Tag: mumbai

Categories
Big story

Malnourished in Mumbai

Severely underweight children in the city’s slum pockets in Shivajinagar, Dharavi and Mankhurd add to the already dismal malnourishment figures.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For long, we’ve considered malnutrition to be a rural problem, far removed from the complexities of urban life. So it comes as a bit of a shock to know that, despite the government’s assurances of working on curbing malnutrition, an urban centre like Mumbai has over 4,500 children falling under the malnourished category. What’s more, Mumbai ranks higher than other urban centres in the state with regards to percentage of malnourished children.

As per the latest government figures for June 2012, released by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which is set up under the Women and Child Welfare Development, Government of Maharashtra, out of a total 2,50,662 children weighed across the ICDS’ aanganwadi network in Mumbai, 4,648 children are severely underweight. The highest numbers come from Shivajinagar, where 511 out of a total 19,152 children surveyed were severely underweight, followed by Kanjurmarg (236 out of 12,122), Mahim, (277 out of 15,456), Andheri-3 (225 out of 12,398) and Mankhurd (192 out of 15,119).

It must be noted that the ICDS has not yet achieved 100 per cent coverage in Mumbai, and the figures disclosed through the June 2012 report may be only a part of the actual figures. Naturally, this means that these figures are indicative of only those children enrolled in the government outreach programme.

The ICDS’ main aim is to improve the health status of children in the age group of zero to 6 years. The aanganwadis are set up in slum pockets to monitor children as well as expectant and new mothers. A report is compiled for all aanganwadi reach and results, apart from data culled from local NGOs. An official from the Women and Child Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra, said that there was actually an improvement in the figures. “If you compare the figures for June 2011 with the figures culled in June this year, you will see that there is a 10 per cent improvement, in the sense that there is a 10 per cent increase in the numbers of ‘normal’ children weighed,” he told The Metrognome.

Meanwhile, an official from the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission, which takes stock of the ICDS figures and monitors the progress in the affected areas, told The Metrognome, “We visited the Shivajinagar area because the maximum number of severely underweight children were found there. There are a number of reasons for the high incidence in this category – the slums are in the worst condition, there is inadequate sanitation, the water lines are adjacent to gutters, there is no system to remove wastes. Plus, there is a huge migrant population residing there, with their own set of problems – no documentation and little awareness of health and hygiene. We did a micro-project there for five days to determine how to tackle the issue better,” he said.

A major roadblock to immediately treating the children in the moderately underweight to the more ‘dangerous’ severely underweight category, he added, is that the Centre’s funds for malnourished children are earmarked for rural areas and not urban pockets. “However, we have approached private companies who have agreed to help certain pockets which require intervention. Also, we will be setting up centres at Shivajinagar, Dharavi and Mankhurd, the training for which has already taken place. Also, after April 1 next year, the Centre has decided to release funds for urban areas as well, so that should make things easier.”

What do you think the government should do to reduce and eliminate malnutrition from the city? Write in with your views to the editor@themetrognome.in and we will forward them to the Women and Child Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra.

(Picture courtesy: www.footprintsworld.com)

 

Categories
Big story

Train man

Ketan Goradia plans to decongest the Railways and save lives. Good news is, the Railways are receptive to his ideas.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Ketan Goradia (38) is not a railway engineer, he has had no formal training in how the Indian Railways work, and up till now, he had no idea of the level of persistence one requires to pursue government officials. But the Vile Parle resident, a civil engineer, has drawn up a set of comprehensive, workable plans to decongest the Western, Central and Harbour railway lines, which will save lives, prevent access to freeloaders and increase the capacity of all three lines by 100 per cent. What is heartening for him, is that the state’s chief minister is willing to let him make a 30-minute presentation, explaining the plans and their costs, to the Railway Board this week.

