Opinion On shaky ground in Thane
On Thursday,a seven-storey building collapsed in Mumbra,a town 40 km north-east of Mumbai
On Thursday,a seven-storey building collapsed in Mumbra,a town 40 km north-east of Mumbai. The death toll touched 72 on Saturday. But immediately after the collapse,the state government woke up to some startling statistics. In an interview to The Indian Express last week,Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) Commissioner R A Rajeev said 90 per cent of all structures in the district are illegal. Surely he was not exaggerating,but stating the facts doesnt quite absolve him of dereliction of duty. He has been the Municipal Commissioner for 36 months,so the buck stops with him.
Adjacent to this building that witnessed a pancake collapse one floor falling on top of another,leaving rescuers little space for manoeuverability was another building,which the TMC started demolishing the next day. A stones thrown away from the compound of these two buildings are thousands of such structures with glaring illegalities. There are nine very dangerous buildings that are occupied in Mumbra. Populated mostly by Muslims,Mumbra is a typical ghetto in Mumbai suburbs.
Thane districts development has been in spurts and that too mostly unplanned. Areas such as Mumbra and Diva in Thane have seen a huge influx of people,including the 1992-93 riot-affected,over the past two decades. Soaring real estate prices in Mumbai,unavailability of accommodation to Muslims easily in city except in areas where the community presence is predominant,have aided if not led to the creation of such ghettos. Mira Bhayander and Bhiwandi,two other municipalities,too are home to Muslims in large numbers. Eyeing the vote-bank,politicians have blatantly encouraged if not indulged in such ghettoisation.
Pessimistic it may sound,but the tragic accident will be forgotten in the din of another political controversy,for example,Ajit Pawars statements on whether urinating can address the problems of drought. There is no governance in many of these areas,with both police and civic officials throwing in the towel. For a district such as Thane,with a population density of 1,157,thrice the national density of 382,what is required is durable long-term planning. It took the Chief Minister a disaster to once again talk of that.
Sharvari is a senior correspondent based in Mumbai
sharvari.patwa@expressindia.com
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