"Mere Sapno ki Mithi Nadhi"

That's not the title of the latest Bollywood movie; its actually an essay competition for school students sponsored by Kirit Somaiya. The translation of the title is "The Mithi river of my dreams". Probably spurred by the "re-discovery" of the Mithi river after the 26th July deluge, some guys have taken this to probably create an awareness among the kids.

One wonders if this will actually have any effect on the beautification of the river. The last time I saw it (this weekend), it still looked like a black swamp with all the "encorached industries" still dumping happily into it.

Water supplier tanker's source

As mentioned in my previous post, many water supplier tankers supplying to Hiranandani and/or Powai area get their water filled from near the Shipping Corporation compound. I had wondered (and still wonder) whether the water is somehow taken from the Powai lake (see the post).

A photograph is now available. The Powai lake is on the opposite side of the road (photography of the Powai lake is prohibited - it is probably covered under some Security Act or the other). On the right side of the photo, note the helmet seller (hawker!). The greenery behind the water tanker seems to be part of the Shipping Corporation of India compound. But I may be mistaken - maybe that is part of some other estate (but unlikely given the size of the Shipping Corporation Compound).

Please note that I am not saying this is illegal. This may be very much a legal activity, but one needs to probe further. My contention is that Powai lake levels dipped far more this year's summer than in the past.

How to encroach...a dummy's guide to encroachment

Here's a step by step approach for encroachment on Mumbai's green areas:

1. Pick a nice spot with some greenery around it. There should be a road of some sort along this.
2. Get dumpers to dump debris at the edge of the road so that it destroys some of the greenery - night is a good time to do this, but could also be done in the day time depending on your clout. An infinite supply of debris is guaranteed given the amount of digging and construction and re-construction in Mumbai.
3. After a few months, the debris should be enough for the dumper (trucks) to go further into the greenery and destroy that too.
4. Square meter at a time, the greenery will soon be covered by a lot of debris. At this stage, the debris now looks like a proper raised platform on which one can start building shanties and setting up shops.
5. The place has now been encroached upon.
6. If some crazy officials object, show them "the way" or bribe your way out.
7. If some crazier ordinary people try to stop you, threaten them with dire consequences.
8. Congratulations! You are now the proud "owner" of a newly created estate.

PS: I'll soon post pics of this happening. Keep an eye open for such things in your areas too.

The hawker menace...Part 1

The Supreme Court of India has decided to keep some hawking zones in Mumbai (and other places). It seems to have appointed a 3-member committee to decide which areas should be hawking zones and which should not be. Great!!!

I do not know what the exact legal meaning of hawking is nor do I know the legal definition for a "hawking zone". If it is the same as what we see happening practically, it seems that some great minds think that a "pavement" is meant to be used for hawking. In other places in Mumbai, there is no pavement. This means that hawking is to be done on the streets. Another brilliant decision. Let's change the definition of a street, road and pavement. Instead of using them for travel and for walking, we should change the defintion to include hawking as well.

The Supreme Court was of the opinion (some years ago, at least) that hawking should be allowed for "daily needs". Again, I do not think "daily needs" has a very precise meaning. If you take a look at the goods that the hawkers are selling they include electronic items (from China) to dresses and anything in between. I do not think "electronic items" like an FM Radio qualifies as a "daily need", unless the decision makers think that listening to cricket commentary and Hindi film songs is an activity as important as breathing and eating that people will die without it. Get a life...

As in the case of the slums, I am dead against hawkers and hawking (on the streets and pavements). Although I openly patronize some of these hawkers, I do so only because of them selling good stuff. However, I maintain that they are not a good thing to have. This might seem like a contradiction - but the contradiction stays. I firmly believe the law must enforce the necessary restrictions on the sellers and that the buyers do not have a role to play. Some people may argue that the buyers encourage the hawkers by buying from them. While that may be correct, I do not believe much can be done against that. Consider this: Let's say a prominent shop sells pirated CDs. This shop is well established and is not a "hawker-like" store. Is it the buyer's responsibility to check the authenticity of the CDs or is it someone else's? Get the point. No. Okay one more try: Let's say the general public is not allowed to enter a certain area. Will putting a notice in a corner help or will it be better by enforcing this by building a fence around the area? No, still don't get it? What the hell. This is my opinion. Feel free to have your own. :)

Here's what the hawker menace is all about:

• The hawker's shop spills out onto the street from the pavement...there is simply no place to walk on the pavement. As a result, people have to walk on the streets causing problems to the smooth flow of traffic and risking getting hit by a vehicle.
  
• In most cities and towns in India, the corners at road intersections need to be clear so that there is no obstruction to the view while driving. In Mumbai, there is no such restriction followed. Hawkers prefer to build shops at corners. This obstructs views on the corners (traffic coming out can't see around). This can be a major hazard and many accidents have taken place because of this.
  
• Garbage generated from the hawkers selling eating items is dumped on the road. Plates and dishes are washed on the street itself. This is a nuisance in itself, but could also spread diseases.
  
• Cooking (gas) on the streets is a relatively new phenomenon - and a big hazard. There is not one fire extinguisher available with the hawkers. If there is a fire or a blast, ordinary innocent people walking in the area will be put to great risk.
  