“Two years ago, I was travelling by train to Kalamboli, when a man fell out of the crowded train after Kurla and died on the tracks. I will never forget that sight,” Ketan recalls, adding that the incident shook him out of the complacency that most Mumbaikars are cursed with – that of thinking, ‘Bad things happen to other people’. “I wondered – what if it was me, who fell out of the crowded train and died? The Railways say that at least eight lives are lost due to train-related deaths every day. I thought I should study the problem and see if there was any solution.”

A voracious reader, Ketan set about studying the Railways’ existing plans and how tracks were laid, apart from commuters’ usage patterns. “Within a few months, I drew up a plan to decongest Churchgate and CST stations. The idea was to connect the Central and Western railways by a tunnelled network. We studied the timetables and which stations had the most congestion in peak hours. There was also a proposal to have a circular elevated Harbour line. All of these measures would reduce commuter congestion and most importantly, prevent deaths while crossing tracks.”

He contends that people cross tracks as “a matter of convenience” to get from one line to another, or to access another platform quickly. “Hence, it is necessary to prevent access to the tracks in the first place. We showed the proposal to the then Railways minister Dinesh Trivedi and railway board member (for Traffic) KK Shrivastav, who both said the plan was workable. I was sent to local railway engineers. But throughout, the feedback I got was that the Maharashtra government would have to pitch in with some percentage of the funds for the project. So I met then Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad, who said that the state would chip in with 50 per cent of the funds but that the proposal would have to come through the Indian Railways,” Ketan says.

Then Mamata Banerjee replaced Trivedi and the plan fell by the wayside. “But I was still studying the issue, still meeting with officials in Delhi and Maharashtra. I was lucky that I knew people who could connect me with the top officials in both governments and the Railways, or else I may not have been granted a meeting also. If I had gone from the bottom to the top of the hierarchy, I would have been stonewalled at each step,” he says.

Ketan also met a lot of ex-Railwaymen, who gave him inputs and shared their delight that somebody was doing the things that the Railways should have been doing. “I studied world Railway systems, especially the one at Hong Kong, which has the capacity of carrying 80,000 people per hour, per line coming and going. In our context, this was possible only with a metro line. The present trains were not up to the mark, even the signalling was not perfect. A few motormen told me that they literally cry every time they run over a person, but what could they do? At present, the train can stop only after 180 metres once the brakes are applied. If a person suddenly appears in front  of the train and the brakes are immediately applied, they are still going to run over the person,” he explains.

He came up with two solutions to the problem – one, isolate the system in such a way that people cannot get on to the tracks, and two, the platforms should be designed in such a way that they don’t feel the need to cross from one to the other. “We drew plans where the trains were unidirectional, and not going from fast to slow tracks, which disturbs the overall efficiency. In all, we drew up plans for 20 new lines for all of Mumbai, which would make the city the largest metro system in the world, greater even that Shanghai. This would necessitate the creation of underground stations and new stations, as well as a complete overhaul of some parts of the system.” (See ‘What some of the proposals say’ below for some of the proposals).

His other findings were that the Central Railway suburban services were functioning at a maximum 23 per cent capacity, the Western at 32 per cent and the Harbour at 27 per cent. “Unless these peak efficiencies were increased, we would continue to grapple with problems of congestion,” he explains.

“I have met the Chief Minister, finance minister Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule, several officials of MRVC, the Railway Board, and all of this was possible due to the efforts of legistlator Vidya Chavan, who got me meetings with politicians. The CM has said that he will let me make a 30-minute presentation when the Railway Board visits the state on Monday (October 15). He is very receptive to the idea, and so is MMRDA, which granted me two hours for a presentation last week, so I am hopeful that the plans will be put into operation.”

He says that he is not looking for credit, and he doesn’t mind that his plans had to be formally proposed by the Railways. “As long as somebody – anybody – takes up the matter and tries their best to increase the efficiency of the system, we will not lose precious lives and time while using the Railways,” he says.

What some of the proposals say:

– Phase I will increase capacity of all three lines by 100 per cent. This will take two to three years.

