The End Is Nigh For Mumbai, Says Outlook
News magazine Outlook’s latest cover story, bearing the characteristically ominous headline “Who Killed My Mumbai?”, details how our beloved metropolis is in a steady and steep state of urban decline. Taking as its peg the delayed response to the recent fire at Mantralaya—“a precious half hour passed before the first fire engine reached the spot”—the magazine examines with the help of interviews with city experts, analysts, architects, historians and economists (but interestingly no ministers), several indications that we’re on the brink of collapse. Or as transport analyst Sudhir Badami says: “The city is not dead yet, but it’s a few steps away from being in the ICU.” From our lack of affordable housing (“slum tenements command anywhere from Rs20 lakh-50 lakh a room”) to our crumbling infrastructure to the lack of a centralised planning authority to the politician-builder nexus to the systematic “de-intellectualisation” of our city (read author Kiran Nagarkar’s essay here) to the absence of adequate and safe public transport (read banker and former Lok Sabha independent candidate Meera Sanyal’s essay here), whichever way you look at, we’re screwed. Agree with Outlook’s grim prophecy or believe that we’re still relatively better off than the rest of the country? Tell us in the Comments section.
Sing No More The Mumbai Malhar [Outlook]
Tags: Media, Mumbai, OutlookComments (2)
Leave a comment
Featured Articles
Nido Slated To Open In June
May 22, 2013 by Editors
The Vigil Idiot: Aurangzeb
May 20, 2013 by Sahil Rizwan
MB Recommends: ‘Dharavi The City Within’
May 20, 2013 by Nayantara Kilachand
Lessons To Be Learned From The Bandra-Worli Sea Link
May 20, 2013 by Pronoti DattaYou Might Also Like...
I grew up in Mumbai-then-Bombay-now-Slumbai…and travel frequently to this city that I once loved as my home.. it has been overtaken by greed and power, and the the comman man/woman/child has paid the price for this excess.. Bombay lives a lie…it mouths progress while it slips into decay and self interest. What keeps it alive is nothing but the seemingly everlasting supply of cheap labor that floods into the city and provides the oil and machinery to keep sparkle alive.. Last summer I spent many hours commuting on Western Railway.. through the monsoon…and the heat.. I thought of writing an essay , which I would title – Affluence and Effluence.._City of Hope and Despair
Who is to blame ? We have seen the enemy and it us…wealth buys distance from the crap heap of what lies outside ones upwardly mobile lifestyle..power helps maintain that distance.
Young people are caught in a conflict of values..they know whats right.. and cant change it.. and if they did change it..would their lifestyles be in jeopardy ? So escape to heavy metal, your ipad and ipod..I dont blame you for not taking to the streets and aux barricades.. I would not if I were you .. just keep living and hope it will all go away
Besides the new fro-yo place in Juhu called Smooch, this city has very little to look forward too. The “energy” and “infectious” spirit of this city can only take it so far and alive for so long. Too many personal interests and lack of willpower to make a change keeps “Bombay” from ever reaching its potential.
Have some fro-yo at Smooch and maybe you can forget all the drama in this city for a few moments…