What ails Mumbai........

This letter was addressed to the PM, CM & Chair Person-UPA sometime in 2005.

I have been airing my views in the fond hope that it gets read and acted upon.

My message of today is on Mumbai.

To make it a livable city, you will need to advice your team as detailed below:

1. A responsible team should be created to study the roads of Mumbai and try and convert maximum number to one way streets. This one act will ensure a continuous unhindered flow of traffic.

2. No Goods vehicles/Hand carts, to ply between 8.30am & 10.30 am and 5.00 pm & 7.00 pm on any road.This will ensure office going crowds reach their destinations in short time.

3. It should be the responsibility of the Contractor to mantain roads repaired once, for the next 3 years.

   A case in point is the bend at Marol Naka in front of the Fire Brigade. I have seen this road being repaired every two weeks the past 2 years. This has to be investigated, and the guilty brought to book.

4. All signages in front of stores etc should be approved by a body so constituted. Norms should be defined for approval in terms od dimensions,colour.Use of Power saving lamps should be made compulsory.

5. No signage should protrude beyond 12 inches from the wall.

6. No storage of building materials in front of any shop.These shops store huge amounts of bricks,sand and cement bags on the footpaths.

7.Shops selling building materials should only be given permission to book orders. Delivery of these should be done from a central warehouse. Every 5 km radius can have a warehouse.

8. All shops that have extended beyond the original bulding plan should be first demolished.Many have created temporary rain shades, which have with time become permanent.If business is good, they must buy bigger space, and not grab public space.Besides revenue for the Government, it brings in discipline and a better look city.

4.Express Buses should be asked to ply on the flyovers created to shorten travel time.

5.Once drains are cleaned, the silt should be cleared within 24 hrs irrespective. Payment should be done only on proof of it having been cleared & dumped at the dumpyard.

6.The new townships being developed at Lower Parel and other Mill areas, should be given a theme.

   We can have a Chinese style township, another an Austrian style, a third a Tibetan style etc. This could be in future an attraction for tourists.

7. Townships being developed should have water bodies like ponds or lakes.

8. 200 metres of either side of the Mithi river should be taken over by the Govt. Alternate accomodations provided to the dishoused. All workshops if legal should be relocated in an Industrial belt.If illegal should be demolished. 

9. The land on either side of the river, should be developed on lines similar to Dubai creek.

10. Infrastructure created first, and then these plots sold to the highest bidder.

11. These plots should be the next highlight of Mumbai.

12. Painting of Buildings should be compulsory every 10 years.

13.A team of designers,architects,etc to design carts of dimension similar to existing carts.Licence Hawkers alone permitted to stand besides cart.

14.Carts permitted only on one side of any street.

15.No other structures permitted to sell wares.

16.All carts of uniform size only.

17. Traceability in all approvals.If a job is executed,we must know who has done it, who has inspected the job,who has  approved the job and certified for use. Once accountability sets in we get our moneys worth on all expenditure.