– Phase II will allow metro and local train services to increase connectivity to the new areas of Thane district like Kaman Road, Kharbao and Bhiwandi, and areas in Raigad district around Nhava Sheva, Uran, Panvel on Panvel-Kalamboli-Diva route, etc. The Railways will coordinate with the state government, BMC, MMRDA and CIDCO, to create an integrated road-rail-metro system to ensure that the need for at least 15 years of integrated mass transport requirement is taken care of.

– Station upgradation with modern facilities and aesthetics.

– One wholesale-cum-retail market to be added to each station for each category of goods to leverage Mumbai’s present strength as a wholesale market.

– Creating a new world-class common terminus near Kaman road station for out-station trains, which will allow trains of WR, CR, Konkan Railway and south-bound trains to leave from this common terminus and provide greater efficiency.

– Hydraulic train doors and air-conditioning.

(Train picture courtesy mumbai.jbss.in)

Categories
Diaries

‘There’s lust. And there are Chennai men’

Aditya Kshirsagar (24), really hates Chennai, and he’s taking the first flight home the moment he completes his media course.
Part I of the ‘Away from home’ Diaries.

I stay at Malad, near Inorbit Mall. I have been living there for the last five years. I left Mumbai on August 4 this year to pursue my masters in Journalism. I will specialise in Online Media. I still haven’t decided what I’m doing next, but I’m taking the first flight back home after completion of my course.

I had a very definite moment of parting with the city. That moment, when I stared at the Mumbai Airport board, did it for me. I knew one thing was certain – I would be returning very soon and for good. I got my admissions in the college at Chennai, post-that I was travelling back and forth because I needed to find an apartment in Chennai. Luckily, I found a good place in a central area of Chennai, Nungambakkam.

My first day, indeed my first week here were eased by the presence of many friends and well-wishers. One of them is a lady who is very special to me, and she basically took care of everything for me. My stay here has been made quite easy by her. So, there were no homesick moments or anything of the sort.

My typical day here? Let’s see – get up early, before the water goes away, bathe, skip breakfast, collect lunch, go to college by 0930 hours and stay there till 1800 hours. Come back home, contemplate dinner, no wants to cook, end up eating at a cheap eatery most of the nights. The place is called ‘Garage.’ This is what my week looks like, with a change on Sundays and public holidays. So yeah, it is less than exciting.

The list of what I don’t like about Chennai is a long one. I’ll just put it in points:

1) The way people in Chennai drive is horrible. Especially the MTC bus drivers, I swear there are times I have thought I would be crushed under one. I got my bike here and have not yet installed my mirrors, because it’s just a scary proposition to see that thing behind you.

2) Being called a North Indian. I don’t mind the word ‘North’ and I don’t have any geographical affiliations or likes or dislikes. But what hurts the most is the arrogance that people here display while saying the word. There was an instance where I was stopped by a senior police inspector and accused of being a thief, ‘like all other North Indians’.

3) The lack of a drainage system that leads to instant flooding of the roads.

4) Due to a lack of facilities, people here drink bottled water every day. Poor people here are dying of cholera, dengue, malaria and so on. They have a Cholera Hospital here. 

5) The way men stare at women. There is lust and then there are Chennai men; it’s beyond disgusting for women.

6) Rickshawwallahs. They charge Rs 200 or more for a distance of Borivali to Goregaon.

What I miss the most about Mumbai are its rickshawwallahs, its vada pav, varan bhat with toop and thecha, disciplined traffic, helpful people and cops, all the night eateries, and the safety for women and personal property. Yes, like several Mumbaikars I have also felt that I would leave the city for good some day, on several occasions. But home is where the smug is. I will go around, see the world or whatever, but my final resting place hopefully would be that bitch of a city.

The fast-paced life with a heterogenous crowd is very contagious. It’s not about the Mumbai spirit and hypothetical things like that. It is a place that you might physically leave, but somewhere that virus of being a Mumbaikar never leaves you.

Ah, Mumbai.

Diaries is a weekly series of stories on a single issue. The ‘Away from home’ diaries are stories of Mumbaikars who have left the city for a space of time.

