Story by Navashree Nandini In February 2018, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) busted a water tanker racket in Masjid Bunder. Officials say the local mafia were selling water at 300 rupees per tanker. In October 2018, about 5000 residents from the Evershine Global City Complex in Vasai-Virar region took to the streets claiming the water … Continue reading Leaks, Lobbyists and Laziness
Category: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Stories produced by tWS student from Griffith University, Mumbai University and Xavier Institute of Communications.
Along the Mithi
Photography by Dylan Crawford The ever-expanding city of Mumbai has put immense pressure on the natural environment. Mumbai’s largest river, the mighty Mithi, now turned into a stormwater drain, wends through the city carrying with it the garbage and the sewage of millions. On its banks is Dharavi, India’s largest slum – the second largest … Continue reading Along the Mithi
Cleaner and Safer
Story by Tanya Awasthy “Apna to life hi badal gaya” - our lives changed completely, says Kalpana Sampatrao Kamble, 60, about the transformation Tulshet Pada saw about 15 years ago. Located in Bhandup, Tulshet Pada could well be a quintessential suburban Mumbai slum, except that it is remarkably clean. The lives of its residents saw … Continue reading Cleaner and Safer
Sassoon Docks
Story by Nidhima Taneja Named after Sir Albert Abdulla David Sassoon in 1875, lies one of the oldest docks of Mumbai. Amidst the pristine streets of South Mumbai, Sassoon Docks is not hard to locate. One could walk straight from the Regal Cinema with their eyes closed and still be able to make it to … Continue reading Sassoon Docks
The Price of Progress
Story by Himanshi Dahiya Rekha Parshuram Madvi is concerned. The tea stall she’s been running for 25 years, from her home in a roadside shanty, is her only means of income. But her family, like more than 3000 other people in the area, has lost its land to the construction of the nearby Navi-Mumbai international … Continue reading The Price of Progress
A Problem Political
Story by Joshua Holmes Kemps Corner – a suburb at the southern end of Mumbai made up of picturesque colonial buildings dating back to British settlement, is the embodiment of old-money and wealth. It’s also the perfect example of a well-regulated community with access to clean potable water available in abundance for cooking, cleaning and … Continue reading A Problem Political
Gole: A man transformed
Story by Aliza Noor Petite and lanky, Laxman Gole only occupied the space he needed. He wore a crisp white shirt with a few creases here and there, navy blue pants and a wide belt which seemed to hold him together. Standing tall in the RK Laxman Hall of Xavier’s Institute of Communications he spilled … Continue reading Gole: A man transformed
Struggle Streets
Story and Photography by Brittiny Edwards “Water is a fundamental right of every living thing, water is not the human’s property, it belongs to nature,” Sitaram Shelar tells a group of students at Mumbai University. shelar is the convenor of Pani Haq Samiti in Mumbai, a Non-Governmental Organisation fighting to secure the universal right to … Continue reading Struggle Streets
Cost of an airport
Story by Navashree Nandini Tucked away inside a small clearing, on the edge of a narrow dusty road in what is left of Ulwe village, Pallavi Jadhav fills a large aluminum pot with water, from a cracked pipeline. The pipeline has all the hallmarks of a makeshift supply – a bit of rubber hose stuck … Continue reading Cost of an airport
The Water Mafia of Mumbai
Story by Jake Kearnan “Informal systems deliver”. The three words hang in the air in Sulakshana Mahajan’s comfortable living room. It is clear that Mahajan, an Urban City Planner with an impressive track-record in Mumbai, is a pragmatist. Her description of the lucrative black market for water in Mumbai, orchestrated by the so-called water mafia, … Continue reading The Water Mafia of Mumbai
The Water Story 