Mumbai’s guide to a pleasant monsoon

Agency to monitor city slums
Indiscriminate mushrooming of slums also contributes to choked drains and flooding during monsoons. Some time ago even a minister expressed his helplessness in removing them. In fact, in due course of time, these slums have been regularised. After all these are vote banks for politicians.

With large number of government agencies expected to inspect their jurisdiction regularly, it should have been possible to remove these hutments the day they started to dot the city. After all, prevention is better than cure. But it seems that authorities are turning a blind eye for reasons best known to them. They fail to realise that their inaction amounts to dereliction of duty.

 The towing service is an efficient set up against incorrect, illegal parking. It seems that there is an incentive for everyone involved and therefore the efficiency. The public, too, has come to realise the consequences of illegal parking.

Could a similar agency be floated whose responsibility would be to prevent illegal settlements in the city? For added measure, some form of incentive should be thrown in for luring officials to do their duty if the pay is not motivating enough.
— LJ Prasad

First we litter, then we blame
Everyone is to be blamed for Mumbai flooding, not just the BMC or the government alone. We are equally responsible. Unless and until people develop some civic sense, no system can work. Even educated people litter with élan.

They throw pan masala pouches, bus tickets, cigarette packets and Styrofoam cups on the road. I have seen white-collared people doing the same. These small things gradually snowball into huge piles that jam gutters.

And these are people who are among the first to point a finger at the BMC and the government. I hope some civic sense prevails and Mumbai becomes the best place to live.
— Tannaz Dastoor