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Nine of the 36 <keyword id="10157351" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pollution-monitoring-station">pollution monitoring station</keyword> in Delhi showed 'severe' air quality index on Friday, according to <keyword id="7176324" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Central-Pollution-Control-Board">the Central Pollution Control Board</keyword>'s data. According to the pollution monitoring agency, AQI in North Delhi's Alipur area was 447, which falls in the 'severe' category, followed by Shadipur, Wazirpur, Jahagirpuri, Mundka, Patparganj, Anand Vihar, Bawana, and Vivek Vihar. Besides these, 26 pollution monitoring station showed 'very poor' reading and one logged moderate air quality index. The overall pollution levels continued to be in the lower end of the 'very poor' category at 372 at noon. Vijay Kumar Sonu, Head of Environment Monitoring and Research Centre at IMD told IANS that "due to calm wind there is no dispersion of pollutants". "The wind speed will, however, pick up from October 26 and would likely result in improvement of AQI," he said. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, which comes under the aegis of <keyword id="158211" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Earth-Sciences">Ministry of Earth Sciences</keyword>, also stated that the most dominant factor for deterioration is extremely calm surface wind in Delhi, combined with low inversion height followed by moderate stubble related intrusion. "Highly calm surface wind conditions prevail over the Delhi region and is forecast to continue for next two days. It will lead to low ventilation conditions and little dispersion for an extended period and hence accumulation of pollutants near the surface. Further deterioration of AQI is predicted for the next 2 days," the forecasting agency added. SAFAR also stated that there was significant stubble fire count around Haryana, Punjab, and neighbouring regions with the counts at 1,213 on Thursday, slightly less than what was a day before. "However, the boundary layer wind direction is not fully favourable for pollutant transport towards Delhi region, the SAFAR model estimate of stubble burning share in PM2.5 is 17 per cent for today," it added. Neighbouring Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida and Greater Noida -- also recorded 'very poor' quality of air. Greater Noida and Noida air is currently the most polluted among all. Nationwide, as many as 18 cities have very poor quality of air. Greater Noida tops the charts at 392, followed by Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, Noida and Panipat. Shillong recorded the cleanest air in the country. (Aakanksha Khajuria can be contacted at aakanksha.k@ians.in) --IANS aka/in

One-fourth of Delhi's air is 'severely' polluted, according to the Central Pollution Control Board

Delhi woke up to a grey morning as an apocalyptic smog blotted out the sun from the sky and smudged landmarks from view with air quality inching closer to "emergency" levels on Tuesday. Air quality monitoring stations at Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Pusa, Rohini, Patparganj, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Najafgarh, Sri Aurobindo Marg and Okhla Phase 2 maxed out - as air quality indexes hit the 500 mark, <keyword id="67999" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Pollution-Control-Board">Central Pollution Control Board</keyword> data showed. The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Delhi recorded an AQI of 487 at 9 am, which falls in the "severe" category. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (474), Ghaziabad (476), Noida (490), Greater Noida (467), and Gurugram (469) also recorded "severe" air quality. This is the sixth "severe" air day on the trot in Delhi. The city witnessed seven "severe" air days in November last year. The levels of PM2.5 - finer particles which can even enter the bloodstream - in Delhi-NCR were 605 g/m3 at 8 am - around ten times the safe limit of 60 g/m3. PM10 levels stood at 777 microgram per cubic meter (g/m3) at 8 am, the highest since November June 14, 2018, when it surged to 847 g/m3, according to CPCB data. PM10 levels below 100 g/m3 are considered safe in India. If PM2.5 and PM10 levels are more than 300 g/m3 and 500 g/m3 for over 48 hours, emergency measures such ban on construction activities, entry of trucks and car rationing scheme can be implemented under the Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi-NCR notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2017. Government agencies and experts said calm wind speeds were exacerbating the effect of stubble burning and a "quick recovery" is not possible unless the number of farm fires reduces drastically. V K Soni, the head of the IMD's environment research centre, said a major improvement in Delhi-NCR's air quality was highly unlikely in the coming days. "The air quality is likely to be recorded in the upper end of the ''very poor'' category on Diwali if we discount firecrackers emissions. If people burst crackers, pollution levels can increase to 'severe'' to 'severe plus' category (emergency)," he said. <keyword id="2462566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-National-Green-Tribunal">The National Green Tribunal</keyword> on Monday imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight, saying "celebration by crackers is for happiness and not to celebrate deaths and diseases". The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said, "Low dispersion condition continues in Delhi along with high fire-related intrusion. This has led to the accumulation of pollutants near the surface." "No quick recovery is expected unless a drastic reduction in fire counts takes place," it said. SAFAR said the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution was 38 percent on Monday. According to the IMD, Delhi recorded calm winds and a minimum temperature of 10.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning. Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion. There was moderate fog in the morning which led to smog. It reduced visibility to 300 meters at the Safdarjung and Palam weather stations, an IMD official said. The newly-constituted Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas on Monday stressed the need to enforce existing laws, directions and SOPs to minimise air pollution on an emergency basis. It is expected to review the situation on Tuesday. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said action will be taken against those not complying with the ban on firecrackers under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act which included a jail term of up to six years. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-90-effective-in-preventing-coronavirus-in-those-who-havent-been-infected-ever-before/articleshow/79130097.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective in preventing coronavirus in those who haven’t been infected ever before, shows data from latest trials</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-q2-earnings-tomorrow-profit-likely-to-fall-19-percent-but-tractor-sales-may-help-revenue/articleshow/79129620.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Strong tractor sales may cushion M&amp;M’s revenue but profit is likely to remain under pressure, say analysts</a>

Delhi-NCR's air quality on brink of "emergency" after city records AQI of 487 — falling in the 'severe' category for the sixth consecutive day

<keyword id="51958" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="YES">Yes</keyword> those are the places infamous for thier traffic. What's interesting is app based cab aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> has created a report on ‘how India commuted’ last year. The analysis takes into account several parameters including traffic congestion in cities based on average speeds, traffic bottlenecks in cities, most popular pickup/drop locations and fuel and carbon emissions saved through the usage of shared rides. There is a reason why you should avoid going to <keyword id="187137" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="ITO">ITO</keyword> in Delhi, <keyword id="48523" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Silk">Silk</keyword> Board Junction in Bangalore and <keyword id="707449" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kalanagar-junction">Kalanagar Junction</keyword> in Mumbai. 
 
