Nerve Endings Firing Away

No matter how much I hate to admit it, but Bombay cannot be protected enough from the wrath of a tsunami. The recently launched plans to appropriate funds to strengthen the wall from Nariman Point to Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai unfortunately is quite inadequate (I can’t imagine the destruction if that really happens). A tsunami, if one was to strike the Bombay coast would easily spill over from above the coastal wall, no matter how strong it might be. The comprehensive plan that the CM talks about however was not mentioned in detail although I think it is almost impossible to protect your coast from a tsunami without disturbing the aesthetic value of a coastline. The only solution is a dam-like wall, several feet tall and that would be unacceptable to the city’s denizens and fiscally improbable although I must confess that I am no authority on tsunami prevention so might be totally unaware of existing solutions. The only feasible solution I can think of is an effective warning system, which we all know is eons away from India.

However, what we might be seeing here is that the CM is just using the tsunami as an excuse to appropriate funds for Bombay’s development. The CM’s grouse that “the Centre receives tax revenue of Rs 40,000 crore annually from the city, but the financial help received by the city is less”, is indicative of the actual motivation behind the demand. Maybe the CM has never heard of a concept called redistributive policy (can’t blame him; most of them haven’t). But all said and done, Bombay is in dire need of redevelopment funds and the city is literally bursting at its seams. The 1,800 crores that the state government has requested from the Planning Commission for other projects like development of Dharavi (this is due yesterday) and metro rail project (finally, someone thought of this one) might also be grossly inadequate. Bombay might get far less than they have asked for.

Update: As expected, the Maharashtra CM got much less than he expected from the Planning Commission.