Mumbai Weekly Culture Sports Metro Pg 3 Entertainment Pg 7 Sports Pg 8 People Pg 2 Mumbai faces another building collapse in Mahim Rescue personnel of the Mumbai Fire Brigade and local people bring out the dead body of a girl from the rubbles of a collapsed building in suburban Mumbai on 11th June 2013. Deba- datta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly (Contd. on Pg. 5) Pancholi gets arrested for having links in Jiah Khan’s suicide Monsoon arrives early in the city, brings some relief from the heat Police constables take Sooraj Pancholi (son of bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi) in- to custody for questioning for having links in Jiah Khan’s suicide case at Juhu police station in suburban Mumbai on 11 June 2013. Francis Mascarenahas / Mumbai Weekly A youngster poses for his friend as he stands at Marine Drive in south Mumbai on 23 June 2013. Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly (Contd. On Pg. 2) As a much welcome re- lief to the severely drought stricken state of Maharashtra, monsoon showers hit the state a few days ahead of schedule this year, marking the commence- ment of the rainy season in early June. In Mum- bai, however, the joy that came with the onset of the monsoon was short-lived, as the annu- al flooding and commut- ing woes that go hand in hand with this season also began. Many low- lying areas of the city like parts of Jogeshwari, Mazgaon and Dadar wee water logged owing to heavy rains and train services too, were dis- rupted. Although media reports claim that the local civic body has tak- en some precautions like desilting the Mithi river running across the city, setting up a disaster management cell and giving online updates to prevent the repeat of a disaster like the 26 July floods in 2005. Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi was ar- rested on 11 June by the Juhu police for allegedly abet- ting the suicide of actor Jiah Khan. Jiah had hanged herself from a ceil- ing fan at her apart- ment on 3 June. According to media sources the last conversation Jiah had was with Sooraj was at 10.53 pm that same day. The arrest came after Jiah’s mother Rabiya Amin sub- mitted a six page letter detailing the rough relationship between Sooraj and Jiah. The letter written by Jiah said that Sooraj assault- ed, raped and at times hit her in front of other peo- ple.
Transcript
Mumbai Weekly
Culture Sports Metro
Pg 3
Entertainment
Pg 7
Sports Pg 8
People
Pg 2
Mumbai faces another building collapse in Mahim
Rescue personnel of the Mumbai Fire Brigade and local people bring out the dead body of a girl from the rubbles of a collapsed building in suburban Mumbai on 11th June 2013. Deba-
datta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly (Contd. on Pg. 5)
Pancholi gets arrested for having links in Jiah Khan’s suicide
Monsoon arrives early in the city, brings
some relief from the heat
Police constables take Sooraj Pancholi (son of bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi) in-
to custody for questioning for having links in Jiah Khan’s suicide case at Juhu police
station in suburban Mumbai on 11 June 2013. Francis Mascarenahas / Mumbai
Weekly A youngster poses for his friend as he stands at Marine Drive in south Mumbai on 23 June 2013.
Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly (Contd. On Pg. 2)
As a much welcome re-
lief to the severely
drought stricken state of
Maharashtra, monsoon
showers hit the state a
few days ahead of
schedule this year,
marking the commence-
ment of the rainy season
in early June. In Mum-
bai, however, the joy
that came with the onset
of the monsoon was
short-lived, as the annu-
al flooding and commut-
ing woes that go hand in
hand with this season
also began. Many low-
lying areas of the city
like parts of Jogeshwari,
Mazgaon and Dadar wee
water logged owing to
heavy rains and train
services too, were dis-
rupted. Although media
reports claim that the
local civic body has tak-
en some precautions like
desilting the Mithi river
running across the city,
setting up a disaster
management cell and
giving online updates to
prevent the repeat of a
disaster like the 26 July
floods in 2005.
Sooraj Pancholi,
son of actor Aditya
Pancholi was ar-
rested on 11 June
by the Juhu police
for allegedly abet-
ting the suicide of
actor Jiah Khan.
Jiah had hanged
herself from a ceil-
ing fan at her apart-
ment on 3 June.
According to media
sources the last
conversation Jiah
had was with
Sooraj was at 10.53
pm that same day.
The arrest came
after Jiah’s mother
Rabiya Amin sub-
mitted a six page
letter detailing the
rough relationship
between Sooraj and
Jiah. The letter
written by Jiah said
that Sooraj assault-
ed, raped and at
times hit her in
front of other peo-
ple.
