Excerpt from The Times of India, reported by Nauzer K Bharucha, TNN on Feb 1, 2011: Read Full Article

The Maharashtra government’s move to hand over almost 500 acres of slum pockets at throw away prices was done under a little known clause of the Slum Act.

TOI has learnt that the latest slum sprawl—47 acres in Chembur—was sanctioned by the state government a month before Prithviraj Chavan took over as chief minister last November. Official sources said the new CM was apprised of the controversial 3K clause, which they said was being used to gift select builders vast slum clusters for redevelopment. They added that the son of a Union minister is involved in one of the projects approved by the government.

Led by NCP leaders, citizens express their anguish against the MNC and the BMC. Yesterday morning Nawab Malik, Nationalist Congress Party leader and an MLA, lead nearly thousand citizens to protest against the discriminatory water supply policies of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is leading to water crisis in the Chembur, Anushakti Nagar, and Govandi area.

While the two Pepsi plants at Chembur are receiving uninterrupted water supply, the residents of the above mentioned area are facing an acute water crisis. This negligent attitude of the BMC is further highlighted by the fact that on an average, nearly 3 million litres of water is used by the two plants. And in sharp contrast, the locals do not even receive the mandatory 125 MLD (million litres per day).

Locals lead by Malik, expressed their anguish by breaking Pepsi bottles and raising slogans ‘Janata hai behaal, Pepsi hai malamal’ and ‘Janata mange paani, Pepsi kare manmani.’ These protestors had gathered near the Chatrapati Shivaji Statue at R.K. Studios in Chembur. Malik even ridiculed the Pepsi’s ‘youngistan’ advertisement on television, stating that how could the company talk of youngistan, when the youth do not even have water to drink.

Excerpt from OneIndia, reported by Denise Baptiste on October 21, 2010: Read Full Article

Have you ever come across someone telling you they have seen the richest beggar ? In this case, it is true.

Beggars are no choosers but here, these beggars are. They live a lifestyle on dirty roads, homes in the slum and poor hygienic conditions. But, if you ever venture out to take a peek at their bank balance, you will be amazingly shocked.

Listed below are some beggars who live in Mumbai, India. They are regarded as the richest beggars in India having a huge bank balance and a lot of property, but still continue to live the life they first started.

1.Massu- Known as Massu or Malana. This 60-year-old, beggar begs for a living and gets a daily wage of 1,000 to 1,500. He owns a one bedroom flat, west of Mumbai and another nearby. His work place is at Lokhandwala where he sits near expensive restaurants which is visited by film stars and other famous personalities. He has 30 lakh investment in properties alone.

2.Krishna Kumar Gite-This 42-year-old has assets worth 5 lakh in properties alone. He makes a daily wage of 1,500 to 2,000. his work place is on Chami Road near the CP Tank.

3.Bharat Jain- He makes a daily earning of 2,000 to 2,500. This 45-year-old begs near the Azad Maidan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. This rich beggar also owns a family apartment which is worth 60 lakh. He has also rented out a shop to a juice center in Bhandup, where he collects a sum of 7,000 a month towards the rent.

4. Haji- This 26-year-old begs near temples and mosques in Deonar and Chembur. His family business is run by his mother and sister who owns a Zari workshop where they have employed 15 workers. He has assets worth 15 lakh earning a daily wage of 1,000 to 2,000.

These profiles of the richest beggars in India are outstanding. Next time you see a beggar on the streets in India, think again for you might have met a celebrity.

Thirty activists of Republican Party of India (RPI) were today arrested on charges of unlawful assembly outside a counting centre in suburban Chembur.

The workers started shouting slogans and staged demonstration in the evening when they realised that their party candidate Deepak Nikhalje was losing the polls , According to the RCF police,

“As they were causing inconvenience to people, we asked them to stop their demonstration. Despite orders, the workers staged protests following which they were arrested,” Shirish Shelke, senior police inspector, RCF police station. he also added that the workers demanded a re-polling and alleged that the EVM machines used in the elections were faulty. The accused will be produced before a local court tomorrow.

As reported in DNA by Shwetaa Rahul on Saturday, July 4 2009

Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee hopes to make 38 railway stations in Maharashtra out of 375 in the country ‘Adarsh’ (model) stations. Her definition of an Adarsh station? Developing stations with basic facilities such as drinking water, adequate toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and dormitories especially for lady passengers, better signage and other basic facilities which are universally available.

The stations in Mumbai are Andheri, Bandra, Belapur, Charni Road, Chembur, Churchgate, Currey Road, Dadar, Dahanu Road, Dockyard Road, Dombivili, Ghatkopar, Karjat, Kasara, Khopoli, King’s Circle, Kurla, Malad, Marine Lines, Matunga, Mira Road, Mulund, Mumbai Central (local), Nahur, Naigaon, Sanpada, Santa Cruz, Sewri, Tilak Nagar, Turbhe, Ulhasnagar, Vashi and Virar.

