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Smruti Koppikar

Smruti Koppikar

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BMC Budget 2026-27: Lavish Road Spending, Neglected Public Health And Commuters Raise Alarm

BMC Budget 2026-27: Lavish Road Spending, Neglected Public Health And Commuters Raise Alarm

The ₹80,952 crore BMC Budget 2026-27 allocates massive funds to road projects like the Coastal Road and GMLR, drawing criticism over neglect of...

26.02.2026 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai Needs Basic Infrastructure, Not Costly ‘Beautification’ Projects Like Musical Road And LED Installations

Mumbai is witnessing growing criticism of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s focus on cosmetic ‘beautification’ projects such as the Worli...

13.02.2026 7

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

How Mumbai’s Local Trains Are Turning Into Death Traps

The killing of a young lecturer exposes how overcrowding, systemic failures and poor emergency response have turned Mumbai’s local trains into daily...

31.01.2026 4

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Opinion | Ajit Pawar: The Politician Who Didn't Pretend

29.01.2026 9

NDTV

Smruti Koppikar

BMC Elections Are Over—Now Mumbai Must Be Governed In Public Interest

With the BMC elections concluded, Mumbai now needs governance focused on citizens, not polarisation or real estate interests. The next civic body must...

17.01.2026 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Do BMC Elections Matter? Why Mumbai’s Civic Polls Still Matter — And Where They Don’t

After four years without an elected BMC, Mumbai goes to civic polls amid declining liveability and soaring budgets. While corporators can address...

03.01.2026 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Coastal Road: A Road For Few, Paid For By Taxpayers And The Environment

In any other context, this might have been considered absurd. One, that a coastal road as expensive as this, financially and ecologically, is being...

20.12.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Why Should The New Bombay HC Have A Colonial Hangover?

The new one, spanning across 30 acres, is expected to cost around Rs 3,750 crore, and the design has already generated controversy or, at least, a...

07.12.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Why Mumbai Can’t Have Its Own Zohran Mamdani — And What NYC’s Political Shift Reveals About India’s Urban Democratic Crisis

The recent election in New York that catapulted the 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani of Indian descent, a self-confessed democratic socialist and a visible...

22.11.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Women’s World Cup Glory Exposes India’s Long-Neglected Sports Infrastructure for Girls

What a win for the Indian women’s cricket team it turned out to be. There’s no cricketing aficionado who would have been left untouched by the...

08.11.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

The Dazzle Of Diwali In A Shining And Struggling Mumbai

Searching for answers to such questions is like trying to find a quiet and no-smoke spot in the city that routinely goes berserk with firecrackers,...

26.10.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai Floods Insight: Embracing Sponge City Concepts Could Transform Urban Water Management

When it did not stop raining even on the eve of Navratri in Mumbai, well into the third week of September, worry was writ large for many in the city....

26.09.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Lalbaugcha Raja Visarjan Highlights Corporate Takeover Of Mumbai’s Public Festivals

The story of the disrupted and delayed immersion of Mumbai’s famous Ganpati idol, Lalbaugcha Raja, over the weekend, has by now turned into...

13.09.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai’s Iconic Wood-Fired Bakeries Face Heat As BMC Pushes For Fuel Switch Amid Air Pollution Crisis

The city’s air has been thick not only with its favourite deity Ganapati coming ‘home’ for ten days but also with another issue that goes back...

30.08.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Independence Day 2025: Retelling India’s Freedom Stories To Inspire Today’s Youth

Explore the untold stories of India’s freedom movement this Independence Day 2025. From Mumbai’s unsung heroes to inspiring women fighters,...

16.08.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Zohran Mamdani May Inspire Mumbai, But NY’s Socialist Spark Won’t Ignite Here Easily

It’s clear that Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who may well be the first South Asian Muslim mayor of New York, has stirred more than...

05.07.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Unauthorised Buildings Near Airports And Cities: When Will Officials Be Punished?

Like other airports in cities across India, Mumbai’s too has dozens of buildings around it, in the very pathway of aircraft taking off and landing....

21.06.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai Will Flood More, Not Less — But The Romance Of Rain Can Return With Better Planning

There was pre-monsoon rain, and parts of Mumbai flooded. The monsoon arrived earlier than its usual landing of early-to-mid June, and the city flooded...

07.06.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai’s Vulnerability Amid India-Pakistan Tensions: Assessing Preparedness And Risks Of Terror & Nuclear Threats

The hysteria was palpable, the fear was real, and the sense of doom was all around us in the city earlier this month as the India-Pakistan hostilities...

24.05.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Mumbai’s Beloved BEST: Who Is killing It, And Why?

When the tell-all story of Mumbai’s blood red or vermillion, considering that sindoor is the popular word after India’s operation against terror...

10.05.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Thackeray Cousins' Reunion: A Political Move Beyond Maharashtra's Marathi Asmita?

“If we fail to reunite, future generations will not forgive us,” went a line in the editorial of Saamna, the official newspaper of the Shiv Sena...

26.04.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Ram Navami Processions And The Unlearned Lessons Of Communal Violence In Mumbai

The songs that played out on the music system and the slogans that were lustily shouted had little to do with Ram Navami, an occasion of piety and...

12.04.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

The Joke Is On Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde And Unfortunately, On Mumbai’s Creative Spirit

“Yeh Tamil Nadu kaisa pochega, bhai?” (How do I reach Tamil Nadu, brother?) that a self-confessed attacker asked his target, comedian Kunal Kamra,...

29.03.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

The Unstated Ecological Cost Of The New-Fangled AI Innovation City

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Monday this week that his government was planning to set up a 300-acre innovation city in Navi Mumbai,...

01.03.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Cities In India Must Tread Slowly On The Worldwide 15-Minute City Craze

Discussions about the 15-minute city came back into circulation, not that they had completely gone away, with the world-renowned The Economist...

15.02.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Why We Need Not Put Up With Roads Dug Up All Over Mumbai

Have you met a road, any road, anywhere in Mumbai that has not been dug up? If the venerable Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were to run a...

01.02.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Corporate 70-90 Hour Work Weeks: A Dangerous Throwback To The Past

India’s corporate leaders risk reversing the hard-fought wins of work-life balance.

18.01.2025 20

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Bhopal To Mumbai: Four Decades Of Ignored Air Pollution Lessons

Toxic air persists as India prioritises economy over environment and lives.

04.01.2025 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Shirish B Patel Passes Away At 92: Engineer And Planner Who Left His Imprint On Mumbai's Skyline

As Patel passes into the ages, quietly this Friday morning, it is difficult to acknowledge that there will be significant discussions and debates...

22.12.2024 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar

Can We Dare Hope For A More Liveable Mumbai In 2025?

A wishlist for Mumbai’s future: challenges, needs, and the promise of better living. The dream of a liveable Mumbai should not remain a mere...

21.12.2024 10

Free Press Journal

Smruti Koppikar