2 PEOPLE MW MONDAY, 24 JUNE, 2013
Early monsoons bring joy to Mumbaikars
Youngsters enjoy a game of football in the rain at Shivaji Park in south Mumbai on 9 June 2013. Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai
Weekly
A family walks at Marine drive in south Mumbai on 3
June 2013. Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly
Youngsters play and splash water in the rain in suburban Mumbai on 14 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis / Mumbai Weekly
Miracle on Wheels
Above: A differently abled dancer practices before the start of the dance performance at the NCPA Theatre in south
Mumbai on 7 June 2013. Jayshree Kewalramani / Mumbai Weekly
Right: Differently abled dancers from Ability Unlimited foundation perform at NCPA Theatre in south Mumbai on 7 June
2013. Jayshree Kewalramani / Mumbai Weekly
3 METRO MW MONDAY, 24 JUNE, 2013
Shiv Sena chief Udhhav Thackeray and BMC Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte
share a light moment during the inauguration of the Maroshi to Vakola underground water
tunnel in suburban Mumbai on 31 May 2013. Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly
Jiah Khan’s condolence meeting
Udhhav Thackeray inaugurates
underground water tunnel
Family members of Jiah Khan (Bollywood actor) mourn at her condolence meeting at a public hall in suburban
Mumbai on 8 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis / Mumbai Weekly
Eastern Freeway opens up to ease traffic
Traffic f rom
Chembur to Chat -
t rapat i Shivaj i
Terminus wil l no
longer be a worry
as the new Eastern
Freeway has
opened up to
smoothen t raff ic
on this route. The
17 ki lometre
s t retch is s ignal
free and and is
said to drast ical ly
reduce t ravel t ime
between south
Mumbai and the
Eastern Suburbs.
The project which
was s tar ted back
in 2008 has f inal-
ly f inished and
has cost the gov-
ernment a total
amount of Rs.
1 ,250 crores
(216,000,000
USD).
Udaan School of Photography celebrates it’s 1st Convocation Day showcased in the form
of a photography exhi-
bition and slideshow.
An interactive session
between the current
and graduating batches
preceded the convoca-
tion ceremony, with
students asking their
seniors about their ex-
periences as profes-
sionals in the field
since the completion of
their course. Renowned
commercial photogra-
pher Ian Pereira and
Soumitra Ghosh, photo
editor of daily newspa-
per DNA, were the
guests of honour for
the occasion. Diploma
certificates were hand-
ed out to all students
who met the require-
ments of the course.
Awards were also
handed out to recog-
nize excellence in pho-
tography and dedica-
tion to the course.
Shailesh Andrade from
the photojournalism
class, received an
award for his outstand-
ing contribution to the
class publication, the
Mumbai Weekly and
also the Sportsperson
of the Year award.
Prathamesh Gokhale,
received the Best of the
Best of the Year award,
dubbed as the ‘BOBY
award’ by Arko Datta,
faculty member and
director of the school.
Sandeep Dhopate from
the commercial pho-
tography class was pre-
sented with the Direc-
tor’s Choice award,
while Saarthak Aurora
from the photojournal-
ism class also won the
Sportsperson of the
Year award.
Above: Students of Udaan School Of Photography pose for the photog-
raphers as they celebrate their first convocation at Udaan School Of
Photography in south Mumbai on 16 June 2013. Sumedh Sawant / Mum-
bai Weekly
Left: Prathamesh Gokhale poses for the photographer as he receives
the “Student Of The Year” at Udaan School Of Photography for 2011-
2012 diploma batch in south Mumbai on 16 June 2013. Ashish Vaish-
nav / Mumbai Weekly.
Udaan School of Pho-
tography in Mumbai
held its first ever convo-
cation ceremony for its
first batch of graduating
students on Sunday 16
June at the institute
premises. The best work
of the students was
An aerial view of the newly opened Eastern Freeway is seen in suburban Mumbai on 20
June 2013. The freeway opened on 14 June to ease traffic from Chembur in suburban
Mumbai to Fort in south Mumbai. Ashish Vaishnav / Mumbai Weekly
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan (third from left) is seen praying at the
condolence meet for Jiah Khan’s (Bollywood actress) death in sub-
urban Mumbai on 8 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis / Mumbai
Weekly
Jiah Khan’s condo-
lence meeting was
held in suburban
Mumbai on 9 June.
2013 which saw vari-
ous Bollywood actors
visiting the grieving
family of Jiah Khan.
Among Bollywood
celebs, Sanjay Khan,
Deepika Padukone,
Urvashi Dholakia,
Shweta Pandit,
Prateik Babbar, Nag-
ma and Aamir Khan
attended the condo-
lence meeting. Ac-
cording to media
source Jiah Khan
committed suicide in
her Juhu Apartment
on 3 June. She was
found unconscious at
about 12 in the night
and was declared
dead on arrival at
Cooper hospital.
