Everyone knows hows the city crumbled after the rains on 4th of July. The BMC claimed to have spent Rs. 250crs on the preventing such a incident from happening again. We all saw how well that money was spent. The High Court is currently asking the BMC to pick up all the contractors and BMC officials who were in-charge of the affected areas. For some reason I do not think; any good is going to come out of this move.
The day after the floods instead of the Chief Minister holding a press conference and talking about how the he plans on tackling the situation, he was on the paper talking about how he wants to build a status of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea. I do not get it. People are dying, business are suffering a heavy of losses, private and public included, the transport systems such as airports, trains and busses are bleeding money cause of the flooding. And all our beloved representatives can think about is the location of the a statue? I do not understand how a statue of Shivaji can stop floods.
Today I read a follow up article which spoke about how other beta and alfa cities also flooding during the rains on the Times of India. I think its ok to make mistakes. What counts is how you rectify them. Just by saying that other cities flood is not an excuse of how you spent soo much money of which most went down the drain ( no pun indented ).
A little example. When I was in San Francisco, it was raining most of the time. In fact it rained non stop for 24 days. Some days it was heavy, some days just a drizzle ( by Indian standards ). There were some parts of the city that flooded, during the high tide. Those problem areas were fixed within a week of being reported. The city also had launched a campaign "Only Rain down the Drain". Bombay has only 3 flood gates installed. But I am sure that statue of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea will prevent the water from rushing back into the city in some magical way. Provided we find a proper location for it.
I also think the people of Bombay are also responsible for the floods. A lot of people "bitch" about how dirty the city is and how much garbage is just lying around. Nearly all of them have done nothing to change the situation. They still litter. Most of them believe that throwing garbage in a gutter does not harm anyone, but in-fact will boast about how they do not litter. But its garbage like that, is what will block your drainage system in the long run. I have seen this first hand. The bad part is the water clogs and spills off on the road, along with the water the garbage will also find its way on the road.
I have had some friends laugh at me for walking around with an empty coke bottle or for entering a club with an empty take away from McDonalds. I'd just shrug and reply "Can't help it, not garbage bin around". Eventually I would find one, and dispose it away. For some reason I feel really embarrassed of littering.
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