Mumbai and Delhi are just giant cities. On the development front Mumbai is far lagging behind Delhi. Delhi also developed mainly because it is capital city. Once upon a time Kolkata is a well developed city and all industrialists eager to set up their shops. Now nobody is interested start any new industries there. Same case is repeating to Mumbai. Many top class business houses are setup their shops. But slowly every body shifting their offices to Gujarat, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad. Mainly they are shifting due to poor infrastructure. If politicians do not set the peaceful climate and infrastructure, Mumbai future will also be same as of Kolkata.
Mumbai has not lost its glory but some signs are not good .. having been brought up in and a hard core mumbaikar i hold mumbai in my heart . Even after i left mumbai and whenever i visit back , i felt the spirit and excitement of mumbai , But strangely the same feeling is no longer felt in recent times since 2010 or 2011 or so, i cant pick the exact reason- but it seems mumbai is slowing down and people seems helpless , less spirited and resigned to the existing state of affairs .Mumbai is still india's greatest city in all sense -but if these negative signs are not picked-up by the city's administrators for improvement there is a chance of mumbai losing its glory . But hope is there and mumbaikar is there to prevent it ..Mumbaikars will never give-up ..
I Beg to differ on the infrastructure issue.the fact is that Mumbai,since long,has best public transport in India.Its only that entire city travels from suburbs to South Mumbai in the morning and back in the evening which puts pressure on the public transport and other infra facilities. Otherwise nothing wrong with infra.Infact its a false propaganda that infra is pathetic.
It is true that infrastructure has not made the progress it should make in Mumbai but the author has erred in saying that the spirit of the Mumbaikars is dwindling. Recently I moved to Gurgaon to stay with my son after my retirement. All I will say is I am longing to return to Mumbai. NCR has the advantage of space and preferential treatment otherwise it is full of dust, pollution, gets badly water logged with a little rain (NCR will get submerged / drowned if it rains like it does in Mumbai) no culture, no spirit only show of wealth and power and full of fake people.
The problems mentioned in this article are applicable to other cities too. The citizens of this city(and for that matter a few more cities too) contribute a lot in form of taxes but the money is misspent and not much is given back to these cities for their improvement. Only when this stops, things will improve. Reg Delhi it is different-being the national capital, it gets a lions' share for development-ironically from taxes paid by other cities
I have been born & brought up in Mumbai.It has it's own positives and negatives like any other city in the world.Positives are - financial capital of India, Suburban Public transport (trains, buses etc) is very good if not better than most other cities in India (I have heard from colleagues that some cities don't ply buses in afternoon),cosmopolitan culture,excellent educational Institutes,entertainment (Bollywood, cricket). Negatives are - Population explosion, heavy traffic jams on city & suburban roads at all times, very less open spaces, Corruption in municipal corporation leading to city not growing as expected etc.Regarding Infrastructure, government is taking steps to improve (flyovers, metro services, monorail, additional roads and rail lines).Other cities (incl. Delhi) will also grow simultaneously as India itself grows but at the same time, they will also have some negatives which will hamper growth.
The points put forth by the writer is well said. But one should think why it has happened.Its all because of politicians and also by us as we vote not based on the candidates credentials but based on caste, party etc.So we get people who are there to make money irrespective of the party.Because all parties are children of the same parents so.First of end the goonda raj of Shiv Sena who have become local dons like.
Re: Well said
by Sachin Nair on Nov 03, 2015 02:34 PM
I do not have any personal issues with Sena. I do not endorse them at all. Nor any one in my family friends or at office had any personal level issues with them. If there is Sena here then in Delhi NCR there are faceless Rapists all around. In NY, Melbourne, Johannesburg there are muggers and murderers at night. In any African city a foreigner will find it tough with local officers or petty organizations. If Sena disappears tomorrow will all the city problems be solved. There are many ways to link political parties to overall situation- but then such problems exist in every city. In Karachi- people kill each other in the name of religion !! Can you believe that? People of same religion killing each other and bombing each other. We need development inspite of the government. If we are paying taxes we want quality stuff too. Channelize discussion on that - rest is narrow mindedness.
After a very long time i have read an article that hits at bulls eye.Yes Mumbai is in shambles.I have been coming in and out of Mumbai for the last thirty five years and have discovered with dismay the down fall of what was once a great city. I congratulate the author
