I have been staying in mumbai for 4 years now, before i was in Delhi for 15 years, but I like Mumbai more than Delhi because of people and the way city moves, its cosmopolitan. City. I think more than rain and flood we need to look at the way Mumbai city has been developing. Delhi and Mumbai are major metros in India, if you see Delhi has developed in a very planned way, politicians are selected from Delhi at state level and they have to show the work their, if you see Mumbai, politicians are chosen from various part of maharastra and they come to Mumbai, make money, rape the city and go back to their place. for example if you see near powai 3 lakes, they were actually supposed to be connected to sea via bandra kurla complex root , infact their was a committee made to study this and environmentalist alarm that we must need to connect these lakes to sea, later on the committee disbanded and form another committee for the same, and today you see a Hugh BKC bandra kurla complex commercial property has come out which is one of the prime business property.
now in rain these lakes are full of water thats how u see kurla, kalina r flooded, BKC cant observe the water due to concrete structure. We need to work smart to make better and clean.
I agree with Mr Jagat Rathore absolutely just blaiming the Govt is not just.We have to blame ourselves.I was staying in Mumbai for 25yrs,currently I reside at Pune,I have seen this kind of heavy rains not these measures thou but the same highways getting flooded,roads & lanes getting flooded.But this type of rains & disaster I have seen for the first time.I understand that the Govt could have alerted the public like what they are doing now,but heavy rains are part & parcel of Mumbai lifestyle,working class ladies & men wait when trains will stop & they have a official holiday.But what happen on 26th July,2005 is extra ordinary disaster,no one could have done anything.Mumbaikars are alway self served,also during 1993 bomb blast only ordinary people helped one another during that time I was in Mumbai & I have seen it with my own eyes.So its part of life lets not blame but carry on like Mumbaikars.Three Cheers for the spirit of Mumbai.A City which does not sleep.
While pointing the shortcomings of others, we easily and comfortably forget civic duties. We have made Mumbai an open toilet and garbeg bin.We are all polythene lovers to such an extent that we avoid carrying larger carrybags with us and don't hezitate to ask for one while buying a strip of crocin!We never cared for the tonnes of solid waste being dumped into the gutters and nullahs. We never cared for the razed mangroves belt. We never cared for the all round encroachment around the drainages. On 26th,from past experiences, can't the car owners anticipate very heavy traffic jam due to the water logging. Instead we added our cars in the jam and then started cursing the govt. Can't we observe the simple driving discipline which could have prevented the jam in few spots. Afterall Govt.men have their family and household to worry about apart from the citizens of the city.
A lot has been said about the inefficiency of the present government in handling the disaster in mumbai. Where are the shiv sainks who destroy theatres when there is a movie called "fire" is screened , where are those who claim to protect our country from the cultural invasion whenever a A valentines day is celebrated. If these people are so concerned about the country's heritage , why did not they come forward to help in this mumnai disaster. Are they only to DESTRUCT and NOT CONSTRUCT. Please answer Mr Bal Thackeray , where are your soldiers when the country needs them the most.
The IMAX Theatre in Mumbai is only ther largest DOME theatre in Asia, But our PRASADS IMAX theatre is the largest Flat screen theatre screen in the world.
All the comments on this are absolutely valid. I would say to all people who have stressed on things like planning, strict civic authorities, slum clearnace etc only one thing - the problem is not the lack of people who can do it but is rather a lack of system that can ever allow rational and progressive methods. The present form of adminstration we practice across india not just mumbai has a major flaw as it allows the politicians, leaders to pander to the masses to garner electoral gains. 10 years of rule under Governor can ensure changes which cannot be quickly rolled back. You would all appreciate Thane was cleaned up in 5 years but Mr Chandrashekar was lucky to have the backing of the polictical class in Thane. For entire Mumbai to be that lucky may be too much to ask for. So a Governor' rule with tight fiscal control with quarterly B/L and P/L for the corporation published in newspapers. Just get accountability and everything will fall in place. Does India have the Will? Will the technocrats and bureaucrats have the will to take this challenge?
I don't agree that "Mumbaiites are equally to blame". I think, we Mumbaiites are the only ones to blame.
* We lack civic sense, and we think nothing of throwing all kinds of trash on the roads. We may eat potato chips and throw the bag on the road from our bus / car / train. Drainage system will get clogged if we keep doing this. * We encourage encroaching by not reporting it. Encroachments make the problem worse as it affects drainage as well as free movement of traffic. Look at SV Road between Andheri and Borivali. Every 50 meters, you find some bigs shops that have encroached on the road, reducing its capacity by about 20-30%. * We encourage encroaching by buying from the vendors who have encroached on public land simply because they are near our houses and therefore convenient. * If there is corruption in the city, it is because we pay bribes to get things done. * And finally, we elect the politicians who rule us.
I think it is time we Mumbaiites learn a lesson from Surat, which has changed itself from being the most bad-surat city of India, to a khub-surat city.
