Natural history to be digitised
Now, nature enthusiasts would be able to enjoy Mumbai’s natural history treasure online. The 80-year-old taxidermy department of the century-old Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in Mumbai is being digitised. The department that started functioning as an independent entity in 1938 has specimens of 349 bird species, 77 animal species, 177 aquatic species and over 80 reptile species. Several of them are rare and endangered species such as Red Panda and Shekru. The museum administration is developing an app for online visitors. The app will have showcase the rare specimens, providing the visitors an opportunity to know about the natural history of the western metropolis.
Coastal Road to help Mumbai
The 30 km-long Coastal Road, which got a final nod from the standing committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation earlier this week, will not only ease the traffic woes of the financial capital of the country, but also bring a sigh of relief to the citizen as it will come with a variety of much needed civic amenities. As much as 97 lakh square feet of area along the Mumbai coast will be reclaimed for the project of which only 22 per cent would be used for the road, according to sources who are privy to the project. The remaining area will have amenities ranging from jogging and cycling tracks to butterfly parks, public toilets and underground parking lots. The C13,000 crore project is likely to be completed within seven years.
Fines fail to bring cleanliness
In a recent internal survey, the Western Railway found out that some of the most crowded stations on suburban route in Mumbai are also the dirtiest ones. Moreover, the policy to penalise commuters has failed to bring in the much needed cleanliness. The Western Railway has appointed contractors to clean the stations and has given rights to ticket checkers to penalise commuters who are found littering inside stations. Under the scheme, commuters caught spitting at the railway stations or throwing plastic are fined. Over C4 lakh was collected from over 52,000 commuters in two years. However, this action failed to bring in cleanliness at Dadar, Andheri and Churchgate stations.
Mumbai likely to face water cuts
The current dry spell might lead to water crisis in Mumbai. According to the figures released by the water supply department of the BMC, reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai currently do not have adequate water to last till the onset of next monsoon. The city uses about 3,800 million litres of water every day. Accounting in losses of about 150 million litres every day that take place during water supply from the seven reservoirs in Thane and Palghar districts, about 100-150 km away from Mumbai, the need goes up to 3,950 MLD. This means around 14.41 lakh MLD is needed every year. But, the reservoirs currently have only 13.40 lakh MLD. If dry spell extends, the city will have water cuts soon.
Abhijit Mulye
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
abhijit.mulye@gmail.com