PM talks tough on Mumbai makeover

Weeks after he took charge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stressed the need to develop Mumbai’s infrastructure. In the city on Frid...

Weeks after he took charge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stressed the need to develop Mumbai’s infrastructure. In the city on Friday, Singh reiterated his commitment to support its makeover… but asked the state government to retain the ‘‘human face of development’’.

Speaking before an audience that included MPs, a few ministers and industrialists (Anand Mahindra, Mukesh Ambani, Deepak Parekh and Jamshed Godrej), the PM emphasised that it was time ‘‘to think big instead of focussing on minor development tasks’’.

Mumbai’s civic machinery has been working at a feverish pace, trying to turn into reality the Prime Minister’s ambitious dream of transforming Mumbai into Shanghai. And with unstinted support from CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, egged on by Home Minister R.R. Patil, the civic body has demolished 55,000-odd illegal shanties and 80 illegal commercial establishments in just a month.

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Congress MPs Sunil Dutt, Milind Deora and city Congress chief Gurudas Kamat met Singh and raised the issue of two lakh slum-dwellers having been forced out on the streets. To this, Singh suggested that the families so evicted be resettled outside the city.

India Inc, on the other hand, expressed unhappiness over encroachments near the airport saying the slums gave a bad impression of Mumbai.

In response to HDFC head honcho Deepak Parekh’s suggestion that the Urban Land Ceiling Act be repealed to boost the housing market, the PM directed Deshmukh to take appropriate steps and said the state could scrap the law.

The PM’s response has boosted the morale of the Mumbai makeover team — state officials made a snazzy presentation before him at Navy Nagar. And not only did Singh assure support to the plan, he also announced that Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for the PMO, would coordinate between the state and Centre to ensure that Mumbai’s problems received attention.

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