City of grinding halts

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Pheroze, I notice that you are wearing Wellingtons. A rather unusual choice for this time of year!?" Lady Flora loved to pick on her friend in a lighthearted sort of way. She knew it had to do with his extra careful self in the rains. "You mean my gum boots," he smiled cheekily. But she also saw that he was holding a sheet of paper. "What's that in your hand? Anything important to discuss?"

Sir PM was eager to reveal the contents of the document with his friend. "Finally, this is ready. It was an effort, really. But, I think this is noteworthy. All our findings and observations about how the city managed this year's monsoon since June, are here. Would you like me to share a few highlights with you?" he asked his friend. "Well, of course, Pheroze. This is our hard work; we owe it to our city. Please go on..." Lady Flora replied.

Sir PM took a sip of chai, cleared his throat and began.

"Point 1: Infrastructure related challenges: Due to multiple projects, many in close vicinity with each other, the common man struggled each time there was a heavy downpour. Debris on either side of such projects added to road blockages; besides, severe flooding in new spots were observed plus, damaged roads bore the brunt of these new works.

Point 2: Environment fallout: This is a rising concern and needs expert advice else we will be staring at more collateral damage in our fragile city that bore the brunt of flooding once again. Trees have been cut along these above-mentioned projects, without a care. The city cannot afford to reduce its green cover at the cost

of upgrading infrastructure. Do not forget the very large elephant in the room: climate change.

Point 3: Weather warnings: The weather gurus did not get it right on several occasions by sharing timely updates in advance. Again, the common man was affected, caught unawares and left without effective support to navigate the city on such wet days.

Point 4: Commuter-friendly city: Very little effort or thought is given to make the lives of the average working-class citizen, who forms the majority in our city, any easier during heavy rainfall days. In times of breakdown of public transport, there is no real contingency plan to help them. There is no disaster management platform to aid people in quick time. They are left to fend for themselves. This often means, young and old are forced to trudge through knee-deep levels of water for kilometres, putting their lives at risk. Important, timely calls like adding extra buses [since Central and Harbour line services were affected] to ferry people home could have helped. This frame has not changed for decades. Remember July 2005? How can we call ourselves a ‘world-class city' if this repeatedly occurs?

Point 5: Better drainage: It is critical that the civic gods use their funds to study the impact of increased infrastructure projects on our drainage system. Use scientific data, invite weather experts and urban planners to create logistically viable solutions. Scenes of flooding of flyovers and railway tracks, and beside/under Metro stations are getting all too common."

Lady Flora approved at what she had just heard but was also concerned about her dear city. "This is perfect. Now, we should manage to present it to your former bosses, right?" Sir PM looked a bit worried. "I hope it will be smooth, and this genuine appeal, taken in the right spirit. Fingers crossed they read our report. After all, it's a People's Report," he reasoned.

Last week's nightmare had scarred him, clearly, "The sight from my pedestal, of a gent dearly holding on to the window grille and balancing his feet to the step of a BEST bus's back door, broke my heart. No Bombaywallah deserves this kind of shoddy treatment from his home city."

mid-day's Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city's sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana

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