This post is about the plight of this city. I feel passionately about it and the blog allows the full rant.
Although the subject is not music I believe an artistic eye can see beauty and value where the pluke will just see old=ugly and a money making opportunity. Mine is just another voice added to the outcry against the wanton destruction of the character of this city. If this kind of insanity continues, fuelled by extraordinary real estate prices and out of control corruption, in the future our current era is likely to be seen as the last gasp of a great city and there will be much regret.
white elephants
It wouldn’t be so bad if the civic authorities did nothing and let things be. Instead they are hellbent on making as much money as they can and the easiest way seems to be graft in awarding contracts. The muddled infrastructure projects in this city, the lack of planning and vision, are detrimental to the future well-being of the city. Common sense, the advice of experts and the shared development experiences from around the world are just ignored. Accountability? Forget it- “nothing is ever my fault”! In the name of progress and development the half-baked schemes have been going on at a fast pace. Maybe it is slowed down somewhat now that Adarsh, Lalit Modi, Raja etc. etc. etc. has been exposed. The vulgar unabashed scale of the corruption has tipped the balancecc. Admiration for the super rich turned to disgust with even Ratan Tata’s reputation getting tarnished with the Radhia tapes.
The Bandra-Worli Sealink was initially opposed by the World Bank, environmentalists and traffic planners. Yet it was built at an exorbitant cost. Although it is an impressive structure it is not very user-friendly, with very limited bus service and no pedestrian or bicycle access. It has now been reported that usage by vehicles is half of what was predicted. The land reclamation done at the mouth of the Mithi river for the project has also been cited in the National Geographic special on the floods of about 3 years ago as one of the causes. Worst of all is the limited utility of the bridge. After all these years the continuation beyond Worli is still undecided. Reliance Infrastructure still claims it is building the Worli-Haji Ali section while at the same time reports in the newspapers claim that the government wants a coastal road. If either is ever built it will be an eyesore that will forever alter the beautiful little bay at Haji Ali. They say the dargah will not be damaged but an entry-exit interchange is proposed there. After Haji Ali that insane idea of an elevated road over Peddar Road is still on the cards! Peddar Road is not wide enough and the commuter traffic chaos that would ensue during construction can only be imagined. Newspapers report that along with that a tunnel is likely to be built from around Priyadarshini Park to near Wilson College. I doubt that will ever happen because of the expense. Why do the authorities want more cars in South Mumbai? I guess so they can get to their offices quicker. They are already quite comfortable in their chauffeur driven mercedes. No need to worry about parking with chauffeurs too. Personally I find driving and parking a nightmare in south Mumbai and prefer the trains- comfortable, convenient and no waiting! I find it odd when people here complain about the public transportation. Both the bus system and trains are among the best in the world. What is glaringly obvious is the lack of interest by the government in improving them. The trains and stations have hardly changed in the past 30- 40 years. The new Siemens coaches that were introduced have had many technical issues, are dangerously high from the platforms (people have slipped under them), and were painted a colour that highlighted paan stains. In contrast to the neglect here, in London congestion charge was introduced and central London flooded with modern buses. There is no doubt the strategy to limit cars has been successful. Most cities in the world desire this- except Mumbai.
Another disaster has been the skywalks. There are some places where they have been successful but the majority are unused. It was so obvious before they were built but those with the idea and those making money from it were not listening. Now they are proposing to add escalators to get people to use them! Dream on. ….. These ugly dirty constructions have ruined the areas where they have been built. There are many dangerous foot over-bridges in need of repair and crossings of main roads where pedestrians could benefit from underpasses or at least pedestrian-friendly signals. The government people do not care about pedestrians.
Another danger for this city is what is called “cluster development”. Large areas of south Mumbai have been targeted for demolition under this sinister scheme. It is an idea that has been unsuccessful in the housing projects for Blacks in large American cities, the “Estates” of south London built in the 1960’s , the banlieue projects of Paris, and the monstrous dilapidated housing of Moscow. Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar and Chod Bazaar are old beautiful areas that should be preserved rather than destroyed. Buildings were constructed solidly with good materials and a broad architectural uniformity. The plukes with no aesthetic sense see only an opportunity to make money by constructing ugly modern boxes. The builders and many others see public parks as wasted space and would love nothing more than to build on the few that remain. Across Europe cities have protected their old central areas which have become highly desirable for residential and commercial. Isn’t it obvious that the main problem in Mumbai is the pugree system where rent is protected at ridiculously low rates, the landlord has no incentive to repair (the tenants cannot be evicted)? I understand that that is oversimplifying the problem but with some kind of incentive the area could be improved.
This is a diatribe of the negative obviously, and I haven’t even gotten started on Dharavi, another complete mess on the government side. The Zoo, beautiful as it is now, is slated for some no doubt hideous makeover.
East-West connectivity projects are sensible. The cross harbour bridge from Sewri to Nhava Seva first proposed back in the 1970’s is a great idea but if and when that will ever be built, who knows? The tendering process was a fiasco involving the Ambani brothers’ feud.
Newspapers dutifully report all the schemes from BMC or MMRDA in an optimistic tone. And why not? The intentions sound reasonable. Yet after the litany of failures how can they control what everyone feels in this city- overwhelming cynicism. Most projects are purely cosmetic, as if looking good or hiding poverty will make a difference. 2 or 3 years ago large, ugly concrete planters were given out and placed along the footpaths. Since no thought was given to the plants or to maintenance within 6 months they were looking like hell. They can still be seen here and there with the odd one or two maintained by a local resident. Likewise about a year ago with fanfare plastic garbage bins were placed along the footpaths. Although they were well attached to posts and looked nice there is not a trace of them now. The only place to throw garbage in Mumbai is on the street.
Credit where credit is due- the interlocking paver blocks mainly used on side roads really look great and have a nice feel. It is another matter that they were poorly laid in many areas and sometimes just months after laying repairs were required. In my locality along cadell rd. near Hinduja hospital the classy kotah stone sidewalks were unnecessarily dug up and replaced with the sidewalk pavers that could not be considered an improvement.
It seems to me that the overwhelming problems and lack of direction and vision in solving them is at least in part because of the administrative setup. There is no one person in charge. The mayor is for the most part a titular position with no real power. Thank goodness for that too. The current mayor had a couple of bizarre proposals. One was to ship all the stray dogs out to a property outside of the city (reminiscent of concentration camps). Another was to turn the Mahalaxmi race course into a parking lot! No, it is not a joke. Mercifully we do not hear the pol/babus harping on turning Mumbai into another Shanghai. It was pie in the sky and the wrong model to follow, nor is it a beautiful city. Here there really does not seem to be anyone in control of the city government. New York is lucky to have a dynamic mayor like Bloomberg, and London Boris Johnston. Something like that is necessary here. Dynamism, honesty, efficiency and sensible development are needed here urgently.
