The vision of having a slum-free Mumbai might be an invalid concept to begin with that was what the discussion at the Loksatta Loudspeaker event,ahead of the civic election on February 16,shaped into. It was moderated by civic expert Ajit Ranade with BJP legislator and leader of the Opposition Vinod Tawde,Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Waikar,MNS MLA Bala Nandgaonkar,Congress spokesperson Anant Gadgil,RPI leader Arjun Dangle and NCP MLC Vidya Chavan on the panel. While discussing the various civic problems that dog Mumbai,slums and low cost housing remained the focal point of the debate. Chavan spoke about how buying houses in the city had become unaffordable,to which Tawde responded by blaming the state government for blindly giving FSI to builders and working for its profit only. However,all of them admitted that politicians have a vested interest in letting slums remain the way they are. We never keep the labour and working class in mind while planning the city. We should focus not just on building towers for middle and upper middle class,but also integrate low-cost housing simultaneously in all areas to house the labour class. This will reduce slum settlements, said Chavan. Another point of debate was the abolition of octroi. While Sena and BJP are against each other on the issue,Waikar said that considering the amount of money needed for capital works in the city and for payment of salary to BMC employees,there was no alternative to octroi. With BJP being against octroi,Tawde took a softer stand saying,BJP is not against payment of taxes but against the lengthy procedure followed in the payment of octroi. We are willing to pay source point tax to the state government but in other cities where this is being done,money is not going from state government to the municipal coffers. Other issues such as transport and traffic congestion and delay in the execution of mega projects were also discussed. The need for better coordination between various state,Central and local level agencies to avoid delays and better execute projects was also discussed.
