Opinion Babu-builder-bhai

The huge stakes in the real estate sector,and its politicisation,have made the situation in Mumbai practically irreparable. Of course,the city,like any other megalopolis,always had its own underworld. The Haji Mastans and the Yusuf Patels ruled the city in the 1970s. They had their pockets of influence; the man on the street was hardly affected by their antics. That began to change with the crumbling of Mumbai’s famous textile industry in the 1980s. Many studies have established a link between the rise of Mumbai’s Bhai culture to the death of the city’s once-thriving industrial subculture. It was not just the job losses that forced many a young man to the underworld; the availability of large swathes of land,which were thrown open for development after the closure of mills transformed participation in the underworld into a lucrative trade.

Politicians entered the ring at this point. Local corporators,who serve the cash-rich Mumbai municipal corporations,came into the picture. Many of them became pointsmen for real estate players; and,with the growth of the sector,they too grew politically. It’s no surprise that many of the state’s politicians now have either their own real estate business or work for one. The situation the state finds itself in is directly linked to the politicisation of the real estate sector. Until then politicians were seen using builders. Later builders started using politicians.

The opportunity to make quick megabucks came after 2005 when the state government decided to open the redevelopment of large slums and dilapidated buildings in Mumbai. According to industry estimates,over Rs 1 lakh crore is at stake in Mumbai’s rickety buildings. To make it attractive for the sector,the state coined a concept called transfer of development rights or the TDR. Simply put,builders were allowed to use floor-space-index in other areas in lieu of their “social service” of building houses for the urban poor. But its possibilites have not been fully realised,as it became one of the biggest rackets in Mantralaya’s corridors of power. Add to it another Rs 65,000 crore that’s required to strengthen the city infrastructure by building flyovers and sea links. Without any regulation of the real-estate sector,it all makes for an explosive cocktail.

The unceremonious exit of the former chief minister Ashok Chavan in 2010 brought to the fore the might of the builders. The Adarsh scam,which forced Chavan’s exit,followed a dispute between two giant real-estate interests in Mumbai. Chavan was believed to be favouring a certain group which was eyeing a large redevelopment project in the city suburbs; and in the end,he lost the job.

It was all expected to change with the arrival of “Mr Clean” Prithviraj Chavan. Chavan undoubtedly is one of the cleanest chief ministers the state has had. With no stakes in the state’s powerful sugar lobby or in the city’s real-estate sector,he was always unwelcome to these lobbies.

But individual integrity doesn’t guarantee good governance,the CM might have realised by now. There have been consistent efforts to dislodge and discredit the chief minister who has become a thorn in the flesh for many. It has led to the divide in the state administration. The current lawlessness is a direct fall out of a tug-of-war between various factions of the government.

Chavan has a daunting task ahead. J. Dey’s brutal killing last Saturday is a clear indication that the underworld is ready to bare its fangs,irrespective of Chavan’s squeaky clean image. His murder in broad daylight is not only a threat to Mumbai’s journalistic fraternity,it shows that the babu-builder-bhai nexus is all set to undermine the very foundation of Maharashtra’s political edifice.

The writer is Executive Editor,‘ Loksatta’