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The tale of Mumbai's crumbling civic services and their cry for attention

DNA tried to understand the problem through quantifying as to how civic services are crumbling and bursting at their seams

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(Anti-clockwise from top) A traffic-heavy road at night in Lower Parel; traffic at the crossing during peak office hours and the British-era Delisle Bridge that has been closed for repairs — File
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A British era bridge in city is closed for repairs and the traffic in central Mumbai gets severely impacted. The same story of inadequate infrastructure or substandard facilities gets repeated for pothole riddled roads, overflowing sewage lines, storm water drains and public hospitals overflowing with patients. DNA tried to understand the problem through quantifying as to how civic services are crumbling and bursting at their seams. We have also compared Mumbai's infrastructure with Shanghai's to understand the gaps. Executive Director of Urban Development Research Institute (UDRI) Pankaj Joshi explains the chinks in the armour of the city. CEO of Mumbai First Dr. Neville Mehta in an interaction explains how to fix them.

Dr Neville Mehta, is currently the CEO of Mumbai First NGO an organisation that strives for private-public partnership for urban development. After being a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Mehta turned towards his passion for humanitarian projects by leading the philanthropic initiatives and programs at Lions Clubs International. As Chief Executive Officer He worked across India, South Asia, Africa & Middle East with multiple humanitarian & disaster relief projects, government & corporate partnerships spread across 69 countries. In partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Mehta facilitated the "Measles- Rubella" Campaign across 13 states/union territories with the Government of India. He also worked with Carter Foundation to eradicate river blindness & trachoma in Africa and with the United Nations in the implementation of Millennium Goals & Gender Equality.

What are your observations about Mumbai bursting at its seams?

If I have to sum it up in one sentence I would say it is the lack of vision on the part of administration running with those who are unprofessional and who do not have an outlook towards urban governance. For instance when you plan an airport you plan it for the next 20 years or 25 years and you talk about next sustainability and governance. You don't build anything for the next five years. You need five years only to build it. So even the roads you have to build judging the traffic situation in the next 25 years. So if you don't plan you will finish the bridge in five years it is already riddled with traffic and don't know what to do with it. Secondly there is total confusion in various departments. Each one who is appointed as a Chairman of MHADA or MMRDA or other facilities like BEST or BMC they all work in different directions. There is not a single agency which brings them together. To get one file passed or one initiative to get into planning mode or implementation mode it is circular efforts. Everyone has their egos and that delays projects. You go in any developing city projects come up in time or before time. They are all budgeted and they do not exceed the budgets by thousands and millions of rupees. We suggested having a CEO of Mumbai who has a total control over all the departments. He is the man who has the resources at his command and who gets things done on time and as per the schedule and within the budgets that have been assigned.

Do you think that there is lack of co-ordination between agencies that run Mumbai?

It is lack of co-ordination as well as lack of public-private participation. Mumbai first is a good case study of a public-private case model. Unfortunately the government doesn't allow the public-private partnership to thrive. They feel that why should the private individuals or people who are not part of the government should interfere with planning or overall development of the government. This is where they lack information, vision and knowledge. Everywhere in the world there are roads being built. The roads are sustainable and pot hole free. In our own country in Hyderabad if you see the roads you will be amazed. In our own city Western Express Highway is largely pothole free. If we can build a world class airport in our city then why can't we build in the last ten years roads that are pothole free. Can't we learn from our past mistakes. Can't we involve knowledge partners ? Can't we involve private bodies who can come forth and teach the government how to make pothole free roads or how to tender and appoint contractors and vendors who are safe and knowledgeable who know the right technique and who have the credibility.

Why are we questioning for solutions every few years?

It is because of the lack of the legislative bodies and BMC to implement solutions. Our own Indians are going abroad and creating a name for them. We have no dearth of knowledge and no dearth of expertise. We have a very fertile mind. Wherever we go we outshine and develop the economy. Whether it is urban planning or whether it is IT. You name it and we have Indian names working in it then why can't we use this talent in your own country ? Why it is that Hyderabad grows so fast, why is it that in Gujarat they develop roads that are pothole free? Why it is that Mumbai which is the commercial capital cannot have it ? We have enough success stories and enough people who have the knowledge of how to make things over here.

Do you feel that this is a Mumbai specific problem or something that all big global cities in the world face ? How does Mumbai fare as compare to other global cities?

I can tell you that in every other global city there is a definitive improvement scale that they monitor. There are problems and there is no such city which is problem free. As the economy develops and there is a change in the human values and needs and expectations there would be problems. But the problems should be resolved. Problems like roads and flooding is something that is happening year after year. Do you mean to say that last so many years you were not able to get hold of a solution ? You are coming up with a sea route. If you use a private public partnership in developing the sea route we should develop tanks between the land and the sea route which take in the flow of the water and push it out into the sea. There are such models and initiatives around the world and that can be developed in India also. Problems are there elsewhere but there has to be a solution to these problems.

