In the NYC, the annual rainfall is aroung 26 cms and we had a rains that marked almost a meter in a day. No developed country could have coped with this torrential rains.Even developed country would have looked help less for this amount of rains. So blaming the govt for not having good drainage systems in place. It happened first time in recorded history. Hope this is the last time.
The writers lives in a fools paradise, comparing Mumbai with Singapore!!! Anyone with basic commonsense will not do that. The share market is not and cannot be the only index of a country like India, there are many other indices. The rise in the share index on the contrary shows the ruthlessness of our business community.
I do not how many VIPs from foreign countries come to Bombay than in Bangalore. Bangalore has the same problems in terms of infrastructure. The Govt. of india should abolish all City and municipal corporations as they can`t deliver the goods. All the guys who are part of the city or municipal corporations are highly corrupt and pay bills for the work or project that is not done by sharing the booty.
If Indian cities want to be modern cities we must hire foreign consultants and pay for once for super infrastructure instead of this local jokers who keep spending money for the same job evey year in Paper. Atleast we can have good quality life. One should visit Koramangala,BTM Layout, HSR Kayout or the so called IT corridor to see themselves how public is being fooled by politicians and newspapers. We must also the appreciate Wipro and Infosys for undergoing the agony infront of their foreign clients justifying their medicore political leaders and their medicore cities and their crocodile tears for the poor and backwards class people. In what way the infrastructure of the city have got to do with Poor people or the backward people.
RE:Mumbai rains batter India Image
by A.H. Venkatachalam on Aug 09, 2005 11:51 PM Permalink
I agree with you. The situation is hopeless in Bangalore. The desperate pleas by IT Czars have not cut ice with the erstwhile CM, the present ones and the authorities concerned. Words demand adequate expression to describe their callousness.
I have been following your columns on the terrible battering that Mumbai has undergone the past week and have been somewhat demoralised at the lack of perspective most accounts seem to suffer from.
I have had the privilege of living in Mumbai for about three years in the 80's. Coming from calcutta where there is no civic sense of any kind, or even pride in the city's physical space, I was always impressed by the island city's dynamism, an energy that seemed to amke it the only real city that India has with all its problems of inadequate infrastructure, corrupt politicians and inefficient slum management. Consequently when the deluge happened and Mumbai faced a crisis of enormous proportions I was upset but could do little from my location thousands of miles away except empathise with the terrible pressures Mumbaikars - the middle class and the poor in particular are dealing with. However the reports have been so shortsighted except to harp on why Mumbai will never be shanghai or how the city ahs taken a beating in terms of its image.
is it image that we should be concerned with now or reality that requires intelligent and sensitive intervention andmaking netas accountable
someone said information is money, power etc. On that day for many information was life. and that was denied to many office goers, school children and everyone in thiscity. If I had known that water has cordoned off ghatkopar right from sion I would have remained in my office. The matter has happened right at 2 and 3pm on that day. I do not know even at 6pm. I suggest that there should be powerfull cameras installed all over the important areas of the city so that any untoward serious abnormality gets recorded and also is available live to the tv/internet watcher 24/7 a week. This system is not very costly which can be covered by ads too. This can save many lives on such afatefull day. If the rain on that day had persisted for another 3 hrs many of us would not have been there today. PR Subramanian
It was surprising to note The chief Economist of ABN Amro to come with a statement that even Singapore or London will be in the same state as of what is Mumbai is in now. Heavy rain lash out the cities of Germany like Bremen and Freiburg not just one or two days in a year but for most part of the year and it is not possible to see any water stagnating anywhere in the road.
I totally agree with Mr. Abheek Barua. Please let's stop this Mumbai-battering. I absolutely agree that if Singapore or London were to face such a calamity, things wouldn't have been very different. Why, Londoners can't even come to terms with a series of bomb-blasts, which happen almost once every year in Mumbai. So much for their being prepared or our being under-prepared, whichever angle you'd like to look at it from..
Well whatever has has happened in Mumbai, might happen anywhere in world, quite true. But the irony is there not so many would have died or effected by the deluge. As the article highlights whoever it may be, always cares for the elite not for the common man walking on the roads. Ever heard a CM house being washed away or bore the brunt of the fury. NO. We can never be an economic power with soaring sensex. It shows how the elite in India is insensitive to the problems of the poor. Soaring sensex, will it reduce the pain of the suffered or will it pump out the water from the water logged areas.
Hi, I have been following the flood situation right from day one. The only thing I noticed is that nearly all of the columnists & the most of the people are blaming one or the other. I think this makes us the way we are. We DONOT act, just talk (read blame).