But there is confusion. “The budget seems to be unclear as the basic facilities mentioned in the speech are already in place at these stations. Also, it is not possible to provide dormitories at these stations even though a large number of people may use it daily,” said a senior railway official, adding, “Only after we receive a detailed explanation about the project will we be able to work on the proposed plan.”

Banerjee also intends to go ahead with developing Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Pune and Nagpur stations in Maharashtra as world class stations.

Women from the mahila mandal federation in Chembur-Trombay slums prepare to contest future elections instead of relying on politicians .

While the apathy of current politicians has driven the youth to enroll as voters in large numbers in order to make a difference this election, ordinary women are preparing to contest future elections themselves instead of relying on politicians. Some 200 women from the Chembur-Trombay slums are aiming to become leaders in their community and city who can make a difference.

Women like Aneesa Ansari and Biju Bhosle are using their literacy to make a difference in the slum communities of Chembur-Trombay.After a taste of success in the elections held for the executive committee of the 8,000-member strong Mahila Mandal Federation that operates in the slums, these women are preparing to contest the civic elections to be held in 2011. One of them is Mumtaz Sheikh (25) from Vasi Naka.

She was never allowed to step out of her house, was beaten by her husband and led a painfully suppressed life at her in-laws house. Today she is a smart outgoing woman who has divorced the man who harassed her, remarried and settled in the same area.

Excerpt from CG+, reported by Divya Fernandez on 2nd May 2009: Read Full Article 

Could you ever imagine that a $200 (Rs 10000 per 100ml) perfume would be inspired by the fragrances of Chembur. Believe it or Not! It Has!

“Chembur” by Byredo is a oriental spicy fragrance for women and men. Chembur is a new fragrance and it was introduced in 2008. The fragrance features bergamot, lemon, ginger, temple incense, nutmeg, french labdanum, amber and vanilla and musk.This is an elegant unisex spicy scent that starts with bergamot and ginger and it proceeds in a honeyed resinous wonderfully textured drydown.

Byredo (By Redolence) is a Swedish Company founded by Ben Gorham who is maternal ties with Chembur. With a Swedish father, an Indian mother and a childhood shared between Canada and Sweden, Ben Gorham’s olfactory adventure with Chembur started, when he used to visit Chembur with his mother , who was born and brought up at “Joseph Haven ” built in 1935 on 11th road. Ben visited Chembur many times as a child and returned after almost 15 years to find the area developed. Lingering still, however, was the evocative incense from a Hindu temple that inspired him to capture it in a bottle.

Ben Gorhan has a degree in Fine Arts, and a career as a professional basketball player , started ByRedo (By Redolence) in 2006, and started testing the scented waters first with high quality candles, room sprays, soaps and body products.

Read more on this in CG+ by Divya Fernandez Chembur in a bottle

The long awaited KStar Mall near Diamond Garden, has Finally opened its doors to the eager Chembur Residents. Though a tad smaller than most of popular Malls in Mumbai like the InOrbit, Nirmal Lifestyles/PVR , Center One, Dreams Mall, It sure will be more busy compared to most of the formerly mentioned hangouts , as it is First and the Only yet for us Chemburites.

Happy that now there is an Air-Conditioned place to window shop in Chembur too, we thought of taking a tour of the new ” Chemburs Place To Be “. It turned out to be a QUICK tour, as probably more than half of the shops are yet to open.

After passing through a Metal detector, a quick scan of your carry bag, and another scan by an hand held, You will see only a REBOOK store on the ground floor, On the first we saw Koutons, Le Berry, b:you , and a yet to open E-Zone , the second had a huge ING Insurance (WHY???? such a big floor space occupied by a Bank inside an already measly mall, we could have had some recreation area instead ,Please!) . On the third, there is this food court. A few stalls were open and I must say there were enough people to fill the space on a Saturday afternoon (that just shows how desperate we all are for a hangout in Chembur)

Apart from the classic array of already bored to death choice of Dominos Pizza, Mac Donalds, we have Little Italy, Kailash Parbat, a Chinese called China Land (…very intuitive indeed… pun!) , A south Indian called Malgudi (Now that is innovative) and a few more closed doors … you have to wait to find out.  Inspite of having carried our hunger to the mall, with a hope to  hog on anything new our NEW Mall had on offer , we din’t find anything novel to satisfy our palate …

As you can see from the pictures , The Mall still doesn’t seem to have received the complete consignments of the light bulbs required .. the place seems  quite under lit even at 2 in the afternoon!

Sunil Bandekar writes a usefull details about Stations on the  Harbour line …. heres a quick snippet … read more on his blog

Chembur is a suburban neighbourhood in the eastern Mumbai. The name Chembur is derived from the word “Chemburee” which means “Large Crab” in Marathi.

LokmayaTilakTerminus was earlier known as Kurla Terminus, as it is situated in Kurla. The Kurla and Tilak Nagar suburban railway stations are located nearby.

Govandi has excellent infrastructure, with connectivity to Sion-Trombay Highway, on the Eastern side. Deonar Village is adjacent to the Sion-Trombay Highway…

• Read more about these and other  stations on central railway(Harbour line) by Sunil Bandekar