4 EDITORIAL MW
OPINION: The woes of Mumbai monsoons
MONDAY, 24 JUNE, 2013
Far from being a
welcome break
after a long peri -
od of scorching
heat , the
monsoons prove
to be a curse for
Mumbaikars ra-
ther than joy and
respi te . Curse, as
most of the part
of the ci ty drowns
under knee deep
water . The reason
is not the unex-
pected ar r ival of
the monsoon but
clearly, i t 's be-
cause of the poor
drainage system
for which the ci t y
of Mumbai face
the problems of
water logging
even after a short
period of rainfal l .
Taking into ac-count the fact that Mumbai is now a mega -ci ty and home to some 12 mil l ion people, i t needs to be wel l prepared for heavy rainfal ls for a smooth f low
of t ransport and dai ly l i fe . But what actual ly hap-pens is the re-verse.
As the month of May comes close , there’s a rush to complete pre -monsoon work which most ly in-cludes clearing of drains and patch-ing or repair ing of roads. However , as soon as the f i rs t rainfal l hi ts the ci t y, roads
made with al l the engineering ski l ls and managed by BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corpo-rat ion ) and other agen-
cies , develop pot -
holes and man-
holes s tar t over-
f lowing, which is
no less than a
nightmare for dai -
ly commuters in a
drowned ci ty.
According to
BMC sources a
total of 611 pot-
holes have been
reported t i l l now.
BMC had planned
to f i l l 181 ini t ial -
ly, but has only
managed to repai r
23 of them. On
the other hand
BMC received 34
complaints of t ree
fal ls which led to
t raff ic divers ions.
The current mon-
soon season has
al ready s tar ted to
show i ts effects in
the ci ty. Traff ic
s ignals s tar t mal-
funct ioning in
suburban areas of
Mumbai l ike
Vakola bridge, Si-
on, Dadar and
other parts of the
ci ty. According to
the Indian Metro-
logical Depart -
ment sources , on
10th
June Mumbai re-
ceived 98 mm of
rain in 12
hours . On the
same day Mumbai
Pol ice Traff ic De-
partment informed
that the
traff ic affected
for around half an
hour at the West-
ern Express High-
way (WEH) f rom
Khar towards
Ghodbandar Road,
whi le there was a
delay of around
20 minutes on the
Vile Parle to
Bandra route. On
the Eastern Ex-
press Highway
(EEH) from Sion
to Dadar, t raff ic
was hal ted for al -
most 20 minutes
and vehicles go-
ing to Bandra
from Andheri had
to face a delay of
almost 17
minutes , t raff ic
department
sources added. At
the usual water -
logging spots
l ike Hindmata,
Milan subway,
Parel , LBS marg
and Kurla also
witnessed t raff ic
issues . Besides
the so -cal led vein
of Mumbai , the
local t rains were
also affected due
to water - logged
t racks, and run-
ning hours late,
s lowing down
Mumbikars .
Extreme weather
condi t ions, spe-
cial ly the mon-
soons, are a major
concern for which
the Government
and civic bodies
are responsible
and should take
proper act ion.
Every t ime the
media quest ions
the authori t ies
about their plans
to tackle the mon-
soons, the answer
is usual ly in the
form of a l is t of
repair works hap-
pening in the ci ty.
The government
along with BMC
should look upon
the avai lable data,
project ions, mod-
els , and work on a
long term
disaster manage-
ment project to
put an end to
monsoon woes in
Mumbai .
The above views are
personal views ex-
pressed by the au-
thor.
Debadatta Mallick
POINT OF VIEW: The change is yet to come
If there's one thing that
fate of Altaf Mansion,
Lucky Compound,
Campa Cola Com-
pound and most recent-
ly Shakuntala in Mum-
bra reveal then it's the
fact that the dreams of
most ordinary Mum-
baikars revolve around
possessing and living in
a house, any house, of
their own. Whether that
house is legal or livea-
ble appears to be less
relevant.
Barely two months ago,
72 people residing in
Lucky Compound died
in a building collapse
in Thane. Immediately
after the incident the
Brihanmumbai Munici-
pal Corporation (BMC)
announced their deci-
sion to evacuate and
demolish other illegal
and unsafe structures
across the city. It may
sound as if the local
authorities had fine
plan but scant attention
was paid to the plight
of the existing resi-
dents: how would they
be rehabilitated and
should they be penal-
ised for the shoddy
construction by build-
ers and approvals
granted by corrupt pub-
lic officials?
