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']]}I believe that cities have their own life cycle. Big cities aren't born overnight. They start of as small ports, hamlets, trading posts and then grow and flourish into huge thriving cities. However, history throws up numerous examples of how, after having grown big, cities decay and lose their glory. Take for example cities like Cordoba(Spain) or Samarkand(Uzbekistan). At some point in time these were huge cities bustling with activities and yet, today these cities are merely relics from the past. Closer to home, Calcutta, is yet another example. During the British rule Calcutta was considered the epicenter of industry and government. However years of neglect ever since has made sure that the city has lost most of it's former glory.
I fear that Mumbai is headed for the same fate. I've lived in Mumbai for the last 15 years and things seem to have progressively deteriorated. That traffic snarls are an everyday affair, pollution levels have risen visibly and trains seem to be perpetually packed to the brim seem to indicate that the infrastructure is stretched thin. There have been no major infrastructure projects in the city for almost a decade now. The last major fly-overs were built during the Shiv-Sena rule. The Worli Bandra sea-link has been on the anvil forever and I've been hearing about the metro rail project for an eternity. Moreover, the events over the last few days seem to drive home the point that this city just seems to be crumbling apart.
Some time last year out Chief Minister said that he wanted to turn Mumbai in Shanghai. That slogan died an early death with the deluge of 26/7. The events of 26/7 showed us how inadequate and outdated our infrastructure and city planning was and exposed the failure of the administration. In the months that followed a lot of noise was made about the issue. Mumbai was promised money and the public was told that the government would take steps to ensure that something like this never happened again.
It's taken just a couple of hours of rain to show what a hogwash all those promises were. Mind you, the rainfall over the last two days was an average Mumbai shower; nowhere close to the rainfall of 26/7. And yet, drains are overflowing, trains are running late and streets are water-logged at some places. I understand that basic infrastructural problems can't be solved overnight. It requires a few years to build adequate infrastructure. But at the same time the government and the BMC had ONE whole year to figure out how to optimally use our existing amenities. Not only have they failed miserably but it now appears that they probably have done NOTHING at all for the last one year!
My hypothesis is layers and layers of bureaucracy and the judicial structure of our country makes them confident that they cannot be harmed in any way. I'm sure that both the Chief Minister and the Commissioner of BMC feel that they are not accountable to anybody even if they do a miserable job. Yes, the press might hound them for a while but knowing the large number of departments, committees, associations, authorities etc. in the system, these guys can easily shift blame away from themselves. Besides, after a few days the press will move on to cover other stories and the heat will be off them. And even if there is a PIL in the High Court there is little to worry about. There have been numerous instances where the High Court has chided the government on issues such as governance and law and order. But has a single minister lost his/her job because of it?
I believe that a part of the blame lies on the average Mumbaikar too. At times I think we have become immune to everything. We feel glad when we hear ourselves being called "resilient Mumbaikars" by the press but I say that it is apathy that we suffer from. Like last year, this year too we will curse politicians and BMC ward officials but then once the rains are gone we will soon forget about the sorry state of affairs. Forget doing something proactively, we won't even bother casting our votes in the assembly elections.
It's sad that things have come to this. I truly believe that Mumbai is one of the best cities in the world. In fact when a Mumbaikar goes to any other part of the country he carries a chip on his shoulder just because he's from Mumbai. But the way things are going I really don't know how long we'll be able to keep that chip on our shoulder. I really believe that the time has now come to rally together and save our city from imminent disaster!
I fear that Mumbai is headed for the same fate. I've lived in Mumbai for the last 15 years and things seem to have progressively deteriorated. That traffic snarls are an everyday affair, pollution levels have risen visibly and trains seem to be perpetually packed to the brim seem to indicate that the infrastructure is stretched thin. There have been no major infrastructure projects in the city for almost a decade now. The last major fly-overs were built during the Shiv-Sena rule. The Worli Bandra sea-link has been on the anvil forever and I've been hearing about the metro rail project for an eternity. Moreover, the events over the last few days seem to drive home the point that this city just seems to be crumbling apart.
Some time last year out Chief Minister said that he wanted to turn Mumbai in Shanghai. That slogan died an early death with the deluge of 26/7. The events of 26/7 showed us how inadequate and outdated our infrastructure and city planning was and exposed the failure of the administration. In the months that followed a lot of noise was made about the issue. Mumbai was promised money and the public was told that the government would take steps to ensure that something like this never happened again.
It's taken just a couple of hours of rain to show what a hogwash all those promises were. Mind you, the rainfall over the last two days was an average Mumbai shower; nowhere close to the rainfall of 26/7. And yet, drains are overflowing, trains are running late and streets are water-logged at some places. I understand that basic infrastructural problems can't be solved overnight. It requires a few years to build adequate infrastructure. But at the same time the government and the BMC had ONE whole year to figure out how to optimally use our existing amenities. Not only have they failed miserably but it now appears that they probably have done NOTHING at all for the last one year!
My hypothesis is layers and layers of bureaucracy and the judicial structure of our country makes them confident that they cannot be harmed in any way. I'm sure that both the Chief Minister and the Commissioner of BMC feel that they are not accountable to anybody even if they do a miserable job. Yes, the press might hound them for a while but knowing the large number of departments, committees, associations, authorities etc. in the system, these guys can easily shift blame away from themselves. Besides, after a few days the press will move on to cover other stories and the heat will be off them. And even if there is a PIL in the High Court there is little to worry about. There have been numerous instances where the High Court has chided the government on issues such as governance and law and order. But has a single minister lost his/her job because of it?
I believe that a part of the blame lies on the average Mumbaikar too. At times I think we have become immune to everything. We feel glad when we hear ourselves being called "resilient Mumbaikars" by the press but I say that it is apathy that we suffer from. Like last year, this year too we will curse politicians and BMC ward officials but then once the rains are gone we will soon forget about the sorry state of affairs. Forget doing something proactively, we won't even bother casting our votes in the assembly elections.
It's sad that things have come to this. I truly believe that Mumbai is one of the best cities in the world. In fact when a Mumbaikar goes to any other part of the country he carries a chip on his shoulder just because he's from Mumbai. But the way things are going I really don't know how long we'll be able to keep that chip on our shoulder. I really believe that the time has now come to rally together and save our city from imminent disaster!