See the slideshow below to find the baffling the report.

Here's why you should never go to ITO in Delhi, Silk Board Junction in Bangalore and Kalanagar Junction in Mumbai

Union Environment Minister <keyword id="119642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prakash-Javadekar">Prakash Javadekar</keyword> on Thursday flagged off 50 inspection teams of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for field visits in Delhi-NCR to keep a watch on <keyword id="10111530" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pollution-hot-spots">pollution hot spots</keyword> during the winter season and urged the Punjab government to curb stubble burning. He said stubble burning, however, is not a major factor for <keyword id="55910" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-Pollution">air pollution</keyword> in Delhi-NCR. "Only 4 per cent pollution is due to stubble burning. Ninety-six per cent of it is due to local factors like biomass burning, garbage dumping, unpaved roads, dust, construction and demolition activities, etc.," he told reporters at his residence in Delhi. Javadekar said his throat choked with the smoke from burning of crop residue during a recent visit to Ludhiana. "I appeal to the Punjab government to swing into action and curb stubble burning. I went to attend a programme in Ludhiana last year. On my way back, my throat choked due to the smoke from stubble burning even when I was in an air-conditioned car. It is harmful for everyone, including people living there. The Punjab government should ensure there is not much stubble burning this time," the minister said. Addressing the nodal officers of the CPCB teams, he said, "You will work for next two months and take note of all activities and complaints. You will inspect all factors. You have the right to file a report on your observations and strict action will be taken." He said, "The way corona warriors are appreciated, you (CPCB officials) all are warriors fighting pollution and we highly appreciate you. We will meet after two months." The minister said that while on one hand there is stubble burning, on the other there is garbage being burnt by public and "even by karamchaaris". "We have to keep a watch on that too," he said. Javadekar urged people to avoid congested routes and opt for other routes even if they are longer. "I appeal to people to not go to already congested areas and take longer routes. Use cycles for nearby work," he said. The 50 CPCB teams will make extensive field visits from October 15 to February 28 next year and focus on hot spots where air pollution is aggravated, the environment ministry said. They will visit Delhi and NCR towns Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh; Gurugram, Faridabad, Ballabgarh, Jhajjar, Panipat, Sonepat in Haryana; and Bhiwadi, Alwar, Bharatpur in Rajasthan. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/now-paytm-mall-joins-amazon-flipkart-snapdeal-and-myntra-with-the-same-dates-for-its-sale-event/articleshow/78677121.cms">Now, Paytm Mall joins Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Myntra with the same dates for its sale event</a>

Prakash Javadekar flags off 50 inspection teams, says only 4% pollution in Delhi-NCR due to stubble burning

With so many highway movies doing the rounds, sojourning from city to city and state to state feels like a romantic prelude to a long <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> of self-discovery – till reality strikes. And just like a movie, the reality can be multilayered – varying from bad roads to gasping traffic and minimal road safety. But we promised you relief from those travelling conditions the next time we return with our <keyword id="2053047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Open-roads">Open Roads</keyword> series. And here we are, with more information about a whole new bunch of <keyword id="2074695" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intracity-and-inter-city-expressways">intracity and inter-city expressways</keyword> that not only reduce <keyword id="4251245" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commute-time">commute time</keyword> but also reshape a country’s landscape, <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> and way of life. In the last slideshow of this series, the journey begins from the <keyword id="44875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="West-coast">west coast</keyword> and goes down south. 
 As we have mentioned before, expressways are limited-access roads designed for high-speed traffic. The economic impact of an <keyword id="2074705" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Expressway-network">expressway network</keyword> criss-crossing the country is all too obvious and the <keyword id="6404450" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Road-Transport-and-Highways">Ministry of Road Transport and Highways</keyword> (MoRTH) has already recommended a total <keyword id="2074707" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-way-network">e-way network</keyword> of about 18,637 km in the country. Development work is being done in three phases and is scheduled to be completed by 2022. During the Interim Budget, <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="43940" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="P-Chidambaram">P Chidambaram</keyword> also told the Parliament the road network in the country witnessed over sevenfold increase at 3.89 lakh km over the past decade. 
 Does that mean we may soon see an <keyword id="2074709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-way-ecosystem">e-way ecosystem</keyword> similar to the interstate system in the US? Given the obstacles in terms of <keyword id="6364579" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Land-acquisition">land acquisition</keyword>, <keyword id="414903" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fund-crunch">fund crunch</keyword> and <keyword id="2074714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Slow-implementation">slow implementation</keyword>, it’s definitely going to take some time. Meanwhile, hop into the driver’s seat and go off exploring some super-fast roads you have not travelled yet. After all, it’s a journey with no end… and wheels will always need roads. 
 
Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Be It Intracity Or
Inter-city, These 5 Expressways Make Travelling A Breeze

<keyword id="2765965" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Environment-Minister-Prakash-Javadekar">Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar</keyword> said on Tuesday that a state environment ministers meeting will take place this Thursday over the issue of pollution while asserting that various measures have already been taken in order to curb it. He added that it needs to be understood that pollution stays for 2-3 months and it also has a "geographic" reason for it. Javadekar said that given that <keyword id="55910" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-Pollution">air pollution</keyword> affects not according to state limits but according to air shed which affects Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram and other cities alike, Thursday's meeting will be attended by environment ministers and environment secretaries of 5 states and UTs -- Delhi, Punjab Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. He informed that state pollution control board chiefs, other senior officials and heads of corporation bodies like DDA, NDMC will also be in attendance. This meeting will be conducted virtually. "All agencies were given short, medium and long term plans in 2016. Thursday's meeting will be to review the work done," the Minister said. The CPCB's work in the past two years will also be reviewed in the meeting, he added. The work done by the states will also be reviewed. Javadekar added that 8 meetings have taken place so far this year - one each under the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary and Advisor to the PMO and the environment secretary holding a couple of meetings. The CPCB has held 4 meetings so far. The minister listed steps like launching an Air Quality Index, shutting down power plants in Badarpur and Sonipat, peripheral expressway, BS 6 <keyword id="36810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="vehicles">vehicles</keyword>, waste management rules, subsidy to electric vehicles among others to claim that efforts were being made in the last few years to curb air pollution. He added that the goal is to help people without indulging in politics. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byju-raveendran-vijay-shekhar-sharma-nithin-kamath-and-udaan-co-founders-are-in-the-list-of-richest-entrepreneurs-of-india/articleshow/78380782.cms">From Byju Raveendran, Vijay Shekhar Sharma to Nithin Kamath and Udaan co-founders – Here are the richest entrepreneurs of India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/list-of-top-ten-richest-people-in-india-according-to-hurun-rich-list-2020/slidelist/78380656.cms">These are the top ten billionaires in India, according to Hurun Rich List 2020</a>

Javadekar calls for state environment ministers meeting over pollution on Thursday

A good school for the children, a bungalow in an elegant part of the Indian capital, a job as a freelance writer, a maid, a driver, an inverter for the power cuts, and a water purifying system. These were some of the items Indian expat Jyoti Pande Lavakare ticked off on her list as “done” as she prepared to leave the piercing blue skies of Palo Alto in California to return to New Delhi in June 2009 with her husband Ajay, a technology start-up executive. The move proved smooth. Within months, the household had settled into a new rhythm. They were returning to spend time with their elderly parents and ensure their son, Madhav, and daughter, Naina, both in their early teens, had some “connection” with India, where both Jyoti and Ajay had grown up. They hoped to make them more resilient by teaching them to cope with power cuts, water shortages, and similar hardships. What Lavakare, now in her early 50s, hadn’t bargained for was the poisonous air. The city had a “hidden” secret: its air was fouler than Beijing’s but hardly anyone knew. With every passing winter, the air quality was plummeting. Jyoti Pande Lavakare. “In 2014, I realised something was making us all sick. At my children’s school, children were falling ill constantly. My friends’ children were falling ill. I had a bad asthma attack. When we met other expats, the talk was about what was wrong with the air,” says Lavakare. She thought she was being hypersensitive. Indian friends teased her for having become too “American”. But Lavakare began reading about and researching the air quality and soon became obsessive about the pollution. When the American embassy in Delhi, which had been collecting air quality data but keeping it private, released the figures to the public in 2015, the secret was out. Lavakare was right to be obsessed: New Delhi’s pollution was off the charts, registering 222 during US President Barack Obama’s visit in January 2015. Readings from 151 to 200 are considered unhealthy, and any above that very unhealthy, meaning “health warnings of emergency conditions”. The Indian capital’s residents were living in a gas chamber. In January 2015, Bloomberg quoted David Spiegelhalter, a University of Cambridge statistician, as saying that, by visiting the capital and breathing its air for just three days, Obama might have cut six hours from his expected lifespan. New York Times correspondent Gardiner Harris (a neighbour of Lavakare’s in Sunder Nagar) wrote a quietly impassioned article on how he was leaving New Delhi after his young son suffered a horrifying asthma attack. Breathing the air was the equivalent of smoking 44 cigarettes a day, according to the independent Berkeley Earth science research group. “At first I was in denial. Had I brought my children back to India to breathe pure poison and harm their lungs? But when the data started coming out … I knew we were in a crisis,” says Lavakare. She bought face masks and air <keyword id="2029750" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="purifiers">purifiers</keyword>, but that was only dealing with her own patch. Angry at the horror of the city’s 20 million residents breathing filthy air, she co-founded Care for Air in 2015 with other professionals, as a platform to build awareness that the city was in the midst of a “public health emergency” and to lobby for clean air. With her colourful silk saris and long wavy hair, pushed back by her glasses, Lavakare is now well-known as an expert on air pollution; she is invited to join television debates. She is unimpressed with the measures