The Bombay high court has given the state government of Maharashtra a reality check. It has succinctly pointed out that Mumbai will take another 100 years to improve rather than the 2014 date being put forth by the government. The past few years have seen a mad scramble for any number of infrastructure projects in Mumbai, with flyovers, railways, freeways, sea links, skywalks and more jostling for both space and attention. Barely is one completed when another one starts, making the whole city look like a gigantic
construction site.
In some sense, this can be said to be true of the whole country. From small towns to big cities, there is a veritable explosion of building, which is perhaps the most telling example of India’s march to progress. But when compared to Mumbai’s rate of growth, the story gets decidedly shaky. In the national capital for instance, infrastructure growth has been sustained and systematic. So has it been in cities like Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, for instance. Kolkata is also catching up.
It is true that Mumbai has some unique problems given its geography and its linear nature. But it is also true that the city is spreading out north and eastwards, making a holistic view of its growth essential. But the state government, while okaying a vast number of ambitious projects, appears to be working on a piecemeal basis, lurching from demand to demand. Effective town planning, for centuries the hallmark of urban growth, appears conspicuous by its absence.
The high court was responding to a public interest litigation filed with regard to the increasing vehicular pollution from traffic congestion in the city. The one sure answer to this is: better public transport systems. This is accepted worldwide and reiterated this week by a former mayor of Bogota who is with the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy in New York. All big cities across the world do not see more flyovers as a way of decreasing traffic; they aim to get people out of their cars into trains and buses. But our trains and buses are already bursting at the seams and the new economy — the slowdown notwithstanding — means that people are buying cars at a pretty fast clip.
The high court has put up a mirror for the state government to look at. The state government has to look to mass transportation, not more roads, and projects have to move faster and finish on time. Now is that another Mumbai tall story?
Comments