Mumbai Mania

Where's our Tax Money Going?

Living in Bombay we have to deal with certain aspects in our day to day life no matter what we are doing. For four years of my life I traveled from Andheri to South Mumbai, Nariman Point and Kemps Corner, by rail and by road.

Not only have I had other people's sweat drip on me but also had to endure smelling armpits and oily hair rubbed on my face. The overcrowded trains is a well known issue in Mumbai, what we are even more famous for is our potholed roads, you literally have to dodge potholes if you are going to drive even a kilometer in the city.

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Kalbadevi, in Need of an Urgent Facelift

I was looking for a taxi from Kalbadevi road to go to Churchgate late in the evening yesterday, and saew that the whole road was cordoned off. No vehicles were allowed to pass by.

With curiosity I asked the cops blocking the road, what happened. One of them replied in a casual manner, that one of the buildings down the road caught fire.

This is not a rare occurrence in Kalbadevi, which is one of the oldest and the most populated neighbourhood in Mumbai.


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Mumbai Messed up due to Hoardings

Roaming around in the streets of Mumbai, you would have noticed the large number of hoardings dominating the skyline. Hoardings or posters of political parties running a campaign, or a company advertising their new product, TV channels promoting their show and so on, aren't just spoiling the face of the city but also wasting electricity. Now even mobile hoarding trucks are parked on the sides of roads for long hours.

Each hoarding in Mumbai has around three to six halogen lights on an average for the usual sizes. These lights consume a good amount of beneficial electricity, and at a time when load shedding has become more of a norm in Mumbai, consuming electricity for outdoor advertisement seems a waste.

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Mumbai's Monsoon, Malaria Mayhem

The Monsoon is a pleasant season, beautiful skies filled with colour, fresh green trees and plants that get a wash, less pollution in the air, the sweet aroma of wet mud and the blossoms of love in the air. But like every thing in life the pros and cons come together, with the beauty of the monsoons disease is the beast.

Leptospirosis, Dengue and Malaria outbreaks are common in the rains, due to the garbage and stagnant water around the place. To top it all corrupt governance adds the nail to the coffin, this year though the Malaria menace has gotten out of control.

34 people have died in Mumbai in this month August 2008, with over 14,000 hospitalized since June when the monsoons started, in the last three weeks, more than 3,663 people have been admitted to various civic hospitals because of malaria.

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Mumbai's Waste Disposal Problems

The 110 hectare Deonar dumping ground rises up to seven stories high, the dumping ground was opened in 1927 and accepted approximately 1,450,000 tonnes of waste in 2006. Currently, the site has approximately 9.2 million tonnes of waste in place.

Dr Neelam Rane, vice-president of Smoke Affected Residents Forum (SARF), said, "Until now, we were agitated because garbage from all over the city was dumped but now we find even bio-medical waste is being incinerated here. This is injustice. Why is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not finding an alternate site to dump the city’s garbage?"

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Cell Tower Radiation High in Mumbai

We often complain that we don't get good phone network in certain areas and blame the service provider. On calling the customer service, we are generally told that the company is coming up with a new phone (cell) tower to ensure good network all the time.

Now the fact is that there are too many cell towers in the city, leading to higher emission of electromagnetic radiations, way beyond safety levels, according to a study conducted by Cogent EMR Solutions.

Being exposed to such radiation, leads to problems like loss of appetite, irritation, fatigue, difficulty in concentrating, headaches, problems in vision, infertility and deformity of foetus. Medical experts feel it is a ‘slow and invisible killer’.

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Drinking Water Woes of Mumbai

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is in a bad situation. Due to scanty rainfall this season the city is facing 15% water shortage for the first time in 16 years. To add to the grim situation, Bhatsa lake, which supplies 60% of water to Mumbai, is contaminated and unfit for drinking.

Early this month thousands of kilograms of dead fish were found in Bhatsa river, which is 86 km away from Mumbai in Thane district. The reason for the death - presence of 89mg of oil and grease per litre in the water - when the permissible limit is 10 mg.

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