the New Delhi government has just announced to “minimise” (no one is talking of eliminating) the pollution this winter that turns the capital into a kind of “air gulag”, thick with tiny particles known as PM2.5 which damage not just respiratory systems, as many seem to think – but many other human organs too. The quality of October’s air plunged to “poor” even before Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights when the bursting of firecrackers makes the “normal” pollution many times worse. On some days in late October, the state-run Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index stood at around 300 – six times the recommended level. The index has risen as high as 999 after Diwali for two consecutive years. This year, the government began putting tougher measures in place. Under its Graded Response Action Plan, drivers are allowed to use their cars every other day, depending on whether their number plates end in an odd or even number, to limit vehicle emissions; people found burning waste are fined; bus and metro services are increased; the use of diesel generators has been banned; and water sprinklers and mechanical sweepers will be used to deal with the construction dust and debris that is responsible for the bulk of the pollution. <h2 style="margin-top: 1.14286rem; margin-bottom: 0.428571rem; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.21429rem; font-family: Merriweather, serif; vertical-align: baseline;">At first I was in denial. Had I brought my children back to India to breathe pure poison and harm their lungs?Jyoti Pande Lavakare</h2> By getting the doctors on Care for Air’s board to appear on television to talk about its effects, visiting schools to educate children, and galvanising the media to cover the subject, the group has succeeded in raising public awareness and making people, even the poor, demand action. You can see the difference in the booming sales of air purifiers and face masks. “When people first began wearing masks a few years ago, people used to stare. It seemed odd. Or they’d cross the street, thinking the person was contagious. Now no one thinks twice about wearing a mask,” says Mukesh Nath, a chemist in Sarai Jullena. For Lavakare, the fight for the right to breathe clean air has become fused with her personal life. She’s not worrying about her children – Naina has gone to Barnard College in New York, where she is studying sociology, and Madhav, currently on a gap year, has been accepted by Yale University in Connecticut. It’s more that, while she was campaigning and lobbying against pollution, it sneaked into her family, devastating it. Jyoti Pande Lavakare (left), her late mother Kamale Pande and father Jagdish Chandra Pande. Photo: courtesy of Lavakare family She had returned to India to spend time with her parents. But over a year ago, her mother, Kamale Pande, a classical vocalist and non-smoker, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She had no family history of the disease and was otherwise in excellent health. Suddenly, all those abstract statistics were embodied in her own mother’s lungs. Specialists linked the disease directly to <keyword id="55910" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-Pollution">air pollution</keyword> and Lavakare has no doubt at all about the causal link. In her book Choked, published this year, Beth Gardiner wrote: “You see one person run over in the street and you’ll never forget it, but thousands dying from the effects of dirty air will never even faze you.” Lavakare’s mother died last year. Trying to process her grief is one reason Lavakare is working on her own book, called Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health, to be published next year. It’s the story of her relationship with her dying city, with pollution, her mother’s suffering and on what can be done to spare Indians from pollution’s catastrophic impact. The fight for clean air is going to be prolonged. Misleading statistics have to be contested, for one. The Delhi government recently issued full-page advertisements to trumpet how air pollution had been cut by 25 per cent thanks to its efforts. <h2 style="margin-top: 1.14286rem; margin-bottom: 0.428571rem; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.21429rem; font-family: Merriweather, serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes, I wish we hadn’t given up our green cardJyoti Pande Lavakare, who returned to India with her family from Palo Alto, California, in 2009</h2> “Experts agree that there is no data available – at least in the public domain – that clearly validates the claim. It doesn’t mean the government is lying, but unless independent data analysts and scientists can access the data, no one can say whether this is just another piece of fake news or a manipulation of cherry-picked statistics,” says Lavakare. Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, says the coming weeks will see pollution getting worse. “There are 14 ‘hotspots’ – areas where pollution levels exceed the average because of the burning of municipal solid waste and industrial waste. To reduce the remaining 65 per cent of pollution, these sources need to be tackled,” she says. Lavakare wants action on a “war footing”. The city needs an empowered and accountable authority whose sole goal is to reduce pollution. She is convinced that neither New Delhi nor the country – last year, 11 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities were in India – can afford incremental progress. Anger inflects her voice, mostly when she talks of how little has been done. “Take 2018 – there was not a single ‘clean air’ day in the city. Take the government’s Clean India (Swachh Bharat) campaign. “How you can have a Clean India without clean air?” Or the government’s other pet scheme, Make in India. “How can you Make in India if you can’t breathe in India?” Lavakare asks. The figures are not just dispiriting, they are apocalyptic. A report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago in 2016 said air pollution was reducing the life expectancy of the average New Delhi resident by about 10 years. She and Ajay discuss whether they should become “pollution refugees” by leaving the city for Goa, a coastal state in India’s southeast. Friends have already sold up and fled. Many have had nasty health scares. Some have opted for crazy commutes, such as between Delhi and Toronto or Delhi and London. “Sometimes, I wish we hadn’t given up our green card,” she says.

