Category: Mumbai

Mumbai Needs More Fire Stations; Just Look At Andheri

Okay, this might sound odd but one please do read on. It’s been over seven years since I wrote on anything related to Fire and Emergency Services. Interestingly, the only time I wrote on the subject was a poem about a firetruck (linked at the bottom).

Anyhow, getting back on topic, one thing off late I’ve noticed is an increasing number of fires in Mumbai, especially in and around Andheri. I was having a conversation on this matter with the friendly folks at the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Association (ALOCA) because a fire broke out earlier in the day (18 December) at a building near Lokhandwala Circle.

I just did a Twitter search for the world “fire” from ALOCA’s Twitter account and I counted no fewer than five fires in 2022 that they had reported. Now, the nearest fire station is the Andheri Fire Station that is located on Swami Vivekananda Road (SV Road) near Irla, approximately 1km south of Andheri station. The next fire station is the Goregaon Fire Station that lies behind the Goregaon/Oshiwara bus depots. Andheri East is served by the Marol Fire Station that is located at Marol Naka.

A cursory search revealed that the K-East and K-West wards were the most populated wards as per the 2001 census. Assuming a uniform growth rate, that would mean that the K wards remain among the most populated regions in the city.

Now I was reading up a report on Hindustan Times about a fire that took place in early 2022 at the Chitrakoot grounds on Link Road between DN Nagar and Lokhandwala. A film set caught fire resulting in the death of a 32-year old labourer. Now what is interesting is that a portion of the grounds was reserved to build the Mumbai Fire Brigade’s Ambivali Fire Station as part of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s (MCGM) Development Plan for 2034.

The plot in question belongs to the state government and in 2009 the MCGM had issued a commencement certificate to a private developer for construction of the fire station but it had since been cancelled due to a delay (or as we know it better, no action) on the part of the developer. The developer meanwhile has taken the entire plot on lease from the state government.

Due to heavy traffic in the region, which has now gone up since the closure of the Gokhale Bridge (one road closure has ripple effects, remember), it can take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour for a fire tender to reach the Lokhandwala region which has numerous high-rises, malls, and shopping centres in the locality. The plot was reserved for a fire station over 20 years ago.

The plot meanwhile is used for a variety of commercial purposes from weddings to film shoots to cricket turfs and what not. Rents are lucrative too, and I have been told that cricket alone fetches anywhere upwards of ₹10,000 an hour.

With the polls to the MCGM looming, right now is the time to make noise about this. When political parties announce their respective candidates, please approach them and make sure that they promise it in their manifesto. That is the first step. If the candidate isn’t approachable, then it’s best you vote for someone else. Given that the Mayor of Mumbai has been from the Shiv Sena from 1996, I’d say there is limited scope of getting them to build one. Approach your MLA, especially if they’re part of the government. Andheri West residents, please approach Ameet Satam the local MLA while Versova residents please approach Dr Bharti Lavekar, both of whom are part of the ruling government. The advantage of having staggered elections is that if the person who you voted for in the MCGM isn’t doing good, you can avoid voting for them in the general election to the Parliament or the Legislative Assembly.

If you’re interested in reading the poem I wrote on a Firetruck, you can read it here: The Little Red Firetruck

Featured Image: MAN Firetruck of the Mumbai Fire Brigade at JVPD Circle (Photo: Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia)

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MMRDA Debuts New BEST Bus Shelter As Part Of Mumbai Metro

With the formal launch of commercial operations (albeit with a lot of technical snags) of the Red and Yellow lines (Line 2A and Line 7) of Mumbai Metro on Gudi Padwa this week, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) also set up a few new bus shelters outside the metro stations.

These new bus shelters feature a map of the two metro lines in question, feature space for wheelchair-users and interestingly, have the bus routes marked on the road surface as well.

