Recipe for disaster

The state government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) are all to be blamed for the mess that is Mumbai.

Things were different a few decades ago. All drains would be checked and cleaned before May 15. No road or excavation was permitted, or even a new water connection granted, after that. This time, work was going on up to May 30 and beyond.

Earlier, garbage would be diligently removed. Today, it is merely dislocated to insignificant areas to make it invisible. About 10,000 tonnes of debris lie uncollected. How can one expect water to flow properly in these circumstances?

Everybody is encouraged to pave their buildings. There is no room for rainwater absorption and groundwater recharge. Road dividers have sprung up all over the place, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk. Disaster warning systems are inert.

The Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP) are pegged as the purveyors of our Shanghaian future. But under MUTP, all pavements on LBS Marg in Ghatkopar have been removed. Now, we’re told that eight-feet wide pavements will be provided under the projects. Half a century ago, pavements used to be no less than 10 feet wide.

The city is choked to capacity and commuting patterns are skewed. The island city (from Colaba to Sion) has 72 per cent jobs of Mumbai. People from the suburbs have 55 per cent of the jobs in south Mumbai.

We need to create self-contained townships instead of dormitories like Navi Mumbai. But until a patchwork mentality rules, there is no hope of salvaging the city.

Kisan Mehta, a well-known environmentalist, spoke to Seema Kamdar