New Delhi’s toxic air and how one expat family was affected – sick children, asthma, a death, and a campaign to awaken city to pollution threat

New Delhi, Nov 28 () IL&amp;FS Engineering and Construction said on Thursday that Bangalore Elevated Tollway Pvt Ltd (BETPL) has been awarded an amount of Rs 492 crore towards claim filed by the company against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
 IL&amp;FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd, an IL&amp;FS group company, has 24 per cent stake in BETPL.
 IL&amp;FS in a statement said it is entitled to about Rs 118 crore from the total claim awarded by the arbitration tribunal.
 BETPL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) promoted for the development of four-lane elevated and six-lane road from Silk Board Junction to Attibele in Bengaluru.
 NHAI had awarded the project to BETPL on a built-operate-transfer (toll) basis in January 2006.
 The scope of project involved construction of a four-lane elevated highway.
 "BETPL had filed a claim against the NHAI in the tribunal as per the terms of the contract pertaining to matters related to additional cost incurred due to extension of construction period (prolongation cost)," the statement said.
 The tribunal has given a majority award for an amount of Rs 492 crore (Rs 250 crore as principal and Rs 242 crore as interest), towards the claim filed by BETPL, on Wednesday, it said. NAM HRS

Bangalore Elevated Tollway awarded Rs 492 cr towards claim against NHAI

The death count in the <keyword id="12950978" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Guwahati-Bikaner-Express-train-accident" source="Orion">Guwahati-Bikaner Express train accident</keyword> in north Bengal climbed to nine and the officials said tracks have been cleared for traffic. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw arrived at the spot on Friday. Twelve coaches of the <keyword id="12946665" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Guwahati-Bikaner-Express-derailed" source="Orion">Guwahati-Bikaner Express derailed</keyword> in the Domohani area of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district on Thursday evening. "This is a tragic incident. It is very unfortunate. A statutory enquiry has already been ordered. The Hon'ble Prime Minister has been concerned about the death and the injured passengers and I am continuously in touch with the Prime Minister. I am also in touch with the ground situation and today I have come to find out the root cause of the accident. Once it is detected we will try to solve it so that there is no such accident for similar reasons," Vaishnaw said after reaching the accident spot. Nine persons died and another 36 persons were injured in the accident. According to sources in the Railways, the condition of 15 persons is serious. "The injured people have been sent to Jalpaiguri Super Speciality Hospital and North Bengal Medical College," a senior official of North Frontier Railways said. Meanwhile, the rescue operation has been concluded and the tracks have been cleared. "The rescue operation was conducted all through the night. Special teams from the BSF and NDRF went on with the rescue operation. The rakes were cleared off from the tracks at night only and the damaged engine was removed in the morning. There was some problem because of the darkness but we finally managed to do it," the official said. Nine trains were diverted through alternative routes following the accident, which include Guwahati-Howrah Saraighat Express, Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Express, New Delhi-Agartala Tejas Rajdhani Express and Trivandrum-Silchar Express and Kanchanjungha Express. According to the Railways, the Guwahati-<keyword id="352573" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bikaner-express" source="Orion">Bikaner Express</keyword> 15633 (up) that started from Bikaner in Rajasthan was heading to <keyword id="35727" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="guwahati" source="Orion">Guwahati</keyword> in Assam via Patna when the accident took place near Mainaguri in Jalpaiguri around 5.15 p.m. on Thursday. Mainaguri was not one of the train's 34 stoppages and the Bikaner Express was merely passing Jalpaiguri at the time of the incident. There were a total of 1,200 passengers on board, including 700 who boarded the train from Bikaner and 98 passengers who boarded the train from Patna junction. The railway authorities have announced a compensation of Rs five lakh for the families of the victims and Rs one lakh for the seriously injured and another Rs 25,000 for the injured. According to the railway authorities the reason for the accident is yet to be determined, but there was no problem regarding signal and it is expected that the derailment took place because of some problems on the track. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2022-expectation-in-higher-standard-deduction-tax-slabs-and-covid-insurance/slidelist/88891751.cms">From higher standard deduction and change in tax slabs to clarity on Covid insurance, here’s what tax experts want from Budget 2022</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-upcoming-features-communities-message-reactions-roundup-and-some-others/articleshow/88892104.cms">Here are the most awaited WhatsApp features that are expected to arrive soon on the app</a>

Over 9 people died and 36 injured in the Guwahati-Bikaner Express train accident

<keyword id="6354780" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karnataka">Karnataka</keyword>'s Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has invited city <keyword id="6366594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cycling">cycling</keyword> enthusiasts to mark the routes where they prefer cycling lanes, considering cycling picking up traction during Coronavirus and also for being a socially distanced personal transport option, an official said on Saturday. "Bicycling has picked up traction in <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> city during this Covid crisis. As a socially distanced personal transport option, it is by far the best option for distances that cannot be covered by walk," said a DULT official. Initiating #Mapyourcyclingroute campaign, the department has asked <keyword id="13010" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyclists">cyclists</keyword> to mark the routes on the map and DULT will put layers such as ward boundaries, transit stations, parks, lakes and schools. GPS Visualiser, Mapunity Draw, Google Maps or any tracking tool like Strava, mapmyride can be used for marking the routes. "We will keep this crowdsourcing effort open till August 14. If your area is not covered in this cycling district it will open up as soon as the plans and budget for the Cycling District 1 is completed and submitted for implementation," he said. DULT has been at the forefront of mobilizing people to take up cycling as preferred mode of transport for the past six years, including organising an event called CycleDay. Starting 2020, it has taken up bicycle infrastructure planning as a priority initiative and is committing resources for this purpose. Teaming up with the city civic body, the department is working to set up 34 km of pop-up bicycle lanes on the outer ring road between Silk Board Junction and Lowry College Junction near K. R. Puram. "DULT has planned to create cycling districts in phases which will extend to the rest of the city over time. The first cycling district spanning approximately 25 plus wards will complement this Pop-Up Bicycle Lane on outer ring road (ORR) and enhance its effectiveness," said the official. The Bengaluru Smart City and the civic body will take up these plans for implementation. Identifying five use cases, the department is considering Purple Line as a cycling route to work, Red Line as school routes, Orange Line as transit routes, Green Line as Rejuvenate Routes and Blue Line as neighbourhood shop routes. Cyclists can look at the map to see if their area falls in and around the identified cycling district, observe points of interest such as work, school, rejuvenate and last mile for transit, mark them and upload, contributing to the crowdsourcing initiative. With these initiatives, DULT aims to make the city cycling friendly. "Looking forward to covering the entire city and making Bengaluru cycling friendly," the official added.

Karnataka is building a cycling map for Bengaluru by crowdsourcing inputs from city's cyclists

