What is it going to take to have a Clean Bombay?

Re: # 89
I remember that story. I agree that you or I cannot find a pucca house for a bai. What I am talking about is the fact that these issues are not important enough for the middle-classes to protest or act on it, simply because they are too busy eking out a living and trying to get ahead. There is nothing wrong with that either, but then we cannot blame the people who work for us for messing up the city just because they exist and when they exist they will urinate and defecate and spit, on the road if there is nowhere else. I am blaming the middle classes on a macro-level. And that goes back to my central premise, that most people just do not care or make it clear that they care, because as I have said earlier and has already happened on this board, if you complain, people will tell you how lucky you are to live in Bombay and of course, if you don`t like it you can leave. That does not solve the issue but does sometimes silence critics. if you are satisfied with your situation, you can never improve.I have heard it all before so it cannot affect me. I hope you see what I am saying.

Re: # 91
I do agree with some of your points and so would people who lived in Bombay. I do think people will make a difference slowly. The only issue is that the influx of people who came into the city to earn a living strained the already creaking infrastructure. To use an engineering terminology a step impulse can only be controlled over a exponential time period. Since the influx took most of the seventies and 80`s (immigration started coming down a bit in the ninties) I think we shall take more than that period of time to accomodate things. Perhaps thirty years.

Now you may say that is too long , but it takes what it takes. Our governments are always reactive. Nobody plans for the future and I do believe it is time that development funds should be a percentage of what a city contributes to the centre.

Perhaps the knee jerk reaction against criticism is always directed at somebody who is seen to be a stranger to the city. If a Bombayite criticised the infrastructure it would be less of a problem, perhaps. Not the best thing, but it happens.

But I promise as soon as I find Jang wherever he lives in Mass I`ll read him the riot act for spitting in the gutter, biodegradable spit or not.
In fact I should say I`ll beat the spit out of him, but then he may be bigger than me so I`ll play it safe.

Re: # 72

Thank You NB

You have helped me see the silver lining in the cloud. At least the filth drove away people like you from Bombay. The city is all the better for it.

Re: # 73
If the purpose of Bombay being dirty was to drive me away, it was a wasted effort-I was never going to live there and I never realised I was so important.... :)
Think of how ridiculous your arguments are before you post them...

Re: # 73
It drove you away too! I would never have lived there forever anyway, I have a strange attachment to clean air and open spaces. I lived there while I was training. I would have gone back to my hometown anwyay, instead of which I live overseas! I`m sure you`d rather have the sort of people who litter than me?
Your attitude is typical, and this is why Bombay cannot improve, you mount a personal attack on anyone who does not agree with you. Thanks for your responses, you have proven my point.

Re: # 81

I would rather have people who do something constructive for the city than those who come and take the benefits from the place and then slam it.

I am glad that the BMC has started this ``you litter or spit-you clean policy.`` This is some common ground for us. Let`s hope it works and we have a cleaner Bombay.

Re: # 86
I got my seat through an all-India thing...I just got Bombay, could have been Udaipur or Trivandrum for all I cared. I worked long hours for 3 years in a municipal hospital on very low money, because in India junior doctors only get a stipend, not wages. BMC hospitals even so had lower pay than most all across the country. So no, I don`t believe I have taken benefits as you so delicately put it. I thought this would come up, because this response too is typical. It is ridiculous to say I can`t criticise just because I worked there. I believe for instance that India is an incredible country because of several of its characteristics and not just because I lived there. People live in the UK and criticise it all the time, and you know what? That`s what makes it a great country. Learn to look at things dispassionately, it will do us all good.In the meantime, have fun with your spitters and litterers.

Re: # 86

God.. I can`t believe that I am getting involved in this cat-fight.. 6 years in the city and I am talking like a Shiv Sena spokesperson.

You cannot have better Mumbai and rest of India stinking. Mumbai`s problem is exactly that. It is part of India. For less than a 1000 Rupees you can come from anywhere in India to Mumbai. India probably needs cheap railways but as long as they are cheap no metropolis can ever be clean. Bhaiyya culture of Paan chabaaoing, spitting, shitting etc is not going to go away. And Bhaiyyas cannot be wished away. Anywhere you go Bhaiyyas are there. My prescription: make Indian Railways expensive, impose city-dweller permit (call it visa or whatever), anyone using any public property (especially the roads) should be made to pay ``rent`` and heavy fine of bad public hygiene. None of these is going to happen. I laugh when people like Vilasrao talk about making Mumbai a Shanghai.

Re: # 51

What bothers me more is when so-called educated and middle class people litter and trash the city. Such people should get more hrash treatment than Bhaiyyas and Biharis who follow their ``village instincts.``

Problem of Bombay is what it is for India ..Population

It is 17.000 people per Sq.Molie compare to 1/6 about 3 K per 17 K square miles in NYC.....

Which is the best city to live In India, regardless of where one is from?

Re: # 43
That is what is called a leading question but I`ll take a stab at it.

I believe it`s called Felicity. It`s really quite felicitous if you can find it, in yourself, in India.

Re: # 44 You mean this, I guess?

Re: # 46
Well Rahul my city is not entirely fictional. It depends on you. You can`t go in looking for the best city to live in. It isn`t there. You pays your money and you takes your choice. Depends on your level of comfort.

Re: # 48
I dont know.I think we can rank cities on basis of
1) infrastructure
2) weather
3)immigrant friendliness
4)Foodie friendliness
5)employability...presence of big businesses
5)cleanliness
6)greenery
7) nightlife
8)cosmopolitan nature
9)law n order
10) Cost of living
11) proximity to vacation spots
hmm?