The wonderful saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, is most appropriate to the Mumbai of today. I get nervous whenever our administrators and leaders start using phrases like “beautification” because I – like every other Mumbaikar – know that it is almost guaranteed that the end result will be shoddy. Letting it be in the state that it was is often the best policy. Some recent examples will explain what I mean.
Numerous talks have been going on about developing and beautifying Rani Baug, as our popular zoo is called. As anyone who has been there will testify, it is not the best zoo in the country and in fact often the condition of the animals there leave a lot to be desired. But, and this is borne out of personal experience, the gardens are a delight and walking around, especially on weekdays, can be a very peaceful experience. It is an island of serenity in our frenetic city.
Yet, every now and then our city fathers (and mothers) come up with ideas to upgrade the zoo, bringing in consultants who recommend not just building many more concrete structures but also creating plans and proposals that will entail cutting down trees that go back decades. If not for a group of activists, Byculla zoo today would have been yet another concrete jungle.
The same impulse to “improve” and beautify Marine Drive has been visible for the past few years. The last round of beautification produced some weird looking road dividers, that’s it. It didn’t do anything to the place; small mercies, one supposes.
In recent months, many people have been targeting Marine Drive and gradually but surely, the place has been spoilt. First came the replacement of the sodium vapour lamps with LED bulbs in the name of saving electricity. A perfectly sensible idea, but it was done without any dialogue with citizens and in fact was opposed by not just residents but also the government’s own ally, the Shiv Sena. Besides, where was the need to use white bulbs? The beauty of the stretch, known as the Queen’s necklace, was because of the golden hue in the evenings and nights that came from the yellow sodium vapour lamps. Could an effort not be made to get similarly coloured LED bulbs?
Sure enough, the High Court said that the government should consider going back to the sodium vapour lamps and in fact mentioned the aesthetic argument for it.
This should give joy to every citizen who is proud of Marine Drive, but the basic question remains—could not have this been avoided in the first place. Apart from the expense and effort, which must be considerable, surely the policy makers could have done some more thinking on it?
Not that the efforts to keep adding things unthinkingly has stopped. The Thackeray scion, Aditya, has roped in some actor friends to set up exercise bars on the Marine Drive stretch, which is used by tens of thousands of citizens to walk, run, sit and generally enjoy the breeze. This could have been done on the beach, but no, it had to be done on Marine Drive. The Heritage Committee, which is supposed to be monitoring any changes to important heritage precincts, has said it had no idea that this proposal was in the works, which means that even the existing rules have been circumvented.
Meanwhile, residents and walkers have been complaining of hawkers and anti-social elements, spotted on Marine Drive, causing a lot of trouble. What would one rather have—greater security or exercise equipment? No one will protest against providing facilities to the city, but some thinking can surely go into where and how to place it.
Again, no citizen was ever consulted. Marine Drive has a pretty good residents’ association – at the very least, someone could have asked them. But no, it was decided one day and lo and behold, the next day the equipment was installed, with photos of the actors splashed all over the papers.
Those who go to Carter Road regularly chafe at the placement of a huge – and I mean huge – cricket bat on the promenade. It is meant to honour Sachin Tendulkar but frankly looks ugly and out of place. Once again, it is a misplaced attempt to make the place more attractive.
Mumbai is no longer the lovely city it was. It is filthy and crumbling. Yet, some remnants from a more gracious past, Marine Drive being one of them, are still around. To think that this stretch – both the promenade and the road – were constructed eight decades ago by the British is in itself awe-inspiring. Think about the advance planning and the thinking that produced a road that is not just beautiful but also so useful even today. Shouldn’t it be our duty to preserve it and ensure that it does not get ruined? One may argue that things need to be upgraded and beautified, and there can be no quarrel with that argument. But this cannot be done without application of mind and without taking everyone on board. Some may disagree, but at least the city would be part of the decision making process? Is it too much to ask that any future attempts to beautify things will now not happen unless all the proper agencies are consulted?
