Marine Drive Makeover

i recall going to chowpaty end of marice drive to the birla childrens center for movies and puppet shows as a kid. i think it was mostly free or inexpensive stuff. now there seems to be some land-grab...there is a nice and really expensive restaurant (food sucks...mostly a nice open-air bar). so while you can still get cheap channa, peanuts and a tel-malish on marine drive, now there is a 400 Rs a drink option for the well-heeled. i wonder what other real plans developers have for marine drive?

I live in Mumbai, and am grateful to the British for the `nice` neighbourhoods, roads, sewage disposal and trees that they left for us. Nothing that our own government has done can match it. Recently, it`s the Hiranandanis who`ve done a good job of developing Powai. Now, whilst we blame the government for all our ills, I would say squarely the blame must be shared by the citizens. Not a single colony has its own garbage disposal unit. Not even a partial one. In spite of the fact that many of the inhabitants are educated enough to understand the advantages. Indeed, not a single family I know even bothers to segregate or dispose its garbage as should be done. When someone wants to put up a billboard, we allow it. Want to chop a tree? You`re welcome. We people haven`t insisted on water catchment areas, we take pride in bribing to get things done. We need toilets for certain needs, but how does one curb spitting? Can the government help? Can it stop us from throwing stuff all over the place? Can it employ a staff per citizen? When the tsunami happened, not a single NGO was available to clear the debris, cremate the stinking decaying flesh....the government did it all.
Now about the beautifying of Marine Drive. Am glad at least some part of Mumbai looks tidy.....although my personal opinion is that it`s too bald and devoid of trees. Take a look at how many Mumbaikars use it for `fresh air`. We travel an hour up and down to be there. Yes, we need better neighbourhoods at Andheri, Vakola, Chembur. But it`s people like the author who must start a movement to insist on it, perhaps by getting into politics to begin with, for we need people like him in power. I don`t know whether only writing really helps.

The Reliance company was sponsoring works on Marine Drive (when I saw it the last time). Marine Drive is where any new visitor to Bombay wud go 2 see the glitter and skyline of Bombay. Dear author, if a private company spends money, it shud be OK unless they plan to vandalise Marine Drive as they did it in Flora Fountain and Gateway of India (putting up coarse statues and carving out an unaesthetic square within the available space; they wud have erected those works in some other places in the city).


BMC shud also think (if they had brains) to lit the Gateway of India from seaside not just the landside coz people returning from Elephanta caves and people coming by ships to Bombay port wud have a beautiful view of the monument. (Btw they too vandalised Gateway of India with the statue of Sivaji).