 

Categories
Diaries

‘Winter brought homesickness…’

Sneha Kamat feels that if London wasn’t perpetually cold and rainy, it is actually an ideal city to live in.
Part II of the ‘Away from home’ series

The night of September 4, 2011 was a rather sleepless one. I was leaving for London the next day and the ball of anticipation in my stomach, coupled with dread, kept expanding.  At 27, I had finally mustered up the courage to quit my job of five years at a publication house to pursue a Masters in International Publishing Studies at City University, London. This was a particularly courageous year for me, because I also managed to get over my fears of matrimony and took the leap of faith in August. My husband works in London, so studying here made it a rather convenient move.

I left for the airport from my husband’s home, which in retrospect made me realise, was one of the chief reasons I effectively reined in the waterworks. It was indeed overwhelming; convincing myself that I shouldn’t fret because I’d see my family soon enough; besides trying in vain to pack a large part of my world into the two suitcase limit I was allowed by the airline. I stared vacantly at my startlingly empty closet. I’d never packed away so much before in my life. I’d never moved home, never taken a really long trip anywhere. This was in every which way, a first.

I walked out of Heathrow airport into a cold, crisp temperature of 17 degree Celsius. As someone who always prefers heat to cold, I wasn’t sure I liked this at all. I called my mum to tell her I’d reached safely. Of course, the first question she asked me was about the weather. “Feels like Lonavala, Ma,” I remember saying, in a rather fake, bright voice.

The next few days were about settling into my new home, adjusting to married life (that is not just a boring cliché!), and learning about the tube system in London, which would be my predominant mode of transport to the central part of the city, where my college is located. Now the best thing about the London Tube system is that even the most directionally-challenged person in the universe, and I’m a top contender for that spot, can figure it out within the course of a single day.

I started college within two weeks, and was immediately inundated with assignments and submissions. As someone who hadn’t been in the classroom for more than five years, staying awake during morning lectures became my first priority. I was also learning a very important art that must be mastered when one moves to a cold country – the Art of Layering! Thick leggings, thermal socks, cardigans, pullovers, jumpers, woolly scarves, gloves and loads and loads of tights, varying in thickness. This wardrobe makeover wasn’t to fulfil some girly whim; it was a necessity in every way if I wanted to feel my fingers and toes at the end of the day.

My first semester was exhausting. I was in class practically all day. And on weekends, in the library with my group members, breaking my head over project work. I live more than an hour away from college, so between all that work and travel, there wasn’t much time to mope or despair over how much I missed home. My gruelling schedule meant that I hadn’t even explored the city the way I’d planned to. But I knew it was in the offing and the onset of winter brought on the first wave of homesickness.

Winters here mean that it’s not just the cold that you’re dealing with. It gets dark by 3 pm and stays that way till sunrise the next morning. My body clock was a mess. I was often ready to go to bed by 6 pm, and waking up in the morning when it’s 5 degree Celsius outside is a tormenting task, especially for someone who detests mornings, early or otherwise. My semester had ended by then, but I had my written papers coming up soon after the New Year. One of the modules I was studying for was Publishing Law. I can positively state that between learning about inane acts and rights and dealing with the cold and the darkness, the festive Xmas and New Year period in London were among my worst weeks till then.

There were crying jags, there was massive abuse of calling cards, there was tremendous venting on the exasperated husband, and of course, panic attacks about writing exams after so long, especially that law paper. In all my years back home in Mumbai, I’d incessantly bitched about the heat, the traffic, the overworked-underpaid scenario and what not. But none of it mattered anymore. My Mumbai was my Mumbai. And I loved it a bit too much to care about anything else right then.

The manic behaviour ended with the exams, and I decided I’d take a trip back home in my rather long Easter break. One month in Mumbai, with my friends and family around me, stuffing myself with butter chicken and Gajalee’s prawn curry rice, and I was a happy camper again. Who needs spas and exotic holidays when you have your people to cheer you up!