New bus shelter at Virvani Estate near Aarey Metro Station (Anand/@aa_G7460 on Twitter)
New bus shelter at Virvani Estate near Aarey Metro Station (Anand/@aa_G7460 on Twitter)

According to the images and the description of the bus stop (written on the bus stop itself), they feature USB ports for charging phones, CCTV cameras, and are dedicated to Divyang users. The bus shelter itself has been designed by an agency called Aaartist, which has designed signboards for several railway stations and other prominent properties around Maharashtra.

Road Marking at Virvani Estate Bus Stop (Anand/@aa_G7460 on Twitter)
Road Marking at Virvani Estate Bus Stop (Anand/@aa_G7460 on Twitter)

As you can see in the above two images, bus routes have been marked on the side of the road. Oddly, while Limited Stop routes (226, 460 and 706) have been marked in red, the AC (A-488) and Express (C-15, C71, C-72) routes remain marked in black along with the sole regular route (225). Now, at the bus stop itself, there are purple line markings on the floor that correspond to the dotted line that separates each route in the second line. Clearly, this is meant to be a queue management system, which says रांगेत चला, Crowd Management System, Mind Set.

Let’s hope that buses follow this demarcation when it comes to stopping. We’ve all seen how Pune’s BRTS drivers initially struggled to stop the bus at the exact stop for the doors to open.

Let’s hope for better bus stops in the future. In the mean time, do read this: Building a Smart Bus Stop.

Featured Image: Aarey Metro Station by Gandharva Purohit.

If you are stepping out, do note that while masks are no longer mandatory, the new XE variant of the Wuhan Virus is making the rounds. Stay safe, better safe than sorry.

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Hovercrafts Were Spotted Off Andheri And It has Got All Of Us Excited

On 17 November, a hovercraft was spotted off the coast of Andheri and that left a lot of us excited.

Here is the video shared by the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association (ALOCA).

The spotting of the hovercraft left many of wondering what it was doing.

Many wondered if it was for trial runs of a potential water transit system, some even suggested that it was there to survey the region for the coastal road (a misnomer since the Coastal Road terminates at Worli and the Versova Bandra Sea Link is being buit near Andheri).

However, on closer examination, the hovercraft looks to be a Griffon Hoverwork 8000TD, manufactured jointly by the Southampton, England-based Griffon Hovercraft and the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders. It’s primary user in India is the Indian Coast Guard which has several of them parked at the Sarovar Vihar hoverport at Sector 11, CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai.

The last known update about hovercrafts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was from 2019 (when Devendra Fadnavis was still chief minister). Under the Uddhav Thackeray government, only the ro-ro service to Mandwa has been operational.

We wait eagerly for the day when Mumbai can have hovercrafts again. Services existed between 1994 and 1999, operated by Mahindra and Mahindra between Vashi, CBD Belapur and Gharapuri Island (for the Elephanta Caves) but wound up due to lack of proper berthing facilities in Mumbai.

That’s all for now. I apologise for my lack of blogging, I have been recovering from successive bouts of the flu and the Wuhan Virus.

To read my ideas on turning Mankhurd into an integrated road-rail-water transit hub on the lines of the St George Terminal in New York or the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, do read this article: Here’s How Mumbai Can Create A Robust Water Transit System 

Featured Image: Indian Coast Guard’s Griffon-GRSE 800TD (Sballal/Wikimedia Commons)

If you intend to step out, whether to board on boat, bus or train, please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.

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After Turning Into Seasonal Venice, Global City Mumbai Turns Into Pamplona This Monsoon

In its quest to turn Mumbai into a global city, the government today added another feather to its cap. After repeatedly turning Mumbai into a seasonal Venice every monsoon, despite making promises to turn the city into a Shanghai or a Singapore, the government this year took inspiration from both Italy and Spain.

News agency ANI posted a video on Twitter showing bulls running across a flooded Malad Subway.

Many users took to Twitter to discuss the matter. Several thought it was the Tamil tradition of Jallikattu while some thought it was the Kannada tradition of Kambala. However, if one takes a closer look, it was actually more of Pamplona, in Navarre, Spain.