More recently, accord-
ing to media reports,
residents of Shakuntala
building claim to have
had no knowledge that
the local civic body had
deemed their building
unfit for human habita-
tion. While some ex-
pressed rage at the lack
of access to such infor-
mation, other survivors
indicated that even with
the knowledge their
options would be lim-
ited simply because
most citizens are averse
to moving government
transit camps. Transit
camps, they feel, hardly
ever lead elsewhere. So
most citizens preferring
remaining in unsafe
homes.
Just a few days ago
Altaf Mansion in
Mahim reminded us of
just how precarious ex-
istence is in this city.
The incident has been
followed by the usual
claims by the civic au-
thorities to investigate
into the real causes of
the tragedy. Whether it
was the material used
that was substandard or
the building owners
who were irresponsible,
it is the ordinary citi-
zens who have paid the
price. In April the Dep-
uty Commissioner of
Thane was arrested af-
ter the collapse of the
Lucky Compound in
Mumbra. There are
many others who ought
to be investigated and
taken to court. But for
something truly mean-
ingful to come out of it,
people must recognise
the fact that these is-
sues affect everyone,
across class. Lucky
Compound and Altaf
Mansion are not isolat-
ed cases, nor are they
Jayshree Kewalramani
disconnected from our
lives. Residents of
Campa Cola may not
suffered due to a col-
lapse but the authori-
ties' decision to demol-
ish flats without occu-
pation certificate
meant that even high-
rises were not immune
to issues that plague
the housing and real-
estate sector in the
city. Many a things
have been said about
the powerful builder-
politician nexus but
not enough seems to
be done to change it.
Jaane bhi do Yaaron,
that cult film made in
the 1980s on the build-
er-police-bureaucracy
nexus remains as rele-
vant today as it was 30
years, when it first re-
leased. Except that we
have had economic
liberalisation since
then and have bought
into the promises of
greater transparency
and accountability.
Yet, it feels as though
the more things
change the more they
remain the same.
The above views are
personal views ex-
pressed by the au-
thor.
Rescue workers dig through the remains of a collapsed building in Mahim in suburban Mumbai on 11th June 2013.
Sumedh Sawant / Mumbai Weekly
An auto-rickshaw driver pulls his auto-rickshaw through knee-length water in suburban Mumbai on 14 June 2013. Mumbai received an
early monsoon this season with roads and streets flooding in certain parts of Mumbai. Francis Mascarenhas / Mumbai Weekly
5 FEATURE MW MONDAY, 24 JUNE, 2013
Building Collapse shocks Mumbai again
Firemen attempt to rescue people from Altaf
Mansion building in suburban Mumbai on 10
June 2013. A large section of the building
collapsed as illegal alterations were made
on the ground floor and basement of the
building. Prashant Nair / Mumbai Weekly
A resident reacts after the death of his family member after the Altaf Mansion building col-
lapsed in suburban Mumbai on 11 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis / Mumbai Weekly
Above: Search and rescue operations underway after a portion of the Altaf mansion build-
ing collapsed in suburban Mumbai on 10 June 2013. Francis Mascarenhas / Mumbai
Weekly
M umbai city is recognized
globally as the enter-tainment and trading capital of India. How-ever, when it comes down to infrastructure, it isn’t the best in the country. After the tragic incident build-
ing collapse in Mum-bra (Suburban Mum-bai) on the outskirts of Thane, Mumbai is jolted yet again by an-other building falling in the suburban area of Mahim.
A portion of the build-
ing called Aftab Man-sion, collapsed on 10 June leaving residents and house owners helpless. A total of six families lived in the building out of which the Lakhas, who lived on the first floor, have lost five
members, while advo-cate Rizwan Merchant has lost three. Though there is no official confirmation but the residents and lo-cals say that the build-ing collapsed due to the lack of mainte-nance and illegal alter-
ations that were made to the pillars on the ground floor and the basement, which were being used as an auto-mobile showroom and a furniture workshop.
According to media
reports, Merchant,
who is also an advo-
cate, had complained
about the damages and
alterations in Aftab
Manzil by alleged
owners of the building
on the ground floor.
He lodged a first in-
formation report (FIR)
against several per-
sons including the
BMC for acting in a
negligent manner
however; he was in-
formed by the Bri-
hanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
that they have not re-
ceived his complaints.
He is now making use
of Right to Infor-
mation (RTI) Act to
dig out information
from the BMC, which
could be used against
it, to prove that the
civic body did not act
on his complaints.