• Chinese stalls are the worst offenders as they mess the whole place up. Within a few days of coming up, the area around the Chinese stall will be completely black with soot and oil (and other sauces).
  
• Allowing hawking is not fair for genuine shop owners that have bought a proper shop and are paying huge taxes for everything they sell. Most hawkers put their stalls in a way that obstructs the view of the shops. The buyer obviously will buy from the hawker rather than the buyer - not only because of easy accessibility, but also because the hawkers are able to sell at cheaper rates (no taxes for them!). Okay, this may not apply to expensive items like TVs or videos.

To be continued.

Pramod Navalkar's take

Pramod Navalkar, a prominent leader has written columns in various newspapers for over fifty years now. This was covered in a recent article in Mid-Day which appears at this link. At the bottom of the article, there is a boxed piece on his "pet pevee". Here, he describes how a new breed of prostitution joints are being run under the guise of massage parlours. He desribes his experiences interacting with one such offering.

Earlier, Navalkar was against the dance bars and (it seems) may have written many articles against them. With the ban on dance bars, there is probably now nothing to write about them. So, it might make sense to concentrate on other things. I fully support Mr. Navalkar's views.

On the other hand, the dance bars may just make a legal comeback - the case is being fought out by the bar owners and the Maharashtra state. It seems to me that the state has a very weak point (legally). The bars in Karnataka have already won the case - maybe setting the precedent for this case in Maharashtra too. If these guys win, they are going to come back with a vengeance.

Where do these water tankers get water from?

Some parts of Mumbai suffer from water shortage. Even if there was a record rainfall, we keep reading about the shortage of water supply in the newspapers. Many rely on water tankers (also called "water suppliers") to supply additional water. This happens in middle-class housing societies. Some reports in newspapers recently also pointed to water supply shortage in the upper-class high-rises at Malabar Hill.

I have observed plenty of construction activity in the Powai area. Many buildings under construction (and even those that are complete) receive water from these tankers. Now the question naturally arises: how and from where do these water suppliers get their water from?

A very villiany guess would be that maybe these suppliers pay some additional money (aka bribe) to the powers-that-be and get additional water pipelines into their compounds. They can then "sell" this water (obviously at a much higher rate) to the people who need it. In other words, an "artificial need" is created by taking more than needed and giving to others less than wanted.

Or maybe not...maybe these suppliers are legitimate people operating as per the rules of the game. Maybe they have a borewell and that is perfectly legal.

All that is fine to say, but the mind refuses to be convinced. For many years, I've been seeing the Powai lake frequently. It seems to me that the lake levels went down substantially last summer (2005). One could see vast patches of dry land with grass (cows were grazing in the lake periphery). Maybe the summer was really harsh. Or...maybe someone is stealing water from the lake.

An article in Mumbai Mirror in June makes the author of the article feel that the stealing of water has stopped. Maybe the author should go and re-investigate (a journalist's job is to investigate the matter...not ours...but we do it out of fun).

Think, think, think. Okay, open your eyes as you travel every morning from Powai lake towards Gandhinagar. On the right hand side (on the opposite side of the lake), just after the Shipping Corporation gate, one can spot some of these tankers lined up. They are getting filled in with the water. The source of the pipe seems to be somewhere inside the complex. Is the pipe connected below the surface of the road to the lake?

Go and find out, Piali Banerjee.

Slumbai - Part 1

I've always been against slums. Not that I am against free or low-cost housing. Slums are different. They come anywhere and everywhere with impunity. Maybe they have the local policitians' backing and vice-versa.

Some people think they are doing a great job by supporting the "poorer" sections. This can be seen in the actions of our Sunil Dutt as well most other Congress party members. Whereas some may be doing it out of genuine concern for the poor, most others are only doing it to create a vote bank. I've seen the population growth of the so-called "bhaiyas". This is mostly through influx from UP and Bihar. Of course, there are people coming from other parts of India too (and outside India - most notably Bangladesh and Nepal).

This is part of the modus operandi and the larger motive is to gain the political control of Mumbai. Unfortunately, none of the leaders really care about Mumbai. I've also noticed that most of the low cost houses built in our area are owned by North Indians; the poorer Maharashtrians have not yet got a house allotment. This is unforunate and the cause for this is the lack of awareness among Maharashtrians. The "bhaiyas", on the other hand, have a wide network and know whom to approach and what to exploit. It may not be surprising that some get allotted multiple flats (and hence multiple voter cards).

Slums are also a great investment. One day we might end up investing in slums.

That slums are the brakes on the progress of Mumbai is well known. Check this link on how slums are hampering of rail expansion between Borivli and Virar. Were it not for these slums the people beyond Borivli would not have to suffer so much in commuting everyday.

Another "trick" or loophole is up for exploiting. This link shows how carelessly the rules are drafted (or maybe they are drafted carefully to allow such loopholes intentionally). As it says in the article, one can get a free flat in Mumbai by blocking any path on which there is development by the Mumbai Urban Transportation Project (MUTP). The pre-2000 rule does not apply to the MUTP development. Therefore, we can setup some shanty where a MUTP project is about to come up and thus get a free flat.

And who finances the free flat? The tax payers, of course.