I came back in March and settled back into college and routine and things have been a lot easier since then. I’ve slowly settled in to the London life. I’m more comfortable taking the tubes here than I ever was taking a train back home. There’s a lot of walking every day but my feet don’t hurt any more. My resistance to the cold has definitely gone up. I’ve found plenty of Indian shops where I can find many Indian goodies, including Parachute coconut oil and Marie biscuits. The city is a shopper’s paradise and I managed to undertake a fair bit of exploring this summer and some European travel too.

I love the quiet mornings, the lack of persistent honks, and the fact that I can almost always reach a place on time, without being a traffic jam victim as was my daily issue back home.

I might very well be coming back to Mumbai in a few years, but for now I’m looking forward to restarting my career here. London is slowly growing on me. It’s not home like Mumbai and I don’t know if it ever will be, but there’s something about this city that endears itself to you. In fact, if it wasn’t so cold and rainy most of the time, it’s quite the ideal city to live in.

I also believe life will become easier as I form a strong network of friends here. Sometimes I miss how easy it was to just call a friend and drop in to the neighbourhood cafe for a hot cup of coffee or share a muffin. Then again, home is where your people are. If I transported everyone I loved to London, maybe I wouldn’t miss Mumbai as much. So eventually it all comes down to forming your circle.

I look forward to my breaks back home, but I’m also learning to enjoy my time in London. Meanwhile, my quest for the best butter chicken in this city continues and I’ve vowed to enjoy it aplenty before I leave.

Sneha Kamat Bhavnani is a resident of 7 Bungalows, Andheri W. She’s just finished her MA in International Publishing Studies from City University, London and is awaiting her results. When she isn’t ranting about the London weather, you’ll find her indulging in her latest passion – online shopping! 

Diaries is a weekly series of stories on an issue. The ‘Away from home’ diaries are stories of Mumbaikars who have left the city for a space of time.

 

Categories
Diaries

‘Hyderabad’s best-kept secret is its weather’

Berges Malu moved to Hyderabad last year. There aren’t many pretty girls in Hyderabad, he says, and regionalism supersedes development there.
Part III of the ‘Away from home’ series

I’ve spent over 20 years of my life in Mumbai. I was born in Mumbai. I studied at St Xavier’s School (at Fort) and then at KC College. I’ve been in Hyderabad for over a year now.

I left Mumbai last year, in July, for Hyderabad to pursue my Masters Degree in Political Science. I got admission in a central university, which is among the best in the country.

The initial move to Hyderabad happened almost overnight. I got admission on July 16, 2011 and I was asked to join class the very next day. So I didn’t really have the time to think about the move, and that I was leaving Mumbai, so much. The one memory I do have though, is at Mumbai airport; my flight was delayed due to the rains and the rains in Mumbai were massive that day, you could barely see the wingtips! But Hyderabad was sunny and fine!

My first week in Hyderabad was crazy! Thanks to the delayed flight, I didn’t get a hostel room for all of the first week. Then began a few days of the Telangana strikes, and I had to spend the next few nights with friends who worked at Google. I wasn’t very excited about that.

Hyderabad is a great city, it’s got the charm of a small town but the features of a major city. The food is good as well, but Hyderabad’s best-kept secret is probably it’s weather. Save for the summer months of April and May, Hyderabad has a very moderate dry climate, it’s very pleasant. Which makes me very whiny when I get back to Mumbai and find how sweaty it is!

But there’s not much to hate about Hyderabad. Sure, this city literally shuts by 11 pm, the lack of cabs is unnerving for the first few months you’re here, and there’s a serious lack of pretty girls here! But nothing serious enough to incite dislike.

Oh yes, I surely do miss Mumbai! The fact that I can walk around south Mumbai at any point in time, I have some really close friends there and there’s an entire atmosphere of having fun and being carefree that isn’t quite present in Hyderabad. Mumbai is brilliant! Its people are so energetic, its culture is very warm and its politics, very intriguing. There are multiple issues out here in Hyderabad, especially the development issues which are sidestepped and instead regional or religious issues are given more attention, that’s a bit disconcerting.

