New aquarium at Aarey
In his first meeting after assuming charge as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray has pushed for a multilevel aquarium in Mumbai on the lines of Bangkok-based Ocean World, which is a popular tourist attraction in Thailand. The suggestion is aimed at boosting the tourism potential of the city. The project will be implemented by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. The aquarium will be built on five acres of Aarey land at a cost of around `800 crore, instead of redevelopment and expansion of the existing Taraporwala Aquarium at Girgaon Chowpatty.
For Mumbai’s better health
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to focus on the public health system. Mumbai has 16 general hospitals, six speciality hospitals, 29 maternity homes, 175 municipal dispensaries and 183 health posts. The 16 general hospitals are always overloaded. To cut down the load on these tertiary care general hospitals, the civic administration has decided to overhaul the health system and revamp the 175 suburban dispensaries and 183 health posts. Patients from the suburbs often have to go to hospitals in the city. To avoid this, suburban dispensaries and hospitals will now be equipped with state-of-the-art machines, experts in a variety of medical fields and its strength will be boosted by 1,350 beds under the new Balsaheb Thackeray Aapal Dawakhana scheme.
City icons at garden exhibition
The annual event of garden exhibition organised by the Tree Authority of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation will have a special attraction this year where the city’s heritage structures, such as the Gateway of India, Old Lady’s Shoe, India’s first tram, textile mills and chimneys will be replicated using flowering plants and flowers. The exhibition will be held between January 31 and February 2 at the Veermata Jijabai Udyan. A variety of fruit and flowering trees, herbs and attractive bonsai will be showcasesd at the garden exhibition, which is now becoming a unique event.
Metro construction gains pace
Out of the 146.6 km of the Metro routes on which the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) is currently working, the agency is planning to complete work on 47 km on two routes soon. While the two routes, Dahisar-DN Nagar and Dahisar (E) to Andheri (E), will be operational by the year-end, the agency will immediately start work on three other routes with a total length of 87.6 km, the authorities have said. MMRDA will also complete work on all the flyovers in BKC area as a measure to do away with the traffic congestion in the area.
ABHIJIT MULYE
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
abhijit.mulye@gmail.com