Issue Mumbai dying: No water, no power and crumbling transport system
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Issue Mumbai dying: No water, no power and crumbling transport system

Archive Manager by Archive Manager
Feb 5, 2006, 12:00 am IST
in General
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail


From Anil Nair in Mumbai

The makeover plans of the Maharashtra government for Mumbai city are getting nowhere. The power and water shortage in the city has made life even more miserable and there seems to be no way out. In the latest directive from the municipality, newly-constructed multi-plexes, buildings, malls, etc. will get only a limited amount of water just as the older buildings will face shortage for ever. Quite a way to attract investors to the state. And in the midst of all this was the attempt to change the transport system to give it an international look.

The train services are getting worse everyday. The millennium rake introduced in the suburban services is nothing but a scandal. The coaches are the same, there is no emphasis on the comfort of the passengers, what with wooden seats, no air-conditioning and a pathetic audio system to give information to passengers. At least Mumbaikars had expected something akin to the metro coaches in Delhi and Kolkata which are swanky and cool.

The new low-floor, good-looking buses introduced by best are only too late, too little. The majority of the buses are still old which look as if they have been made by cottage industry. The road transport service in Mumbai is creaking under the load and with inadequate road infrastructure the new Singaporean model for taxis is becoming a non-starter. The taxis in the city are such a disgrace that even Jeffrey Archer, a celebrated international best-selling author, in his book The Fourth Estate talks about Mumbai taxis with the disdain that they deserve. Archer talks about how the taxi he boards at the airport is old enough to have been decommissioned in any other country, the windscreen wipers don'twork and the driver does not know how to get out of second gear. But the taximen'sunion has such a stranglehold over the drivers that it has summarily dismissed the proposal to change the rickety vehicles to more comfortable, air-conditioned modern taxis. The opposition to modernising the taxis might emanate from the need to change the metering system which will stall all fraudulent means to overcharge the consumer.

But the taximen'sunion has a point when it says that modern vehicles in foreign countries like Singapore work well as the roads are good enough to ride them on. One has to take a cab from suburban Sion to Mahim to realise how scandalous Mumbai roads can be, even without a July 26 natural calamity striking the city. The other issue is that of the parking space that is available for the taxis. With the burgeoning number of private cars on the city roads parking space is at a premium. The taximen'sunion leader A.L. Quadros said that the drivers did not even get parking space during lunchtime and they would often skip their meals rather than be caught by the police for wrong parking.

The Singaporean model essentially involves taxi vehicles being owned and maintained by corporates but leased out to the taxi-rivers. Quadros maintain that the drivers would become slaves of the owning company and lose their identity, whatever that means. If the government insists on keeping private vehicles out of the city roads while allowing only public transport vehicles, it would help hugely to decongest the roads as well as parking space. But such measures are unimaginable in our ?socialist? country.

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

Uniform personal law to define nationhood

Next News

Partial application: Apropos Religions should renew and reassess (Organiser, 8-1-2006);

Related News

Assam Chief Secretary reviews floods, landslide situation in state; more than 4 lakh people in 26 districts affected

Assam Chief Secretary reviews floods, landslide situation in state; more than 4 lakh people in 26 districts affected

World bank sanctions USD 350 billion to Gujarat to boost health services

World bank sanctions USD 350 billion to Gujarat to boost health services

Fake Twitter handles from Pakistan mislead users by promoting Chinese narrative

Fake Twitter handles from Pakistan mislead users by promoting Chinese narrative

Life of shepherdess in Ladakh mountains an inspiration to many

Life of shepherdess in Ladakh mountains an inspiration to many

Take a look at the Indian squad going to represent India in 2022 Commonwealth Games

Take a look at the Indian squad going to represent India in 2022 Commonwealth Games

Tata Motors Finance – Empowering the Drivers of the economy

Tata Motors Finance – Empowering the Drivers of the economy

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

Assam Chief Secretary reviews floods, landslide situation in state; more than 4 lakh people in 26 districts affected

Assam Chief Secretary reviews floods, landslide situation in state; more than 4 lakh people in 26 districts affected

World bank sanctions USD 350 billion to Gujarat to boost health services

World bank sanctions USD 350 billion to Gujarat to boost health services

Fake Twitter handles from Pakistan mislead users by promoting Chinese narrative

Fake Twitter handles from Pakistan mislead users by promoting Chinese narrative

Life of shepherdess in Ladakh mountains an inspiration to many

Life of shepherdess in Ladakh mountains an inspiration to many

Take a look at the Indian squad going to represent India in 2022 Commonwealth Games

Take a look at the Indian squad going to represent India in 2022 Commonwealth Games

Tata Motors Finance – Empowering the Drivers of the economy

Tata Motors Finance – Empowering the Drivers of the economy

Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games postponed due to COVID-19 in China

Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games postponed due to COVID-19 in China

India will soon cross 100 cr mark in COVID-19 vaccination, says Mansukh Mandaviya

Mansukh Mandaviya says no shortage of fertilizers in India, country to become self-reliant soon

Indian American student ‘choked for four minutes’ in Texas school, video sparks outrage

Indian American student ‘choked for four minutes’ in Texas school, video sparks outrage

J-K Police, security forces arrest 2 LeT terrorist associates in Budgam

J-K Police, security forces arrest 2 LeT terrorist associates in Budgam

  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies