Mumbai’s ‘upgrading’ and at a price!

“It’s impossible to sit by a street and sketch anywhere in Mumbai,” says Mumbai-based line-drawing artist Vaidehi Goradia. “It’s important for an artist to interact in public space with people and tackle issues that are social in nature, like say, women rights, through paintings or sketches. Now, that is becoming increasingly difficult with the lack of safe open zones in the city,” says Goradia.

New CRZ Rules Ignore Coastal Concerns, May Trigger Disaster

The new Coastal Regulations Zone 2018 notifications threaten to wreak havoc across India's coasts, along the Western coast of India, particularly along the Konkan coastline, directly affecting Goa and Mumbai all set to succumb to the greed of a profit-driven real estate industry.

MoEFCC Bends Norms for Better ‘ease of doing business’ Rankings

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on November 15th 2018 issued a notification easing the green norms for the building and construction sector wherein residential projects upto 1.5 lakh square metres (built-up area) will not require ‘prior environmental clearance’. Also, urban local bodies such as Municipalities will now have the power to grant building permission. The move has sent ripples of fear and anticipation among environmentalists and green activists across the nation.

Elephanta Island Gets Powerful, Finally

The Elephanta island, or Gharapuri, to use its original name, is the site of the Elephanta caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and receives more than 20 lakh tourists every year. However, the three villages on the island, home to about 1,200 people, have not had electricity since independence. The villagers lived in darkness – a shame, and a mark of administrative and political apathy. Neither the media nor rights groups played up this fact.

Stunned By Law Mine, Goa Govt Treads Gingerly

In a breather for the mining industry, the Supreme Court on April 4 allowed the export of iron ore from loading points on river jetties in Goa while disposing a joint special leave application filed by Vedanta Resources and another local mining company. The bench of justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta maintained that the iron ore for which royalty has been paid to the state government and has been extracted on or before March 15 this year should be allowed to be transported.

Mumbai's Metro Battles Activists, Fears, Divine Fury

The storm is yet to die out over the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited's (MMRC) taking over 30 hectares of the famed Aarey colony, a green belt of Mumbai, when another application has come in from MMRC demanding another 12,000 sq metres of land. The colony in Goregaon, inaugurated in 1951, was the result of the vision of Dara Khurody, a dairy pioneer of India whose name is taken in the same breath as Father of the White Revolution, Verghese Kurien and Tribhuvandas K Patel.

Matheran Risks Slipping Off Track

“It’s a national shame,” rues Ali Akbar Peerbhoy, grandson of the founder of the Matheran hill railway, which plies the Matheran toy train. For today, the railway is struggling for survival. The red soil of the hill station, the horse rides, the silence of the forested hills are all under threat, along with the railway. A haphazard maze of crude roads and guesthouses has mushroomed on the pristine hill. Pushy touts and uncouth horse-ride vendors operate in flagrant violation of the law. The local authorities turn a blind eye to the ugly, skewed ‘development’.