The Dilemma which is Mumbai

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The Dilemma which is Mumbai
- Thara Tlau

The 26/11 carnage of Mumbai has exposed the serious lapses in the administration of our cities. It has expounded the loopholes in the hierarchical functioning of the government in India – local, state and central. Unlike the aftermath of 9/11 where the Mayor of New York city was all-in-all in the hierarchy of administration taking charge of coordinating the rescue operations, rehabilitations and civil administration without any stupendous intervention from the governor of the state or the president of the country there was no one who could take up the “ownership” role for Mumbai when it was burning. On 26/11 and the following few days Mumbai was an orphan injured heavily by miscreants and bleeding profusely with no one to adopt her and bandage her wounds. Who is to blame? Where is her parent? Who is her parent – the mayor, the chief minister or the prime minister?

All Indian metropolitan cities have mayors with very limited administrative powers which too are confined mainly on sanitary and civic ones but pathetically unable to discharge even those – we are all authentic eyewitnesses, needless to delve deeper in that. Then comes the question in whose hands the major administrative power of the cities are confined to. The Prime Minister of India is definitely out of the scene. If so, the most convincing answer would be the chief ministers of the states. The chief minister of a state in India combines the dual functions akin to the Mayor of New York city and the Governor of New York state. If you are living in Bangalore the locality you live in and the locality of your friend in Tumkur have the same administrative head in the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Similarly, if you are living in Mumbai the locality you live in and a far flung locality in Solapur have the same administrative head in the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The people of Siliguri in northern West Bengal protested against frequent power-cuts in the city but they petitioned their grievances to the Chief Minister in Kolkata who lives a thousand miles away! A trade union representing labourers of fire-cracker industry in Sivakasi urged the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in Chennai to look into the working conditions of workers in the factories. In the meantime, captains of industries representing the IT industry were discussing with the same Chief Minister in his office chamber in Chennai ways and means to make the city of Chennai more competitive and attractive to foreign investors. Is it not a wonder that our chief ministers could bear so much of responsibilities? They are the monoliths in the states’ administration. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has ‘mayoral’ responsibilities for cities like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, etc!!

The need of the hour for better administration of our cities is delegation of more power to the mayors whatever be the means of their election – direct or indirect. A mayor will be the guardian of the city which will work in tandem with the city police commissioner in running the administration of the city. This will require a complete overhaul of the prevailing system with an enactment of legislation in this regard not from the state assemblies but the Parliament so as to give more fillips as well as equal impetus in its functioning throughout the country. This is the most urgent ‘change’ we need so badly at the moment.

Cities are the drivers of economic progress since the time of industrial revolution in Europe and all the more so in the present computer era. Ironically, they are also the most viable targets of terrorists with the kind of publicity they can generate and economic and political consequences they can attribute to. At the worldwide parlance New York, Madrid, Bali and London have seen it. At home, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Guwahati have seen it. The most disdainful thought but most unavoidable one which pop up in your mind constantly is which city is next. Our prayer, not the answer, is ‘none’. But, with the kind of security and intelligence at our disposal compounded by the porous international borders (sea and land) it is not awkward to guess ‘when’ and ‘where’. We, the citizens, may say ‘enough is enough’ but the echo will end into oblivion if it is not resounded by the political establishment with a sound strategy at hand to prevent, counter and pursue any kind of terrorism in Indian soil. Otherwise, our cities will continue to be as vulnerable as they have been. As a source of economic progress of the country, our cities deserve better care from the authority which has eluded them for so long to regain sense of security.

Mumbai, yes Mumbai, is the epicenter of India’s financial activities. It has rightly been accorded, though not officially, the ‘financial capital’ of India. The central bank of India – the Reserve Bank of India - is headquartered in Mumbai not New Delhi; the two largest stock exchanges - BSE and NSE - are located in Mumbai; the market and banking regulator - SEBI - is also headquartered in Mumbai. In short, Mumbai controls the financial nerves of India. When someone says THE stock exchange in India, he invariably means the Bombay Stock Exchange. Nevertheless, majority of the public and private sector banks, finance and insurance companies are headquartered in Mumbai. It is a colourful cosmopolitan city whose colours represent the colours of India’s diversity not that of the Marathis alone. ‘Bombay dream’ has enchanted many an ambitious soul to take up the challenges before the challenges of success to become great entrepreneurs, film personalities, hoteliers, bankers and even beggars. The first city an Indian child can pronounce is Bombay whether he is from the corner-most northeast India or the southernmost Kanyakumari. Mumbai is so dear to Indians that when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena claims ownership and spread hatred towards north Indians, even the south Indian Malayalese could not justify their actions. When Mumbai was attacked on 26/11, people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar watched their television sets gloomily with tears forgetting how much they have been victimized by the short-sighted MNS. The people of India irrespective of their religion and region prayed in unison so that Mumbai can stand tall and spectacular again on its feet.

Though I have proposed about the strengthening of the mayors of the cities, Mumbai is a special case – class apart from other Indian cities taking into cognizance its status as the financial capital and its sheer size of being the largest Indian city. Strengthening of the mayor of Mumbai will be a welcome development indeed, but according a union territory status similar to that of Delhi or creating a city-state i.e. statehood for Mumbai will be a more enviable option. If a union territory status or statehood is given to Mumbai, Mumbai will look after itself. The Chief Minister of Mumbai with all its glories and powers will solely be responsible for Mumbai. Here the Chief Minister will be wielding the functions of the Mayor of New York city and the Governor of New York state combined, but not as described earlier, to take responsibilities of far flung towns and cities but for the welfare of the city of Mumbai alone. This will make the city more vibrant economically and competitive vis-à-vis other cities of the world like London, New York, Honk Kong and Singapore. It will be more accommodative in outlook and also will regain its lost ground in the hearts of a billion strong Indians as a city of dreams.

Salaam Bombay!!!