Mahesh Vijapurkar
Read biographyMahesh Vijapurkar likes to take a worm’s eye-view of issues – that is, from the common man’s perspective. He was a journalist with The Indian Express and then The Hindu and now potters around with human development and urban issues.
Close-
How ministers made the Mantralaya fire worse
Here is the irony of Thursday's fire which ravaged Mantralaya, the Mumbai headquarters of the Maharashtra Government: the disaster management control room was a victim, rendered entirely useless. When a disaster occurs, that control room is supposed to spring into action, providing guidance, and coordinating rescue and relief. The other irony #ConnectTheDots #Maharashtra government #Mantralaya fire #Mumbai Mantralaya
-
Say hello to Rashid Alvi, the new Digvijaya Singh of Cong
When Mulayam Singh Yadav ditches Mamata Bannerjee and swings from APJ Abdul Kalam as a choice for president to Pranab Mukherjee, you don't call him names. Not, especially, when he has done that after nicely trouncing your party in the recent elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. But then, you mock #Congress #Digvijaya Singh #Mulayam Singh Yadav #Rashid Alvi
-
Manohar Joshi as V-P: Is it Shiv Sena’s secret ambition?
Soon after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lost to the UPA-I, the Telugu Desam Party had deserted the flock and smaller parties had gone quiet, Bal Thackeray was asked a question by a newsman then: ''Do you think NDA exists?'' He hedged his answer. ''It does... as a concept, but in #Bal Thackeray #Bharatiya Janata Party #Congress #InMyOpinion #Manohar Joshi #Shiv Sena
-
The freakonomics of the tampered auto meter
The distance between the autorickshaw stand outside my apartment block and the point from where I take a bus is precisely 1.6 km. That is a distance I have often measured on my car's odometer. While it falls well within the minimum amount, ie Rs 12, after which the meter #Autorickshaw #Bribery #HowThisWorks #travel
-
After Navi Mumbai, Navi Thane: Hopefully, with no mess-up
Last Thursday (7 June), Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan green-signaled preliminary work on a new city, this time Navi Thane across the Thane Creek, spread over 100 sq km. He asked three para-statal organisations to get into the act. That at once should cause joy if, and only if, it #Kopar Khairane #Mumbai #Navi Mumbai #Navi Thane #Prithviraj Chavan #urbanisation
-
Bharat Bandh: anatomy of a ‘complete’ bandh in Mumbai
A successful bandh in Mumbai is an easy deal, regardless of the cause. The main ingredient for its accomplishment is the involvement of the Shiv Sena. Without them, the bandh is never complete – as in having achieved the targets of empty streets, shuttered shops, unattended offices and school kids at #Bandh #Bharat Bandh #HowThisWorks #Mumbai #Shiv Sena #train services
-
Mumbai expressway tragedy: If only we listened to Jeremy Clarkson
If only thin-skinned Indians had watched Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear show on the BBC without taking offence about a toilet on the boot of one of his cars and listened to other things he said about driving in India, the accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway yesterday might not #Jeremy Clarkson #Mumbai #Mumbai-Pune Expressway #OnOurMind
-
Plastic bags: We have reached the crisis point, let’s act
When Dapoli, a small coastal town in Konkan, decided to go free of plastic bags in 2010, there was much preparation. Traders and customers were educated not just on the implications of their carelessness but the very benefits of avoiding plastic bags. On Independence Day traders surrendered their stocks. It #Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus #Independence Day #Packaging #Plastic bag #Plastic shopping bag #ToWhatEffect #Waste container
-
Mumbai’s struggle with old booze laws and moral policing
A crackdown on a rave party, where use of cocaine and charas is suspected to have been consumed or actually has been, is one thing. But using the Prohibition Act to list drinking without permit an offence and booking them, is absurd. Just as the official machinery and the tipplers find #law enforcement departments #Maharashtra #Mumbai #OnOurMind
-
Mr Kunte, now walk the walk
It makes a nice headline: Kunte walks the talk, conducts early morning surprise checks. It also makes for a nice photo-op, except that the published picture was tiny, close to being a postage stamp but you cannot grudge the man, Sitaram Kunte, his moment in the sun. After all, isn’t #Garbage #HowThisWorks #Mumbai #Sitaram Kunte