The three parties in the current administration of the state of Maharashtra have always professed international models to turn Mumbai into. While none of them have chosen mainstream Western cities like London and New York, they have focused more on the Eastern side, by deciding that Mumbai would be modelled on the likes of Shanghai and Singapore. However, since the deluge of 2005, Mumbai turns into a seasonal Venice every year. Note: A few people have linked this to the entry of an Italian-origin politician in India’s politics in 2004.

Given the current government’s penchant for global designs for the city, this is another feather in their cap. From canals based on Italy’s Venice, to Freedom of Expression based on China, this was inevitable. Oh and who can forget the Penguins at Byculla Zoo?

Take a look at the bull run scene from the 2011 Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and you’ll see that they are very similar.

Bull Running in Pamplona from Nindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Bull Running in Pamplona from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

The current government is very proactive in using new methods to improve Mumbai’s global status. Last year, they switched over from Rolling Cloth displays to Dust Written displays on BEST buses. The proposed grand aquarium was established with fishes arriving at Parel.

From Italy, China and now Spain, Mumbai is imbibing global elements.

Also Read: After Pioneering Rolling Cloth Destination Boards, BEST Now Switches To Dust-Written Displays

Also Read: Forget Buses And Metro, The Fish Have Arrived At Mumbai’s New Aquarium

Note: The above article is meant to be humourous. Please don’t register a police complain or send goondas to the writer’s residence.

PS: Satire alert. Not to be taken seriously unless you are a BMC official.

Featured image: Cows at the flooded Malad Subway (Screenshot of ANI’s video)

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Electric Buses Craze Hits MMR; BEST Leads The Way While NMMT Wants To Scrap Diesel Buses

In what could only be good news, the electric bus craze has finally hit the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with BEST leading the way. According to a report by Rajendra Aklekar in Mid-Day, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has the maximum in its fleet. In December, BEST had received the first batch of a 340 bus order of Tata Ultra electric AC buses from Tata Motors. Prior to this, BEST had received both AC and non AC electric buses from Olectra (formerly Goldstone) and also had a fleet of Diesel Electric Hybrid buses from Tata Motors.

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking is second in the race, currently operating 30 air-conditioned JBM Solaris electric buses. NMMT is looking to set up 36 charging stations. NMMT has also stated in its recent municipal budget that it will eventually do away with its diesel buses and only ahve a fleet of electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles.

The Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) undertaking meanwhile got only one electric bus in the last three years, and this in turn has prompted the Mayor Thane to scrap the agreement and go in for a fresh one.

The Mira-Bhayendar Municipal Transport (MBMT) undertaking meanwhile is looking for places where it can set up charging stations.

Under the Modi sarkar’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme, funding for 240 buses was allotted to Maharashtra out of a larger plan of 670 buses for Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Chhattisgarh.

It seems the future of buses is indeed, electrifying.

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Forget Buses And Metro, The Fish Have Arrived At Mumbai’s New Aquarium

Exactly two months ago, a Cyclone (or was it?) called Nisarga allegedly swept across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Chief Minister’s new aquarium project saw a massive push with water all over the streets. While we had back then reported that the fish would eventually arrive, it has finally arrived after a spell of rains in the last 24 hours.

Now, we have learned that the fish have arrived at Parel station where they were swimming over the railway tracks. It seems these fish are also transit fans.

Here is a video of the fish swimming!

This is probably the fastest that any project of such magnitude has ever come up in India. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ metro works were slower than this and credit must be given to the BEST CM ever.

Also Read: Cyclone Nisarga What? Here Are Visuals From Mumbai’s Brand New World-Class Aquarium

Also Read: Satire: BEST To Capitalise On CM’s New-Found Fame, Will Feature His Face On All New Buses

Featured image: Aquarium by macrovector from Freepik. You can view the original here.

Note: The above article is meant to be humourous. Please don’t register a police complain or send goondas to the writer’s residence.

Or, as Karthik puts it, PS: Satire alert⚠️🚨. Not to be taken seriously unless you are a BMC official.😅😅

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Have You Ever Wondered How Mumbai Monorail Switches Tracks?

