Liberate our cities

• Every monsoon the authorities both of Mumbai Municipal Corporation and the state government harp on the drainage system. Admittedly, ...

• Every monsoon the authorities both of Mumbai Municipal Corporation and the state government harp on the drainage system. Admittedly, the drainage system of Mumbai built during the British times has not been improved upon. During these 60 years, billions have been collected from the taxpayers of Mumbai. Licensed profiteers have enriched themselves fabulously through the public works undertaken to improve Mumbai. But the Mumbaikar is drowned in monumental misrule. Since the 70s the powers that be have presided over the wild urbanisation of this hapless island cluster. All open spaces in North and East Mumbai are cluttered with multi-storey construction. Mithi River, and other natural drainage systems, were tamed. Our ruling classes have forgotten in their rush to ‘Shanghai’ Mumbai that the river and her little sisters are cradles of water which is one of the ‘Panch Mahabhootas’. Taming the river has proved a Faustian sacrilege which is the cause of this disaster.
Sourabh / Vasundhara Sawant

• I am a resident of Pune for last 30 years and am seeing the decay the city is going through. The main reason is explosion of real estate due to the IT boom, influx of IT professionals from outside into Pune, add to that the excellent education environment and another influx of students from outside Pune, I hardly can recognise original Puneites now. Till five years, I could move around in city without uttering a single word of Hindi or English. Now I cannot speak Marathi, the local language, because if I do, the auto-wallah cannot take me to the right destination, the vegetable vendor cannot give me the correct vegetable!

The reasons you have put in for Mumbai’s decay, are the same for Pune. The MP from Pune is a non-Maharashtria, non-Puneite. Actually Pune should have been envy of all other cities in India — the local corporation is governed by Congress, the MP is from Congress, the state government is Congress, and to top it all in the Centre is also Congress. With such a track record, Pune should have received good amount of attention and progress. But did it ? No. Pune is going from bad to worse day by day. I am becoming a minority in my own hometown.
Dinesh Vaidya

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• Why not consider Charles Correa’s suggestion of a CEO for Maharashtra?
R.P. Desai

• I do not agree with your suggestion of shifting the capital of Maharashtra. It is an emotional issue for Marathi people. We will not allow it to happen easily.

I suggest that there be a separate, exclusive minister for development and maintenance of Mumbai. He should be assisted, for drawing and implementing the plan for development of Mumbai by a group of experts. These experts should not be government servants but more like the group that has been formed by Sonia Gandhi. The funds provided for the development of Mumbai should be held in a non-lapsable fund created for this purpose.
Sadashiv S. Apte

• Several assumptions in your article are wrong. First of all, Delhi is not developed as you claim it to be. Secondly, if other metros had received even half the money spent on Delhi, they would have been far better off. But there is a more serious error of judgement in assuming that growth of cities like Gurgaon, Noida etc has added to the wealth of those living elsewhere. Our urban planners need to re-examine whether it is wise to spend huge amount of money to build malls, fly-overs and metro railway. We have to achieve an equitable balance between the development requirements of rural India and the metros, towns etc., to reduce pressure of migration to the metros. Finally, why not shift the national capital to a place called Baitul near Bhopal. It has an excellent weather all through the year and it is easily accessible from all the state capitals.
Narendra M.Apte

The RJD’s key face and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav, party supremo Lalu Yadav’s son, will again contest from his stronghold Raghopur.

Amid Mahagathbandhan crisis, RJD unveils list of 143, drops 36 MLAs, focuses on ‘M-Y’

Political Pulse2 hr ago

The RJD, lead player of the Mahagathbandhan, released its full list of 143 candidates for the November Bihar Assembly elections. Its key face Tejashwi Yadav will contest from Raghopur, and 41 sitting MLAs have been renominated. The party has dropped 36 sitting MLAs and fielded young leaders, signaling a bid to consolidate its core Muslim-Yadav vote base. The Congress has fielded 60 candidates.

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