Amex seems to have lost interest in the Indian market.
No new card launches, no transfer bonuses, primarily working with just two cards, and now they’ve even shut down the Mumbai Centurion Lounge.
It almost feels like they’re slowly pulling the plug on India.
The only thing that seems to be working for them is the referral scheme, just like Scapia. Take away the referral benefits from both Scapia and Amex, and I think both would crumble to pieces because the underlying products are no longer compelling enough on their own.
Just my observation.
(2/2)
.....
There is also the issue of evaporation, which receives surprisingly little attention despite being entirely predictable. For months after the monsoon, reservoirs remain exposed to intense sunlight.
Over the years, I have repeatedly suggested her in X tagging relevant authorities for the deployment of floating solar installations on major reservoirs. Such projects are already operational in many parts of the world and offer a dual benefit: generating clean electricity while simultaneously reducing water loss through evaporation.
When cities across the globe are exploring innovative approaches to resource management, it is reasonable to ask why solutions of this nature are not being pursued more aggressively for a region as important as Mumbai and its surrounding urban centres.
The broader concern is one of PLANNING PHILOSOPHY . Governments routinely announce airports, highways, metro lines, commercial districts and housing projects. These are important investments.
However, water is not simply another infrastructure category. It is a foundational requirement upon which every other development plan ultimately depends. If the population continues to expand, if new economic hubs continue to emerge and if urbanisation continues at its present pace, WHERE EXACTLY is the ADDITIONAL WATER REQUIRED FOR THAT FUTURE expected to come from?
This is not a political question. It is a planning question. Citizens are entitled to know what the long-term roadmap looks LIKE -
❓ What additional storage capacity is being created?
❓ What new reservoirs are being planned?
❓ What desilting programmes are underway?
❓ What measures are being implemented to reduce evaporation losses?
❓❓ Most importantly, how are policymakers preparing for the needs of the next fifty years rather than merely responding to the challenges of the next monsoon season?
A city of this scale cannot rely on favourable rainfall as its primary water strategy. Hope is not a substitute for planning, and recurring crises should not be accepted as normal. The time to build water security is long before a shortage arrives, not when reservoir levels have already fallen into single digits.
This is high time the authorities act on this serious issue.
#rant #end #water #WaterCrisis #mumbai
#Rant#WaterCrisis#LongPost (1/2)
Dear @CMOMaharashtra, @CIDCO_Ltd, @mybmc, @mymalishka, @MirchiJeeturaaj and the media houses that cover Mumbai's annual water situation,
I have been living in Navi Mumbai since 2011. In all these years, one thing has remained remarkably consistent. Every monsoon, we celebrate when the reservoirs fill up. Every summer, we begin counting down the remaining water stock and discussing how many days of supply are left. The conversation changes very little, even though the city around us has transformed beyond recognition.
What I find difficult to understand is how a metropolitan region that has added millions of people, expanded its urban footprint, built new townships and is now preparing for a new international airport, continues to depend on virtually the same water storage capacity that it did well over a decade ago. Population growth, economic growth and infrastructure growth have all accelerated, yet there is very little public discussion about a corresponding expansion in long-term water storage capacity.
Today, on 21 June 2026, the available water stock in the lakes supplying Mumbai has once again fallen to around 9%. While this has become an annual headline, the more important question is why we continue to find ourselves in this position despite having had years to prepare. The warning signs are not new. We have seen this movie before.
Many will remember the severe drought conditions of 2015-16. Water scarcity dominated public discourse. Emergency measures were introduced. Additional levies and cesses were discussed and imposed. Experts warned that climate variability would make such situations more frequent and that urban centres would need to invest aggressively in future-proofing their water infrastructure. Ten years later, however, we find ourselves discussing the same concerns once again. If a crisis does not lead to structural change, then one has to ask what exactly was learnt from it.
The issue becomes even more visible at the ground level. In Kharghar, where I reside, water tankers have become a routine part of daily life over the past several weeks. Residents are increasingly dependent on packaged drinking water because they lack confidence in the quality of the water reaching their homes. Using a TDS meter, I measured water supplied through a tanker to our society and recorded a reading exceeding 1400 ppm. Residents regularly report concerns regarding water quality, including skin irritation and eye irritation. This naturally raises questions about the source, quality control and monitoring of the water being supplied through these alternative arrangements.
