Madam Mayor, how insensitive of you

Okay, Shraddha Jadhav, you have been Mumbai’s Mayor for two years and a few months, so you deserve to be heard with respect. Because that is a long enough time for you to have understood the way the city lives. First Citizens, who are guardians of the city’s interests, have more at stake than citizens themselves. On Friday, you said Mumbai’s citizens ’lack a social consciousness’. That is why the city is dirty. That the gutters and sewers are choked, the streets are garbage-ridden. That the drums placed in slums are spirited away by their residents to store water. That the metal manhole covers on the drains are stolen, forcing the city government to use cement covers. You also complained that plastic bags were still in use because of the non-cooperation of the State Government. That a small town like Matheran and a big city like Delhi could, but Mumbai could not. All very sad, indeed. The citizens ought to know better. How insensitive of them to cause such a mess. But there is a flip side to it, with which, Madam Mayor, you ought to be made aware of. If the city lacks a social consciousness, what has the city’s government — the biggest in India, the richest as well — done to make the city run well and remain clean? Just think about it before you post a riposte here. Be forewarned, for, the city is listening. [caption id=“attachment_191071” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“In how many places does the claimed water supply really reach the slum dwellers? Reuters”]  [/caption] The Municipal Corporation came into being in the 80s of the 19th century and has had enough time to design a method to keep the place in a manner that evokes pride, not disgust. It had all the opportunity to develop a clear relationship with the citizenry and get it to be a stakeholder in its upkeep. But those who run the city – bureaucrats and the politicians – are behaving more like shareholders of a public limited company whose shares are closely held. The stakeholders, the citizens, do not figure in the scheme of things. They have never been made to feel a part of, its citizens merely voters who should be fooled once every five years. Let us deal with each of your grievances — it seems to be bigger than the citizens’ — point by point: One, they have no social consciousness. How can they be endowed with it when their leaders, which include you, are power and not duty conscious? They voted you to the top job and what have you given them? A city you accurately describe as filthy. Two, the slums are dirty because the garbage bins have been stolen to store water. But how many slums have water supply even in those pockets that are legal because they had come up prior to 1995? In how many places does the claimed water supply really reach the slum dwellers? They prefer to have water and don’t mind the garbage. Can’t blame them; their priorities are not off the mark. Of course, the larger question of who allowed the slums to come up, who benefited from their mushrooming? They were only voters, right, undeserving of amenities… They are smart people; they made a deal – vote for you to avoid being evicted and having their homes demolished. They count their blessings and don’t complain like People Like Us – you and me. Three, what is wrong with cement manhole covers? They are an adaptation suited to prevent the pilferage of the metal ones, and cheaper, too. And what about the manholes people can fall into because they are uncovered? Four, the plastic bags. There is a ban. There is a supervisory mechanism which is in slumber, waking up once in a while to collect haftas from hawkers as it does from shops licensed by your civic body. The traders have the will to defy you, for, your personnel have the muscle to collect the bribes. The State Government is a fringe player after it activated the law. You lacked the will. Let me take you to a judgement delivered by Justices Krishna Iyer and O Swaminath Reddy in the country’s first ever Public Interest Litigation, which concerned the non-performance of the Ratlam Municipality. The civic body had claimed it had no funds for civic amenities as the establishment’s expenses ate into the budget. The court told the civic body that it had an obligation to serve because it was mandated. It could not hide behind excuses. Likewise, Madam Mayor Shraddha Jadhav, nor can you. Because people lack the desired social consciousness. I suppose some judge has to rap you on the knuckes and tell you that you have a duty to perform. Remember the dancer who couldn’t dance well? She complained the floor was uneven. Now, with due respect, stop complaining and ask your successor to be more sensitive. It does not matter to which political party he or she belongs. And how insensitive of you, Madam Mayor, to speak so, especially when elections to the civic body you preside over are just weeks away, and your party, the Shiv Sena is keen on returning to power. It is enough to make your voters turn their faces away. And send you and your party home. No good politician likes to bite the hand that feeds; after all, your ilk has fed and fattened on the city long enough. But that is another story.