Do you feel citizen feedback is lacking or it is not taken by the powers that be?

Citizen feedback is a farce. You try navigating in the CM's website. I have send five emails of suggestion to the Chief Minister but all I get is an auto-reply saying that if I have a complaint then I have to resolve it this way. If you are really serious about citizen's participation then make it easy and make it friendly. You cannot expect a Tata to come to the CM and wait outside his office for an appointment for two hours. During the terror attacks we brought people from Scotland Yard and NYPD and made them sit with our local police and made them understand what the issues are. That is why you see these security cameras all over the city. There has to be a feedback mechanism. There has to be a committee of people who have the knowledge. We have the people who can make excellent, pothole free roads. But are we allowing them to participate ? Are we allowing them to use their knowledge ? No. We are frustrating them and we are creating hurdles to keep them away.

So what is Bombay first's big plan to change this?

We have a war room of the Chief Minister. That was our initiative which we discussed with the empowered committee. The idea was to have a public- private partnership and sit across the table and act on the issues relevant to the Mumbai city to make Mumbai city the world's best city to live in and invest and stay. Unfortunately, after a few meetings these meetings were not called by the Chief Secretary. Our request is that these meetings should continue and an empowered committee should be back in place. Secondly the government should have an easier mechanism of listening to citizen's problems. Can't the MLA or the corporator of the area supervise the roads when they are done up ? Can he not appoint himself to verify and certify that the roads are made according to the quality control norms ? We voted the MLA and corporator for progress and taking care of our municipal problems. Where is the accountability ? Where are the Mohalla committees ? Waste control and plastic ban can be effectively managed if the citizens are taken on board. If the government had participated in these forums, then they would have been more knowledgeable, more informed and decisions would have been taken after due diligence.

SHANGHAI STATISTICS

The population of Shanghai is estimated to be 24.15 million in 2016, which actually declined 0.4% year over year. The city ranks first in China and 5th in the world in terms of population, and it has an average population density of 2,059 people per square kilometre, although this number increases to 3,854 people per square kilometre in urban areas. The city has a total area of 6,340.5 square kilometres (2,448 sq. mi) and it is mostly flat.

Source: http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/shanghai-population/

POWER (in 2016)

Power Generation (100 million kWh) 793.00 in 2015

Thermal Power Generation (100 million kWh) 785.18

Consumption of Electricity (100 million kWh) 1,486.02

ROADS (in 2016)

Length of Paved Roads 5100 km

Area of Paved Roads 105.82 km

Number of City Bridges (unit) 2,596

SEWAGE (in 2016)

Length of City Sewage Pipes 19500 km

Daily Disposal Capacity of City Sewage (10000 sq.m)       

GREEN LAND (in 2016)

Area of Green Land in Cities 128,800 hectares

Area of Green Land in Parks 19,000 hectares

Number of Parks (unit) 217

Area of Parks (10000 hectare) 0.27

Green Covered Area as % of Completed (%) 38.6

WATER (in 2016)

Total Amount of Water Supply 104.84 (unit not given)

Total Use of Water 104.80

Total Use of Agriculture Water 14.50

Total Use of Industry Water 64.40

Total Use of Consumption Water 25.10

Per Capita Water Use 433.51

TRANSPORT (in 2016)

Length of Railways in Operation 500 km IN 2016

Length of Navigable Inland Waterways- 2,200 km

Length of Highways 13,300 km

Length of Expressway and Class I to IV Highways 13,300 km

Length of Expressway Highways 800 km

Length of First Class Highways 500 km

Length of Second Class Highways 3500 km

HEALTHCARE (in 2016)

Number of Health Care Institutions (unit) 5,016

Number of Hospitals (unit) 349

Number of General Hospitals (unit) 181

Number of Hospitals Specialized in Traditional Chinese Medicine(unit) 19

Number of Specialized Hospitals (unit) 113

Health Care Institutions at Grassroot Level (unit) 4,470       

Number of Community Health Service Centers (unit) 1,039

Source: http://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103

ELECTRICITY

45 lakh
Total no of power consumers

3 million – Reliance Energy
0.95 million – BEST
0.60-0.65 million - Tata Power

ELECTRICITY DEMAND

During Summer- 3,600 Mw
Other months- 2,700 Mw

LAW AND ORDER

50,600
No of Policemen in city

94 - No of Police Stations 
The BPRD data till Jan 2016 says,  Maharashtra had 1:625 police public ration, which means one policeman for 625 people

WATER

City gets water supply from 7 sources namely Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa Modak Sagar, Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa. Net supply to city is 3,750 MLD (excluding en-route supply and transmission losses)

However, the city needs around 4,200 MLD water daily

The extra 450 MLD of water will come from 5 state-of-art infra projects like the lake-tapping of Modak Sagar & installing recycling plants at the Bhandup and Panjrapol water complexes

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