring no water cuts in the city till the next monsoon.
Updated on Sep 28, 2023 08:00 AM IST
Citizens reject BMC’s claim of over 69K potholes fixed
Citizens allege that despite spending hundreds of crores on new technologies to deal with the issue, BMC has been using paver blocks to fill potholes as a stop-gap measure. Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, a member of Mumbai North Central District Forum, called attention to the civic body’s “criminal waste of tax payers’ money”
Updated on Sep 27, 2023 08:26 AM IST
90 metric tonnes of floral waste cleared in one day from Dadar
Flower sellers are being forced to dump excess supply due to a significant decrease in demand for fresh flowers; buyers opting for artificial flowers instead
Updated on Sep 22, 2023 12:47 AM IST
Traffic cops identify 13 bottlenecks in the city
One of the key bottlenecks on the Western Express Highway (WEH), listed by the department is at Akurli, in Kandivali. Three of the four north-bound lanes in Akurli have been shut down to facilitate the widening of the Akurli vehicular subway by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The result – a 20-minute journey from Andheri to Akurli, which is around 10 kilometers, takes 80 minutes on most days during peak hours
Published on Sep 21, 2023 01:02 AM IST
Jeet MashruMegha Sood
College students, residents, NGOs clean mangroves land on Carter Road
Saakshi Teckchandani, founder of PPA India, said, “Around 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of coasts. People face numerous challenges, such as sea level rise, intense storms, floods, etc., and around half of them are adversely affected by these natural disasters. But what can protect us from these disasters are Mangroves”
Updated on Sep 17, 2023 05:18 PM IST
43 injured after fire breaks out at SRA building in Kurla
The blaze broke out at 11:45pm due to a short circuit in the electrical duct of the building and around 50 to 60 stranded residents were rescued, officials from the fire department said, adding that the fire was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, scrap materials, among others in the electric duct from ground floor to 12th floor
Published on Sep 16, 2023 11:30 PM IST
Sanitation workers demand end of ‘unfair’ contractual work for desilting drains
Yashodhara Salvi, a member, said, I want to introduce these people as the labourers and not as sanitation workers because sanitation workers have rights, but here, people are picked up as labourers, made to work in drains for some days and then let go without any rights or health benefits
Updated on Sep 16, 2023 12:14 AM IST
Coastal Road Project (South): BMC starts giving compensation, pays ₹15.4 crore to 170 fishermen
An official from BMC said that due to drilling, piling, noise, vibrations, etc., it was learnt that fisherfolks suffered huge losses as fish stopped breeding in that area. “Hence, the compensation strategy was decided, and the compensation from October 2018 to October 2022 is paid till now. Further compensation will also be paid till the work of the coastal road is completed,” the official added
Published on Sep 15, 2023 12:29 AM IST