<ul><li>Whether it’s a seaside Mumbai apartment with or a quaint 30,000 square feet home perched under the Goan sun – it’s the little things that make a house stand out.</li><li>From quirks of the homeowner to their artistically curated collection of artefacts, an interior designer takes upon him/her the job to bring out the wishes and dreams of people.</li><li>If you too are building your dream house, here are little anecdotes from India’s most spectacular homes from <a href="http://www.houzz.in/">Houzz.in</a>.</li></ul>A home is an investment for life – not just because of the sky rocketing real estate prices in India, but also because it becomes the place where you stitch together memories forever. Whether it’s a seaside Mumbai apartment with or a quaint 30,000 square feet home perched under the Goan sun… it’s the little things, the details in decor that make a house stand out to its guests. From quirks of the homeowner to their artistically curated collection of artefacts, an interior designer takes upon him/her the job to bring out the wishes and dreams of people. And if you too are building your dream house, here are little anecdotes from home design and renovation professionals on Houzz, designers to India’s most popular homes from <a href="http://www.houzz.in">Houzz.in</a>, the leading platform for home renovation and design. These Indian homes are some of the most liked and most read home tours among the Houzz community in 2020. Alia Bhat’s home of wonder Actress Alia Bhatt’s home in Mumbai embodies all things the actress really is and not just her glamorous side. Quirky yet comfortable styles rule the aesthetics of her home that she shares with her sister Shaheen. With inspiration from the classic New York-style loft, the living room has hints of colour and cosiness. <div type="image" title="Alia bhatt home_Richa-bahl" msid="80597835" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Richa Bahl from Richa Bahl Design Studio&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Bhatt’s home doesn’t just have an opulent dining area but also a little nook beside it, with a divan – perfect to enjoy your evening cup of tea with a book. “Given that Alia travels a lot, hotels are a mainstay of her lifestyle. Thus, I envisaged a cosy home that would bring her back to her roots, yet be high on style and luxury. The house is designed for entertaining and spending time with family and friends,” says Richa Bahl, founder and chief interior designer of her eponymous design firm <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/richa/richa-bahl">Richa Bahl Design Studio</a> on Houzz. And what stands out in the star’s house is the quaint little tea bar, designed for Bhatt’s love for chai. Interior designer’s words of wisdom – “Good clients always enable good output … and there is always the possibility for sophisticated spontaneity and the elegance of the unexpected!” Minimal decor, maximum sustainability Sustainability is the new cool and this 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom home in Surat, Gujarat is the epitome of it. Driven by the love for wood, teak wood, granite, concrete and brass accents are seen throughout this home. <div type="image" title="T house studio_Kalpak shah" msid="80597868" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Kalpak Shah from Studio Course&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “We had to abide by the builder’s guideline of standardised facade planning and exterior treatment. Thus, the internal spaces became our canvas for design experimentation,” said Kalpak Shah, founder and principal architect of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/studiocourse/studio-course">Studio Course</a> on Houzz. Made for a couple and their 10-year old daughter, the home is built with a mid-century modern aesthetic, one that withstands trends of all ages. From a basalt flagstone pathway to an Earth-inspired living room, the home also boasts of an open kitchen with wooden and copper hues and shuttered French windows which play with sunlight all day. Interior designer’s words of wisdom – “I believe to convey an expression, it's very important for the complete envelope to speak the same story.” This home is ‘Lit AF’ Bathed in natural light, this 5-bedroom, 5 bath home in Gujarat was tastefully designed to suit the family of six’s love for open spaces. Distinctive features in the house include a sky-lit courtyard in the centre which channels a Varanasi ghat vibe, a semi-open patio and an opulent exterior. <div type="image" title="Sun court house_Nikhil patel" msid="80597930" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Nikhil Patel from Ace Associates&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “As a multigenerational home to a family of six, our main challenge lay in coalescing the interests of the family into a singular design language. We tailored each room to echo the personalities of its occupants, while keeping the common areas true to the family’s collective ethos,” said architects Ashish Patel, Nikhil Patel and Nilesh Dalsania, and interior designer Vasudev Sheta, of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/aceanand/ace-associates">Ace Associates</a> on Houzz. Interior designer’s words of wisdom – The biggest learning was to learn from history and make it relevant to the present time with a new vision of art and technology... That is what indian contemporary architecture will be about. Old but beautiful Nestled in Chennai, an 80-year old 2 bedroom home boasts of all things vintage. From red oxide floors, to vintage furniture furnished with traditional silk saris, and black and white family photographs that adorn the walls, the home brings out the perfect balance between the old and new. <div type="image" title="Ancestral Home_Sharanya" msid="80597948" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Sharanya Srinivasan from Studio Context Architects&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “We decided to retain most of the original elements while bringing out the honesty of the structure,” says Sharanya Srinivasan, co-founder and principal architect of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/studiocontext/studio-context-architects">Studio Context Architects</a> on Houzz. Interior designer’s words of wisdom – “An old house is like an elderly person, and while some aspects might be in great health, other parts often have unexpected problems. It is important to understand the techniques and practices