Traff*&ked

Being a Mumbaikarr I know how bad it can get when you are stuck in traffic. A two minute distance takes not less than 15-20 mins to cover sometimes. Sometimes the car is just stuck there in the same place. One cant even move in any direction.

Yesterday was stuck for nearly 20 mins at the same place. While there I could hear a faint siren of an ambulance. Now I am not sure if the ambulance was on its way to pick up a patient, or on its way to drop the patient to a hospital… or if at all in line of duty. But yes…began to wonder what would happen to a patient in case stuck in such traffic.

Why just get Traffucked on any road…imagine getting stuck on the road to an important hospital. Take the case of Hinduja Hospital at Mahim. A school in its vicinity with its all ultra rich students coming in cars occupy the road and create jams over there for almost half an hour in the morning. These car owners care a damn about traffic rules, cutting across the lanes, taking U-turns from where ever they feel comfortable. I have seen parents just park their cars and talk to other parents without caring a damn about the traffic situation. I shudder to think of a medical emergency patient getting stuck because of this stupidity. I am being told that there are other schools also, where similar situations occur daily.

Forget ambulance, what if there is a medical emergency to a driver or a co-passenger. Are we equipped for such eventualities?

Surely not. Our State Government has funds to build a stupid monument over the sea. But they have never planned any air lifting medical facilities in Mumbai. This is one facility we need badly in Mumbai, not just when we get Traffucked on the roads, but also in case of disaster management. Is anybody listening????

Monuments

In the past I have written about the waste of money planned on building the Shivaji Maharaj Statue in Mumbai. Now with the Government which had planned for the statue back in power, for the next 5 years, the work will be starting soon on it.  Recently I  read the novel The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Since I have not ever been to Washington, I saw the pictures of the monuments mentioned in the book on the net.

These monuments built ages ago are today a symbol for the city of Washington. That made me think of any monument present in Mumbai.

Well we do have some structures….under Heritage Structures….but I dont think they are taken good care of. We have age old gardens like Hanging Garden, Five Garden, National Park….but they are all in a very bad shape. We have structures like the Victoria Terminus, Central Library, Rajabai Tower(the less said about its condition the better). But are these monuments really looked upon as tourist attractions.

There are other places in India which are hardly taken care of …..Jalianwala Baug in Amritsar, one doesnt even come to know of the infamous well, which has now been covered up, and not a single signboard has been kept in its vicinity to indicate its history. The bullet marks on the wall are left to everybodies imagination.

So that again make me think, that if we dont want to take good care of such huge monuments why build them at all. Ofcourse a developing city like Mumbai needs tourist attractions, but first atleast take care of the existing ones. If we cant take care of our existing monuments, there is absolutely no need for additional ones.

Shivaji Statue and the waste of money

Maharashtra Government has gone ahead with a plan to build a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the middle Arabian Sea, almost on lines of Statue of Liberty. What is bugging most is the expense of 350 crores being done on this.

Mumbai has got problems galore. Everytime we hear politicians say that the budget allocation by the Central Government leaves a lot of be desired. After every budget we read in the newspapers that Mumbai only gives but does not receive in terms of monetary gains.

Not surprising this decision makes one wonder from where the 350 crores will be used for the construction. And of course, the Bandra Worli Sea Link has proved that the mid-sea endeavors by our government have also escalated to more than the original cost. So we can safely assume that this cost will be over and above minimum 500 crores. We are not talking of Rs.150 difference over Rs. 350, but a difference of over 150 crore rupees.

This money can easily be utilized for improving the infrastructure, improving the water supply system, drainage system. No I wont argue, that in Mahahashtra farmers are committing suicide, I am arguing for my Mumbai, which is collapsing daily. We want better quality of life. Instead of building statues, why isn't the waterway being developed as a public transport system. We have a good chance to explore the sea as an alternate route of transport which is much needed.

Why cant the open drains(nallahs) be closed all over Mumbai. There has been a definite drop in Mosquitoes in areas where they have been closed.

There are many more options, but statue is surely a big waste of money. 350 crores for the statue, and other expenses per month to clean the bird shits which will be covering it daily……..