If you have been longing for a good vacay, a tropical getaway or a quick escape from the lulls of city life, we have news for you. You can now take a cruise from Mumbai to Surat and back, right from the new Bandra Worli sea link to chase away the city blues.

Cruises and boat rides are just the thing everyone longs to enjoy, and with this news it's time to finally take that much needed vacay! Especially with the winters right around the corner. Although Mumbai isn't a city where we experience much 'cold', the nip in the air makes us miss the warm sun terribly.

What's the update?

A luxury and leisure cruise service between Mumbai and Surat was flagged off from Surat on November 15th. The cruise will be taken up by 'Mumbai Maiden' a wonderful beast of a cruise vessel of SSR marine services and the cruise has already begun.

The cruise ship will have two decks, an open sky lounge and would pass from the newly constructed Bandra Worli sea link. The weekly service will start from the Bandra Worli sea link every Thursday at 5 pm and reach Hazira port at 9 am on Friday. On the next trip leaving the Hazira port at 5 pm on Friday and reaching Bandra Worli sea link at 9 am, Saturday.

As of now, the cruise is only a weekly affair, however, if a strong demand of the same is felt, the frequency of the cruise service might be increased in the coming days.

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Cruises and ships are associated with wealth, with vacation and fun. We often look at cruise holidays in movies and wonder when we too can head for a similar extravaganza. If you have the luxury of time, a few extra bucks and have always wanted to go on a cruise, here is your chance!

Mumbai has been undergoing major renovations lately, be it the streets or the Mumbai airport runway. Joining the league of new infrastructures, is the much-awaited BKC-Chunabhatti connector.

This unveiled connector has sparked promises of a better tomorrow because traffic has always been a major drawback for the city. The traffic gets especially irksome around the BKC area, during peak hours. For effective traffic control, the BKC-Chunabhatti connector will add heaps to the betterment of the daily commuters.

What's the update?

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has considered a traffic dispersal scheme for the newly-built Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)-Chunabhatti-Eastern Express Highway (EEH) connector.

The oncoming traffic from the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road and Sion-Dharavi Link Road to BKC will be bifurcated once the connector is unveiled for the public, on the 9th of November.

For seamless regulation of traffic headed from the BKC connector, the National Stock Exchange junction on the Bandra-Kurla Link Road has been unbarred and new signals have been installed here. This will permit traffic movement towards the Kalanagar junction by accommodating a left turn towards the Bandra Government Colony.

This flyover has been built at an expenditure of around ₹200 crores and is expected to decongest the main entry point from EEH, Dharavi Junction.

How will it help the traffic?

According to reports by The Hindu, an official of MMRDA stated, “For effective dispersal of traffic, lane marking, construction of central median, islands, and installation of signages in and around BKC and signals at certain locations are being installed.”

Another positive draw out of this is that motorists will be permitted to use this four-lane road and they’ll be able to reach BKC or the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) within a shorter time period.

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With the new Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)-Chunabhatti-Eastern Express Highway (EEH) connector Mumbaikars will now be able to cap 30 minutes out of the usual travel time. It is least to say that we're pretty excited about this 1.6 kilometres long and 17-metre wide connector, which is bound to solve many of our traffic woes.

Travelling on the roads of Mumbai is a constant fight; the potholes, the drainage and the overall conditions of the roads make our everyday commute harder than it needs to be.

So much so, that a Mumbaikar named Navin Lade, entered the city's name in the Guinness World records and Limca Book of Record, for having the maximum number of potholes on the roads. How funny and equally disappointing is that?!

Our perpetual complaints have gone to the shadows, unheard and unaddressed for quite a long time now and in a bid to call-out the shortcomings of the officials, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has introduced a new challenge- 'Pothole challenge 2019'.

What’s the Update?

In a move pointed at the betterment of the condition of roads in Mumbai, BMC is giving out ₹500 as a token amount to citizens, if a pothole reported by them is not filled within 24 hours by the civic team.

However, there are some ‘ground rules’ to win this prize; pothole reported by the citizens should be at least one foot in diameter and three inches deep.

According to reports by TOI, the BMC administration had asked all seven deputy municipal commissioners to direct their respective ward-level staff and contractors to fill all the potholes by October 31 so that the competition could begin from November.

Where to Report This?

About a month ago, the officials launched a ‘MyBMC Pothole Fixit’ app on ‘Play Store’ wherein Mumbaikars have been urged to report cavities on the streets!

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This move has been termed as “a waste of taxpayers’ money” by the corporators but the authorities have made it known that not every crater will get immediate attention. Also to avoid repetition of reporting the same potholes, they will have to be geotagged on the Fixit App and finally, only two potholes can be reported by one person.

We just hope that our road journey here in Mumbai becomes better ASAP because there have been health complications and even deaths, reported due to the bad condition of our roads.

If you are travelling on a weekday- be it an arrival or a departure in regards to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, be prepped to face a few delays here and there.

The primary Mumbai airport runway will be partially inactive for renovations, six days a week, from the 4th of November till the 28th of March. The rehabilitation works were supposed to start sooner but due to prolonged monsoons, it had been delayed until now. After being fully-operational, you can expect major changes, which would ease out our travel experiences.

What's the update?

Mumbai airport's main runway will be inactive from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday to Saturday and as an alternative, the second runway will be operational during this period. But during festival and holidays, the main runway of Mumbai airport will be functional at all hours.

The primary runway of the Mumbai airport has been dealing with approximately 50 arrivals and departure per hour and in contrast to that, the second one will handle at least 36 flights an hour. However, since the secondary runway has a below-par taxiway, aeroplanes here will evidently take longer to enter and exit which would contribute to delays.

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During the renovation phase, the Mumbai airport will witness rerouting aircraft pathways and the timings too, of various domestic and international flights, will be altered accordingly. So if you have morning flights, you’re likely to face delays, as compared to travellers who have afternoon bookings.

After much delay and anticipation, the roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) services between Mumbai and Raigad district will finally see a green signal later this year! This translates into shorter travel time and cost-effectiveness too. Mumbaikars are finally heaving a sigh of happiness.

But if you’re wondering, what are RoRo services and how does it help the commoners, then read on!

Why’s the RoRo service approval making waves?

This RoRo service will be connecting Mumbai and Raigad via the water route and it’s being assumed that it’ll be up and sailing by December this year. This service will be boosting the developments of the coastal transport facilities in Mumbai and neighboring towns as well. Apart from saving our time and energy, this initiative will also help in reducing the present shipping charges because it’ll be operational all year round.

The first vessel will be brought in from Greece after the agreement is signed and this watercraft can carry vehicles and passengers!

The nodal agency for the project, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), is also looking to establish a hovercraft service amidst Mumbai-Thane-Navi Mumbai, which is expected to be operational by January 2020. These hovercrafts will be brought in from Russia so you can totally expect hi-tech facilities too.

After the services become fully functional, it’ll take 35 minutes for passengers to travel from Nerul to Ferry Wharf, while Ferry Wharf to Mandwa route will consume about 20 minutes; far lesser than the original 4 hours of travel time.

According to reports by DNA India, a senior MMB official has stated, "The draft agreement is ready; we have asked them (the successful bidder) to get the vessel at the earliest.”
It’s being said that the agreement with the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) for the use of Ferry Wharf will also be looked into pretty soon!