that went into the original construction. Sometimes, later renovations have layered other elements using later techniques on top of the original. We need to decide what to keep, what to upgrade and what to restore to its original state, such that it makes sense from a clinical perspective of setting the structure right, but also from the point of view of the emotion and values that the clients have acquired through decades of association. Educating ourselves and transmitting it to the labour force on these techniques, materials and values is essential to getting it right.” A compact apartment with showstopper elements All of just 1150 square feet, this Mumbai apartment has multiple elements that make it stand out in the crowd. From metallic accents in the living room to a 14-foot-long dinner table and a mint-toned terrazzo bar, this apartment is the best example of how interior elements are brought in to give a greater sense of space. <div type="image" title="A modern family_Nishita kamdar" msid="80597971" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Nishita Kamdar from Studio Nishita Kamdar&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “One of the biggest challenges of designing homes in Mumbai is the constraint one faces with the budget of the project. With the bulk of the budget reserved for the purchase of the property itself, homeowners are left with precious little for <keyword id="495275" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="interior-design">interior design</keyword>. We are constantly trying to adapt to this challenge through impactful planning and spatial innovation,” said interior designer on Houzz, <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/studionk/studio-nishita-kamdar">Nishita Kamdar</a>. The space is further utilized by metal and fluted glass sliding doors that connect the dining room to the kitchen. Interior Designer’s words of wisdom: “Spaces should not just look good but also feel good and this home is a perfect example of how smart design decisions can completely change the way you perceive the space without having to splurge on the interiors to superficially “decorate “ the space.” Mediterranean hues This three bedroom in Bengaluru designed by Vinithra Amarnathan of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/weespaces/weespaces">Weespaces</a> brings out the young owner couple’s nostalgic memories of the Western Ghats where they grew up and also their love for travel, especially Greece. <div type="image" title="The modern mediterranean_Vinithra" msid="80597984" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Vinithra Amarnathan from Weespaces&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Their shared love of Greece is what ultimately harmonised our brief and helped meld their styles into a richly layered look,” says Amarnathan, interior designer on Houzz. The home has Mediterranean hues strewn around the house with white and blue hints, along with abstract artworks. Interior Designer’s words of wisdom: My biggest learning was to look at every obvious problem as an opportunity! An opportunity to think differently and reimagine a problematic situation as the center point of our design for the home! The column in the center of this home went from eyesore to feature! Something that defines the character of the home and makes for a welcoming feature! A luxurious Goan home Located in Kolva, Goa is the sprawling white bungalow which boasts of two terraces with views to die for. “We were tasked with creating a simple, elegant aesthetic with a homely vibe. Functionality and maintenance-free design were the primary requisites,” says Prashant, founder and principal architect of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/zero9/zero9">ZERO9</a> on Houzz. <div type="image" title="Osia villa_prashant chauhan" msid="80597998" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Prashant Chauhan from Zero9&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> From double wooden doors at the entrance to Italian marble flooring, a double height living room with muted furniture with mint highlights and artworks, the home also has indoor plants aplenty along with a pocket garden. Interior designer’s words of wisdom: “The biggest learning we had in this project was that it is as important to feel the site and have a dialogue with it to explore the most of its location, feel and vibe as much as listening to the clients requirements.” In Delhi, a massive home with private suites for all members Situated in Delhi, this home has 9 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms, with each family member getting their own private suite replete with kitchen and bath. The house has two master suites (one for the couple and one for the parents), the inner courtyard, the main kitchen, the family lounge, and the two sons’ living suites. <div type="image" title="Plaza Farmhouse_Ekta Khanna" msid="80598008" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Design: Ekta from Ekta Khanna Design Studio&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “The owners wanted the home designed in a way such that each member would have their own private quarters. The bungalow was, thus, constructed like a C, and divided into suites, connected via a common corridor. A large landscaped lawn occupies the central cavity,” says Ekta Khanna, founder and chief interior designer of <a href="https://www.houzz.in/pro/ekhanna/ekta-khanna-design-studio">Ekta Khanna Design Studio</a> on Houzz. This Delhi home is all things luxury with solid wood double doors, black diamond shaped tiled flooring at the entrance and black Marquino and Swiss white marble at larger junctions, muted furniture and a corridor which boasts of the family’s personal collection of Pichvai paintings. Interior designer’s words of wisdom: “My biggest learning from this house is that despite using several modern elements, forms and finishes in the house, it still comes across as inertly Indian. This is due to the careful integration of traditional art forms and earthy tones in its several layers.” <a href="https://www.houzz.in/magazine/india-s-most-popular-homes-stsetivw-vs~145003274">India’s best homes of 2020 was a list curated by Houzz India</a> and has been rewritten for businessinsider audiences. Disclaimer: Business Insider is a part of TimesBridge, which also counts <keyword id="5888678" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Houzz-India">Houzz India</keyword> in its portfolio.

