Slums, sloth corrode rain-ready claims

MUMBAI: While the dry spell may distress the ordinary Mumbaikar, it has come as a blessing in disguise for the city administration. The 15-day break in the monsoon has emboldened both civic bodies — BMC and MMRDA — to claim that the city is safe. They say that when the rains do hit the city, there will be no potholes, and that water-logging is history.

The only work done in the past fortnight is patchwork to bring dug-up roads to a technical “safe mode”. At the time of writing, MMRDA officials are still struggling to relocate shopkeepers on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road while rocks in the sensitive Poisar lake are being cleared.

Work remains incomplete on crucial roads such as LBS Road in Kurla, Yari Road, Carter Road, Asalfa Link Road, and Andheri-Kurla Road. Merely 15km of the 25km stretch between Andheri and Dahisar is complete. While babus are relieved that Madam Cama and Maharshi Karve roads near Mantralaya are open to traffic, the rest of the city remains on tenterhooks.

But Municipal Commissioner Johny Joseph said, “These 15 days gave us time to finish major road work. The nullahs have been cleaned. The disaster cell is fully equipped. No one will be stranded on roads.”

Amid claims and counterclaims lies the untold story about why both bodies are unable to move professionally. The MMRDA’s biggest headache is the extensive rehabilitation of people — a long, politically fraught and bureaucratic process — which is delaying projects under the MUTP, MUIP, and Mithi river cleanup.  

The threat that rehabilitation costs will outstrip the cost of the projects is now real. “We are not here to shift the entire city,” said Metropolitan Commissioner T Chandrashekhar. “Already, extension of the slum deadline to 2000 has increased our workload by 30 per cent. The greed is so high that people want new houses or shops in prime area of equal dimensions. The fact that we are fulfilling this demand will increase influx. All our projects are languishing because of this and there is a danger of them becoming financially unviable.”

For the BMC, the July 26 wakeup call rings only distantly as officials speak of nothing but drainage cleanup and connectivity for this monsoon. There is no talk of reform and no sign of the much-touted planning cell. For instance, why go to Delhi when Mumbai has enough muscle to raise funds for the crucial storm-water drains project?

Unless the city gets a proactive administration, the idea of transforming Mumbai into Shanghai will continue to look farfetched.