What is particularly concerning is that this discussion almost always focuses on the availability of water while paying insufficient attention to the capacity of the system itself.
❓ Has there been a meaningful increase in reservoir capacity over the last decade and a half?
❓ Have new large-scale reservoirs been developed to match projected population growth?
❓ Have existing reservoirs been systematically desilted to preserve their original storage capacity? If such work is being undertaken, the public deserves transparent and easily accessible data demonstrating the scale and impact of those efforts......
(contd in 2nd post)
@RoadsOfMumbai@rushikesh_agre_@Mumbai@RidlrMUM@MumbaichaDon@NMMConline@navimumbaicv@NMIA_Official@CSMIA_Official@mumbaimatterz@s_r_khandelwal@Mumbaikhabar9@BJP4Maharashtra@Dev_Fadnavis@mieknathshinde
#sos #MumbaiWaterCrisis #WaterEmergency #NaviMumbai #Infrastructure #WaterSecurity #ClimateResilience
1/ Tanzania is not a vacation.
It's an expedition.
You'll leave your lodge around 7 AM, return around 6 PM, spend hours on rough roads, stand in moving vehicles, eat dust, wake up early and get exhausted.
And you'll love every second of it.
2/ First things first.
A huge shoutout to @TravelBluez@amarkedia
From helping us choose the right circuit, recommending fantastic lodges, coordinating transfers, guiding us through paperwork and answering dozens of questions before departure, they made the entire process seamless.
The difference between a good safari and a great safari is often the planning.
@TravelBluez nailed it.
3/ If you're travelling from Mumbai, the easiest options are usually via Nairobi or Addis Ababa.
✈️ Kenyan Airways via Nairobi ✈️ Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa
Both work well, but Ethiopian was consistently recommended to us and generally has a stronger reputation for punctuality and connectivity. The plaza premium is a decent lounge, with re check-ins every 2 hours.
4/ Worried about paperwork?
Don't be.
✅ Tanzania e-Visa is straightforward ✅ Yellow Fever vaccination is simple to obtain and widely available
Both were far easier than we expected.
5/ If you're doing the Northern Circuit, my recommendation:
📍Arusha 📍Tarangire 📍Ngorongoro 📍Serengeti 📍Arusha
OR
📍Arusha 📍Tarangire 📍Lake Manyara 📍Ngorongoro 📍Serengeti 📍Arusha
Lake Manyara is beautiful, but if time is limited, that's the park I'd skip.
When you can't compete/argue logically, disrupt!
Some low life reported @TravelBluez for inauthentic behaviour and X has suspended it.
At this point, I don't even know what inauthentic behaviour means. X policy suggests usage of bots, spam, etc, which we don't indulge in.
@DaikinIndia Have logged complaint for Window Ac since 10 days. Person came from Sriji Aircon Byculla, took visit charges. Accepted Compressor issue. Checked in warranty. Now no response and you want to close the complaint under various frivolous reasons
I rarely post fundraisers, but this one is for a close friend and the need is genuine.
A family member is currently in the ICU, and the medical bills have already crossed ₹7 lakh.
If you're able to help, please consider donating. If not, a RT/share would mean a lot.
https://t.co/LhC2U8V58C
🙏
Today Mumbai Police restored my faith in public service.
Lost my phone in a cab. Reached out to Rapido — got the standard “not our responsibility” response.
Walked into Dahisar Police Station at 2:10 PM expecting paperwork, delays, and dead ends. Instead, the inspector and his team treated it like an urgent mission. Calls went out immediately. Search teams were activated.
By 2:40 PM — just 30 minutes later — they had tracked down the cabbie and recovered my phone. Unreal.
The speed, seriousness, and professionalism of the officers at Dahisar Police Station was honestly better than most private-sector customer support in this country.
thank you Sr PI Patil sir, psi Bodhe and detection team at @DahisarPS
Massive respect and gratitude to @MumbaiPolice@CPMumbaiPolice and the entire Dahisar Police team. Mumbai runs because of people like you. 🇮🇳
@AbhiChtrj Don't use #ccgeek when all you're promoting is fraudulent activities. This Rotator-Broker culture is what has ruined credit cards for genuine users!