Stuff I wrote for my college campus newspaper - 8

Aamchi Mumbai and Shanghai

By Sanket ‘Mumbaikar’ Kambli

Yeah! Their names sound similar, but why am I taking these two together, read further to unravel the non-existent mystery. Weeks after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took charge, he had stressed the need to develop Mumbai’s infrastructure. In the city a few days ago, Singh reiterated his commitment to support its makeover... but asked the state government to retain the ?‘‘Human face of development’’? The PM emphasized that it was time ‘‘to think big (think Rs 31,000-crore) instead of focusing on minor development tasks’’. Since then, Mumbai’s civic machinery has been working at an intense lick, trying to turn into reality the Prime Minister’s ambitious dream of transforming Mumbai into Shanghai. And with ample 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. Following which 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. Also unhappiness has been expressed by some over encroachments near the airport, saying the slums gave a bad impression of Mumbai. The last week of December saw two ‘makeover’ teams engrossed in an intense two-day brainstorming session in Bangalore—one, a team working to transform Mumbai into Shanghai; the other, a team that was set up with the aim of turning Bangalore into Singapore. Back in the city, the Mumbai team says there’s a lot to learn from the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF). ‘‘Especially from their experience in improving the civic administration and creating public awareness about development,’’ said Sanjay Ubale, secretary, special projects. The team was impressed by the BATF’s Public Accountability System where the municipal commissioner, police chief and the head of the city’s development authority interacted with citizens every six months. Admitting it would be difficult to implement all the programmes in Mumbai, Ubale said they could easily incorporate ‘‘a few things’’ in their plan. The Mumbai team, meanwhile, was quick to point out that Bangalore did not face massive demolitions like Mumbai—55,000-odd illegal shanties have been demolished and over 2 lakh slum dwellers left homeless. ‘‘We had our share of problems too,’’ Ravichandar former BATF member said, ‘‘but we had concentrated on commercial encroachments.’’ This renewal mission would focus on slum development, facilities for the urban poor, construction of roads and footpaths, development of urban facilities including sanitation, drinking water and power supply, public transport, parks and public spaces, legal reform, new construction projects and environment management.

Here are some of the mega projects that officials are hoping would transform Mumbai into a dream city.

* Transport Plaza for Bus Terminal, Wadala

Cost: Rs 100 crore Status: 6.5 hectares of land. Temporary plaza underway, entrepreneur can charge buses, operators, and passengers; develop commercial area

* Middle Vaitarna Water Supply Project, Thane

Cost: Rs 1,250 crore Status: All clearances obtained to construct 7.5 km long tunnel to boost Mumbai’s water supply

* Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, Sewri

Cost: Rs 2,700 crore for 22-km Sea bridge to Nhava Sheva from Sewri Status: Environment clearance assured, alignment approved, feasibility study updated in February 2004. Toll revenues for 30 years and development rights along approach roads

* Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub Airport, Nagpur

Cost: Rs 2,581 crore Status: Acquisition underway, project hopes to generate 94,000 jobs, boost exports.

*Rs 1,500-crore metro link between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar;

*Rs 110-crore entertainment centre in the Bandra-Kurla complex;

*Rs 600-crore Passenger Water Transport system;

*Rs 4,500- crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project.

But some questions remain, whether this will really help to make Mumbai a dream city, is there a need to compare Mumbai to Shanghai. And how much ‘Human face of development’ will be maintained in transforming the financial capital of this nation into a world class city?