A couple of weeks back, Mumbai was lashed with torrential rain and the city was paralyzed- thousands were rendered homeless, hundreds died and the commercial capital of India literally became a part of the sea cruelly exposing the infrastructural mess that Mumbai has become over the years.
But most people from Mumbai refuse to acknowledge theres something wrong with the city. They say trains are back, offices are open, water has receded and everythings back to normal. I wont be surprised if nothing is done about drainage in the city. Relief work will be done on an ad-hoc basis, and people will quickly forget about the flood. They will hail the spirit of the Mumbai-wallah and again proclaim it is the finest city to live in. Therein lies the problem- people are very defensive about the city they refuse to acknowledge its very weaknesses if that continues to be the case, we shall never be able to build a world class city out of Mumbai- forget world class, if Mumbai's infrastructure can match that of Kuala Lumpur or even Jakarta or Manila in the next 10 years, I will be happy. All these three cities get plenty of rain throughout the year and they are not really in the realms of the most developed cities in the world, but having lived in those cities for some time, they are far more comfortable cities to live and work in than Mumbai.
I am reproducing here an extract from a column in rediff by Shishir Bhate very appropriately titled- Mumbai- Stop Praising Yourself. Read on - it makes a lot of sense:
"So what is Mumbai's problem? It is this city's stoic acceptance of substandard things: substandard infrastructure, substandard politicians, substandard everything.
Mumbai suburbs need to break off
And what better way for politicians to get away without tackling the city's most significant problems than to pat the calamity-stricken Mumbaikar on his back and pronounce: 'Hail Mumbai and the spirit of the city's people. Even in the face of catastrophe, the city gets on its feet in a jiffy, dusts off its pants and gets going.'
True, the irrepressible spirit of the city's populace cannot be admired or praised enough. The Mumbaikar's resilience is phenomenal, but how about something more than a pat on the back and a lofty speech?
How about addressing the city's grievances? How about according people a decent, comfortable commute to and fro their work places? How about restraining the construction lobby's rapacious intentions? How about letting the city's natural defences be?
Help Mumbai!
Good infrastructure and superior town planning are vital for the safety of the citizens, stronger economic growth, higher productivity and competitiveness, and better standard of living. It's time we stopped praising our resilience at accepting the unacceptable. It's time we resolutely concentrated our energies in getting our due for the taxes we pay, in demanding a better life. Time to make it the jewel in the nation's crown in every sense of the word.
Till then, nothing will be normal."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment