Saturday, September 29, 2007

Comparing Mumbai to Delhi - How Illogical, An Insult to Mumbai

Hi Friends,

Its not so often that I write these mails, but in a recent survey by E&Y, they say Delhi is better than Mumbai. Though the parameters as used by them, no two ways wold favour Delhi, but why don’t they also look at the amount that is spent on Infrastructure Development for Delhi as it is the National Capital. On the Contrary when it comes to Mumbai, even though it outsmarts Delhi by a huge margin in terms of revenues, what it gets is Terms and Conditions Levied for meeting one or other requirements, prior to sanction of funds for development.

Just look at the Cleaning and Expansion project for Mithi, Dahisar and another River (the one that starts from Aaray Colony and flows through Goregaon), the funds requested were INR 2000 Crores and the amount sanctioned was 50% of that. Metro development in Mumbai had been discussed from as long as 1999-2000, but the only corridor that was sanctioned for the Project (Charkop – Marve – Varsova - Andheri East – Ghatkopar) was off late in 2005 or 2006.

The first Metro project as per the knowledge that I had gained from the government circle was Borivali – Thane (intersecting through the Sanjay Gandhi National Park), but that was shelved as environmentalists (environmental ministry) raised concerns.

So I guess there are many such sharp nails that are the pain areas for those fighting for the Development of Mumbai Infrastructure to meet the growing demands.

The plight of Mumbai is not the dearth of space, but the availability of funds for development.

But whatever be the case, Mumbai still stands proud with its resilience, zest for life, cultural richness, active nightlife, and you have the best that you could have ever asked for.

I would request you to visit - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/debate/2411691.cms and cast your opinion for Mumbai being the better city

Regards

Mayank