If given a chance to shift outside of Mumbai permanently, I would certainly accept it. Mumbai is a great city, but I often find exploring other cities is a lot of fun, and it widens your horizons. I’m going to get done with my MA degree and look for a job before I move to another country to pursue another degree.

Berges Malu is a south Mumbai resident. He is currently pursuing an MA in political science at the University of Hyderabad. When he isn’t pretending to study, he tries to be the neighbourhood superhero. 

 

 Diaries is a weekly series of stories on an issue. The ‘Away from home’ diaries are stories of Mumbaikars who have left the city for a space of time.
Categories
Diaries

‘Travelling in Mumbai is horrible’

Journalist Amit Jha writes about what ails his favourite city, and how it compares with other cities he’s lived in.
Part V of the ‘Away from home’ series

I am a Kalyan resident, and I currently work with The Hindustan Times in Bhopal.

Actually, my journalism career started in Bhopal in 1998. I was employed with the Central Chronicle till 2003. Apart from Bhopal, I have been deputed to Pune from 2008 to 2009, where I was employed with the Sakaal Times.

My move to Bhopal from Mumbai was a rather sudden one. I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to do before I left. One fine day in October 1998, I left for Bhopal to my mama’s (Prabhat Jha) place in search of a job. Since he was also a journalist before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, he got me a job as a trainee journalist in Central Chronicle then.

I’ll tell you why I left Mumbai. I still remember, it was the last day of Ganpati visarjan. Some of my friends had a big fight during the immersion procession. As both the parties were known to me, I played the mediator between them, but unknown to me, my father and elder brother had come to see what the fracas was about, and they started scolding me. They had thought that I was the reason for the fight. Without listening to my protests, my elder brother slapped me in front of a crowd of 300 to 400 people. I kept mum, and the very next day, I left for Bhopal.

I was a deskie (a person in the editing department of a newspaper, called so because he holds a desk job, as opposed to a reporter’s field job) throughout my journalism career. So I was a bit nervous after joining the Hindustan Times in Bhopal as a senior correspondent, in July 2011. The first few days as a reporter were difficult – I was a bit afraid of speaking to IAS officers and ministers for my stories. Also, all my friends of my first stint had left Bhopal. So I had to make new friends.

My days here are busy – wake up by 8:00 am, read the newspapers and leave for work by 10:30 am. Then I attend the daily reporters’ meeting in the office to discuss the stories to be filed on the same day. In the afternoon, I visit various offices that are important to the news beats that I cover. I return to office in the evening, file my stories by 9:30 pm, leave for home, have dinner and then read some book before retiring for the night.

I have stayed at Delhi, Patna, Goa and Gwalior. Some of the lanes of Patna don’t let you miss Mumbai, like the Boring Canal Road. Goa is a paradise. Every Indian should visit Goa once. Delhi, though the national capital, is a very harsh city in every sense – be it the weather or the behaviour of people. And the auto drivers there a bunch of cheats.

Bhopal is a clean city, with good weather. It is a city of huge lakes. People are nice, too. The only thing I hate about Bhopal is that there are very few restaurants here, so there are limited options for eating outside.

I miss the crowd, the zeal of Mumbaikars, the vada pav which you can get at any given time in Mumbai. But travelling in Mumbai has become too horrible for words, much like the quality of life… 80 per cent of people living in Mumbai suffer from diabetes and many other lifestyle ailments. When I first came to Mumbai in 1980, the taps were always full for 24 hours. With low pressure, water is available for only an hour daily.

I do come Mumbai regularly as my parents, wife and sons stay there. After having stayed in a few other Indian cities, I honestly feel that Mumbai has no match anywhere in the country. If only something could be done about how crowded it is…

Amit Jha is a 36-year-old print journalist with editing experience.

Diaries is a weekly series of stories on an issue. The ‘Away from home’ diaries are stories of Mumbaikars who have left the city for a space of time.

 

 

Exit mobile version