It’s a simple question. How does the monorail switch tracks? We’ve seen regular trains and the metro switching tracks. But it’s a bit difficult with the monorail right? Especially given that the train traverses along a straddle beam?

Well, the answer is simple, truth be told. The entire straddle beam moves.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video:

If you look at the switch tracks on Google Earth, you’ll notice these are sections with a concrete platform below the beams.

Here are two such images. You can see that where the Switch track is present, the straddle beam is resting on concrete and the blue control sheds that you see in the video above, are also visible.

Monorail Chembur Switch Track 1

In the picture above, you can see the tracks aligned straight. In the pictures below, you can see the tracks aligned differently.

Monorail Chembur Switch Track 2

So how exactly does this work?

The straddle beam for the switch is mounted on a set of wheels that are perpendicular to the beam itself. These wheels move from on side of the viaduct to the other side but to varying lengths, thus forming the curve that you see.

Below is another example of how the switch happens, this time from the Osaka Monorail in Osaka, Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrlw2cm-jc

Fascinating, isn’t it, how a monorail switches tracks?

Well, that’s all from me for this time. Hope you enjoyed this post. Once normalcy returns, I’ll try and get a good video of the monorail switching tracks.

Featured Image: Mumbai Monorail by Ashwin Kumar on Flickr.

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You’ve Seen Mumbai Monorail’s Depot From The Train, Here It Is From The Sky

Whenever we take a ride on an intra-city rail line, we’re bound to see the line’s carshed or depot somewhere. If you take the Western Line, you might see the car shed at Mumbai Central or Kandivali, and on the Central Line at Kurla. If you take the Mumbai Metro, you’ll see its depot at Four Bungalows, and if you take the Monorail, you’ll see it at Wadala. There’s a high likelihood that saying Wadala Depot might confuse a lot of people. For it might be referring to BEST’s Wadala Depot that is located at Wadala (West) and is closer to Dadar, or BEST’s Anik and Pratiksha Nagar Depots that are located in Wadala East near the Salt Pans. Or, it could refer to the Monorail Depot.

So, without much further ado, here is the picture of the Monorail Depot:

This amazing drone shot has been taken by a drone-based media agency called BrainWing India. Don’t forget to follow them on Instagram: @brainwing_india.

Apart from the Monorail Depot, you can also see the Lodha New Cuffe Parade apartment complex behind it.

It is important to note that the Monorail depot only houses the first building with a wavy blue roof behind the station and the blue building behind that.

So what are all the other blue sheds and structures in the vicinity? Most of them are casting yards used by various contractors for the Mumbai Metro project.

The first one, at the top left-hand-side corner where the monorail track curves is a casting yard for tunnel rings for Mumbai Metro Line 3 operated by Turkey-based Doğuş and its Hyderabad-based partner Soma. The large blue shed next to the Monorail Depot is used by Tata Projects for the same. L&T and Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) use casting yards at the far end of this picture for casting tunnel rings.

Immediately next to the depot is the Nagarjuna Construction Company’s (NCC) casting yard for casting U-girders for the Metro’s Line 7 and next to it is the casting yard for J Kumar and on top of the that is the casting yard that Simplex used to use for Line 2.

For a better reference, see this tweet by Sahil Pednekar.

The monorail makes for a gorgeous sight from above, no?

That’s all from me for today. Don’t forget to follow BrainWing on Instagram. Don’t forget to share this post as well.

Featured Image: Mumbai Monorail Depot by Ashwin Kumar on Flickr.

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Cyclone Nisarga What? Here Are Visuals From Mumbai’s Brand New World-Class Aquarium

In December last year when Maharashtra saw a political coup, resulting in a mix-and-match coalition government coming to power, the newly throned chief minister announced plans to build a grand, “world-class” multi-level aquarium. Just over six months later with Cyclone Nisarga having crossed the city, here are some stunning visuals of the new aquarium.