From Alia Bhatt’s Mumbai apartment to an 80-year old renovated house in Chennai – Here are Houzz India’s most popular homes of 2020

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Across India, millions of migrant workers, scarred by a lockdown that has left them jobless, hungry and penniless, are struggling to return home</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Many face journeys 2,000km long, with as little as US$6 in their pockets and sometimes with babies in tow</li></ul>Off the dusty national highway that connects Mumbai to northern <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/india" class="link-text">India</a> , Rambhau Prasad Yadav, 52, sits on his haunches, waiting. It is early Thursday evening and his face mask is wet from sweat, the fabric so thin his lips are showing through.Yadav, a labourer in a gas utility company, is looking for ways to return to his hometown, 2,000km east in the state of Bihar. He has been waiting to do so for two months. At first, he was waiting for India’s lockdown, implemented in mid-March and now scheduled to last until May 31, to be lifted. Things had looked up, briefly, when the Mumbai police asked migrant workers like him to fill in forms to be repatriated, but then he heard nothing more. In the three days before This Week in Asia spoke to him, Yadav was waiting for food. Out of money after his employers stopped paying him due to the lockdown, he lived on khichdi, a porridge made of rice and lentils, handed out by a community kitchen. When the kitchen closed, Yadav asked neighbours if he could borrow money to buy fuel to cook the rice grains he had left. They turned him down. <div type="image" title="DA4AB2B3-80D8-4845-8760-E2111FE5A13D" msid="75935077" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Migrants on the way back to their Homes, In queue at Bandra Terminus &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “After three nights of sleeping on an empty stomach, I could not take it any more,” he says, the whites of his eyes yellow. On Thursday morning, he began walking to the highway, taking only a half-filled small gunny sack. After walking more than 25km in eight hours, he stopped. “I can’t walk much in this heat,” he concluded, pointing to his slip-on shoes with a hole in them. His urine, he added, was blood red. He said he was hoping, and waiting, for someone – perhaps a truck or bus driver – to give him a ride east. Yadav’s story has echoes across India’s cities, where millions of migrant workers, scarred by an economic shutdown that has left them jobless, hungry and penniless, are struggling to return to their villages and families. Their migration has become an unending humanitarian crisis for the country’s poorest. Critics say New Delhi’s handling of the pandemic, with few provisions for the millions of migrant workers serving India’s large unorganised sector, broke the fragile social contract these workers shared with the government. <div type="image" title="1D2A0B17-D7DF-4EA8-9165-31786B0008B2" msid="75935136" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Over 4,500 migrant labourers gathered at a ground in Mahavir Nagar in Kandivli (W) on Thursday May 21 2020 after learning about three trains leaving for north India from Borivli,&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> And as these <keyword id="64839" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Migrants">migrants</keyword> desperately try to leave cities – walking hundreds of kilometres, pedalling on rickety bicycles with children riding pillion, hanging onto overcrowded trucks, sneaking across police checkpoints in milk containers and cement mixers and even swimming across rivers – for some it has proven fatal. In the last week alone, more than 50 migrant workers have been killed in road accidents, while on Sunday, 26 were killed when the truck they were travelling in collided with another truck in Auraliya, Uttar Pradesh. FRUSTRATION AND DESPERATION Mumbai’s position as the country’s economic nerve centre makes it one of the biggest destinations for India’s migrant workers. Data from India’s last population census in 2011 shows that between 2001 and 2011, Mumbai and its neighbouring areas absorbed more than 3 million new migrants from across the country. These workers form the backbone of the city’s economy, from its construction sector to its transport services to smaller manufacturing industries. <div type="image" title="2440F56C-0E13-4D9F-8FAA-9882D08C7DD0" msid="75935167" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Over 4,500 migrant labourers gathered at a ground in Mahavir Nagar in Kandivli (W) on Thursday May 21 2020 after learning about three trains leaving for north India from Borivli,&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Illyas Shaikh, 22, from West Bengal’s Murshidabad, is among them. A labourer on construction sites, his job vanished with the lockdown. “My employer owes me over a month’s salary, but he refuses to take my calls and answer my texts,” he said, his mask barely touching his upper lip. Shaikh used to earn 450 rupees (US$6) for a day’s labour. With no income for nearly two months, Shaikh had just 100 rupees left when he decided to leave and started asking friends to lend him money. “But they were all as broke as I was,” he said. Eventually, having borrowed from 20 people, he had a total of 500 rupees and started walking out of Mumbai. His hometown is 2,100km away. On Wednesday, when he reached the city’s borders at Majiwada, a busy junction where arterial roads intersect the National Highway 160 connecting northern India to Mumbai, Shaikh was happy to see buses that could take him 400km north. Never mind that he had to go eastward. <div type="image" title="1410002C-E467-420A-80C3-97C836CFEC12" msid="75935189" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Migrants of Surat by truck arrived at N.H 30 bypass road during the ongoing Covid-19 nationwide lockdown-4.0 in Patna on Monday.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But the long lines meant he could not board the bus. And there was no one to tell him when the next bus would come.So, Shaikh, like thousands of others at the highway junction, waited. “I just slept on the highway, under that flyover,” he said, pointing to the bridge in the middle of the junction. On Thursday, when he was interviewed, he was not any closer to leaving. “I don’t know how I’ll get there, but I need to get out of here,” he said. Last week, the government announced that it would distribute free foodgrains to 80 million migrant workers who have, so far, not been eligible for such subsidies. It also announced affordable, rental homes for these workers. But these measures will take time to have an effect. In the meantime, little has been done to address the immediate needs of people like Yadav. On the highway, for instance, where thousands of workers gather each day, there are no toilets or shelters. The absence of food security has meant that civil sector organisations have had to step in to fill the void. One of them is Khaana Chahiye, which has been distributing food packets daily at the highway and at railway stations where migrant workers are being sent back in limited trains each day. It has also been sending meals to frontline workers. So far, it has distributed over 2.4 million meals at the highway since March 27, each meal consisting of a hot snack, at least two different fruits and a bottle of water. The group has teamed up with city restaurants to provide hot meals to the group at cost price. Such a model, said co-founder Swaraj Shetty, ensured only the best quality food was used. Funded by donations, the group of 100 volunteers, from accounting consultants to IT professionals, fan out across the city each day, donning gloves, masks, face shields and orange reflector jackets. “Our volunteers have been the backbone of our operations. When a funding crunch forced us to curtail operations for a few days, I would get angry calls from our volunteers because they wanted to go out and help and weren’t able to,” said Ruben Mascarenhas, another co-founder. <div type="image" title="465E3CDB-6950-4F0F-B819-165CD4717B9D" msid="75935209" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt; lady with her husband and two kids walking a 150km distance from Nalasopara to their home in Boisar. &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The project started when one of the co-founders stopped to talk to some of the migrants in an unending stream on the highways leaving the city.Pathik Muni, another co-founder, said stories of hardship often played out in front of them. “We once saw a couple with a nine-month-old baby, walking back home north, 2,000km away. We just kept thinking, how is the baby going to make it in this heat?” For Yadav, the hot snack he got from the volunteers was his first meal in three days. As he tucked in, he went over his options, wondering aloud which one he shouldtake – a bus for a few hundred kilometres, “but then what?”, or a truck all the way home, “but I don’t have the money”. Eventually, he broke down. The answers weren’t easy, he said. Before he set out on his trek to the highway, Yadav saw Prime Minister <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/narendra-modi" class="link-text">Narendra Modi</a> announce economic initiatives aimed at helping India turn the pandemic into an opportunity to produce more and import less.It has been on his mind since. “Modi said he wants India to be self-reliant. Has he left us any choice, any way?”

You Searched For "delhi silk board junction" and got 12 results

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IANS

Delhi-NCR's air quality on brink of "emergency" after city records AQI of 487 — falling in the 'severe' category for the sixth consecutive day

PTI

Here's why you should never go to ITO in Delhi, Silk Board Junction in Bangalore and Kalanagar Junction in Mumbai

Suchayan Mandal

Prakash Javadekar flags off 50 inspection teams, says only 4% pollution in Delhi-NCR due to stubble burning

PTI

Be It Intracity Or Inter-city, These 5 Expressways Make Travelling A Breeze

Sanghamitra Mandal

Javadekar calls for state environment ministers meeting over pollution on Thursday

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New Delhi’s toxic air and how one expat family was affected – sick children, asthma, a death, and a campaign to awaken city to pollution threat

SCMP

Bangalore Elevated Tollway awarded Rs 492 cr towards claim against NHAI

PTI

Over 9 people died and 36 injured in the Guwahati-Bikaner Express train accident

IANS

Karnataka is building a cycling map for Bengaluru by crowdsourcing inputs from city's cyclists

IANS

From Alia Bhatt’s Mumbai apartment to an 80-year old renovated house in Chennai – Here are Houzz India’s most popular homes of 2020

BI India Bureau

No money, no food and 2,000km from home: a journey facing millions in India’s migrant worker humanitarian crisis

SCMP

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