Right: A member of the NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force) walks amongst the rubble
of a building collapse in suburban Mumbai on 11 June 2013. Ashish Vaishnav / Mumbai
Weekly
Above: The remains of Altaf Mansion building as seen from a top view after the structure
of the building collapsed in Suburban Mumbai on 10 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis /
Mumbai Weekly
6 ECONOMY MW
Monsoon season sees multiple car launches in the city
MONDAY, 24 JUNE, 2013
Mumbai saw a number
of new car launches
this month with vari-
ous car manufacturers
offering their latest
from the automotive
world. Starting with
Fiat, the company
rolled out three new
variants of its Linea T
-Jet sedan. Priced
from Rs. 787,000-
911,000, the new se-
dan is a petrol variant
and comes with a tur-
bo charged engine for
that extra perfor-
mance.
Next up is the German
car maker Mercedes
which launched its
newest range of pre-
mium hatchback series
into the Indian market.
The A-class is said to
be targeted towards
the youth and it comes
in a 2.2 litre diesel en-
gine which is priced at
Rs. 2,193,000 and ac-
cording to sources it is
the most fuel efficient
luxury car in India de-
livering fuel efficien-
cy of 20.6 kilometres
per litre. There is also
a 1.6 litre petrol ver-
sion which is priced at
Rs. 2,273,000 giving a
fuel efficiency of
about 15 kilometres
per litre. The A Class
is powered by an effi-
cient turbo-charged
engine with direct in-
jection and comes
with standard ECO
start/stop function.
Last but not the least,
supercar maker Lam-
borghini showcased its
limited edition version
of the Gallardo to
mark the 50th anniver-
sary celebrations of
the company. The
Gallardo LP550-2
costing Rs.
30,600,000 is for the
serious sports car en-
thusiast said Pavan
Shetty, Head of India
Operations for Lam-
borghini.
Salt department issues
warning to locals
Rupee takes a hit as Sensex falls 500 points Gold prices continue to dip
News reports claim
that the 500 acre salt
pan in Bhandup (a
place in suburban
Mumbai) has been
called off limits as
the Centre-run salt
department recently
declared that it be-
longs to it. The salt
department also sent a
warning to the public
to not to enter into
any sale or lease
agreement with regard
to the plot.
The Centre had origi-
nally leased the salt
pans, to the Garodia
family to manufacture
salt around 60 years
ago. According to
sources, construction
company Shapoorji
Pallonji had tied up
with the Garodias for
development over the
land in case the Cen-
tre decided to give
away salt pans.
Sources also claim
that Shapoorji was
supposed to pay about
Rs 5,000,000,000 to
the Garodias for de-
velopment rights. In
return the Garodias
would also receive 9%
of the total built -up
area.
Trading at the stock markets was not pleasant treat for traders as news sources claim that the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) tumbled down by 500 points at mid-session making it the biggest intra-day fall since March last year.
On June 20 2013, the
sensex fell by 423 points in early trade, then a further drop by 501.34 points, to sl ip below 19,000 point level to trade at 18,744.36 points. Even the National Stock Exchange in-dex Nifty fell below the 5,700 mark line by losing 153.75 points to trade at 5,668.50. Traders sai
d that domestic fun-damentals such as record current ac-count deficit and high inflation con-cerns had put pres-sure on the rupee.
The heavy fall in the
stock exchange led to
slow trading as the
rupee sl ipped 130
paise to reach an all -
t ime low of 60
against the dollar on
the Interbank Foreign
Exchange. This fall
made the Federal Re-
serve highlight the
fact that how the
country is dependent
on foreign capital in-
flows to fund i ts cur-
rent account deficit .
Passers-by walk across the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in south Mumbai on 19th June 2013. Ac-
cording media sources the sensex fell by 501.34 points on 20 June 2013. Francis Mascarenhas / Mum-
bai Weekly
A salt-pan worker dumps a heap of salt at a salt pan farm in Bhadup in suburban Mumbai on 8 June 2013. According to media re-
ports the salt pan farm has been acquired by the salt department. Ashish Vaishnav / Mumbai Weekly
A passenger is seen at the window of a train bearing an advertisement of a
jewellery store in suburban Mumbai on 3 June 2013. News reports indicate
that gold prices have dropped as the value of Rupee has fallen drastically in
the global market. Ashish Vaishnav / Mumbai Weekly
Indian head of Lamborghini, Pavan Shetty, poses with the
newly launched Gallardo LP550-2 in suburban Mumbai on
18 June 2013. Debadatta Mallick / Mumbai Weekly
Indian head of Fiat-Chrysler, Nagesh Basavanhalli, poses
with the newly launched Fiat Linea T-Jet in south Mumbai
on 10 June 2013. Anushree Fadnavis / Mumbai Weekly
Indian head of Mercedes, Eberhard Kern, poses with the
newly launched Mercedes A-class in suburban Mumbai on