Without wasting time, the government run by the Best CM (not BEST CM) has gone ahead and quietly implemented the aquarium at King’s Circle near Matunga. Below are some pictures from news agencies Asian News International (ANI) and Free Press Journal (FPJ). You can click on the indiviudal images to see more.

As pointed out on Twitter by Karthik, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has managed to build the aquarium on the first day of rains!

While the fish are not immediately visible due to vehicles, they will slowly find their way, along with other creatures including worms, snakes, prawns and shrimp (after being washed from markets). The largest creature currently in these waters is BEST’s Aqua Faeries; as seen in the above pictures (not to be confused with the earlier Purple Faeries).

Apart from this, the government has also implemented a new waterfall system in the city, although it is linked with the sewerage system. You can catch it in action here:

Ever since the 2005 floods, political parties in Maharashtra have promised to turn the city into Singapore or Shanghai. Sadly, this year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mumbai became Wuhan while Maharashtra became Hubei. However, on a regular basis, the city turns into Venice every year during the monsoons.

Mumbaikars have got their aquarium. Now, let’s wait for the metro.

Also Read: Satire: BEST To Capitalise On CM’s New-Found Fame, Will Feature His Face On All New Buses

Also Read: Satire: In Absence Of Depot, Metro 3 To Run BEST Buses In Tunnel

Note: The above article is meant to be humourous. Please don’t register a police complain or send goondas to the writer’s residence.

Or, as Karthik puts it, PS: Satire alert⚠️🚨. Not to be taken seriously unless you are a BMC official.😅😅

Featured Image: Fishtank by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay.

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In Case You Missed It: A Bajaj QUTE Was Spotted Operating As An Auto-Rickshaw in Andheri

A little over four years ago, I had attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India Week where among many things, I saw a few interesting vehicles. Among these, I saw Scania’s ethanol-blend Bio-fuel bus that was operational with Nagpur Mahanagar Parivahan Limited (NMPL) and subsequently also with the Kadamba Transport Corproation (KTC) in Panaji, Goa, Volvo’s 8400 B7RLE Diesel-CNG Hybrid bus that was trial with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking and a the world’s largest dumper from Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). Note: A dumper is not the same as a dump-truck.

Read more: From #MakeInIndia to Made in India

I also saw an air-conditioned Minibus from Force Motors, albeit with fully-sealed windows which I said would be great for feeder services to metro stations. And just like I said, similar buses ended up being used by BEST three years as feeder buses. Here is a picture of the bus that I saw in 2016.

MakeInIndia-Force-Motors-Minivan

While BEST didn’t get these exact buses, it did get similar buses.

Read more: BEST’s New AC Buses Are A Delight To Travel On

Now, the most interesting thing I saw there was the Bajaj Qute. Note: It does look cute.

Powered by a 200cc engine that can produce an output of 20bhp, the Qute is classified by the government as a “quadricycle” and therefore can only be used to replace auto-rickshaws.

MakeInIndia-Bajaj-Qute

This is the picture of the Qute that I clicked in 2016. The Qute has received intense criticism, mostly from Bajaj’s peers in the auto industry, especially Piaggio which also manufactures auto-rickshaws. Piaggio in fact wanted the Qute to be deferred by at least two-three years (in 2013) in order to provide a level playing field for auto-rickshaw manufacturers. Others in the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) too lambasted the Qute for myriad reasons, from its weight to its emissions.

However, in late February this year, I was mildly surprised when I boarded one of BEST’s mini-buses at Andheri Station (West). In the middle of the sea of auto-rickshaws, I saw a Qute, with a board inside it saying ऑटो रिक्षा and a sticker indicating that it ran on CNG. While I couldn’t see where the fare-meter was, the vehicle was occupied.

Here is the Qute that I spotted at Andheri.

Bajaj-Qute-Andheri-Station-BESTpedia

When I saw it, I was excited and quickly whipped out my phone and clicked a photo. And naturally, I tweeted it out within minutes.

Let’s hope more such Qutie-pies hit the road soon!

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Featured Image: A blue Bajaj Qute, Bajaj Auto

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