Space should always be used wisely

Citizens protesting last month at the Neville D’Souza ground in Bandra West. FILE PIC/ATUL KAMBLE

I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about, to be honest, when I learned that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has cleared a proposal to change the reservation of a football ground in Bandra. Apparently, if everything goes according to plan and any potential legal challenges do not result in a stay order, the ground will soon become a convention and exhibition centre. Even if there is a stay order of sorts, my belief is that the ground's days are numbered anyway because it has been noticed. In this city of short memories, where nostalgia will always be a luxury, to be noticed is rarely a good thing.

The reason I didn't feel strongly about this news was my complete lack of interest. As someone who has never played football since school and never watched a match in its entirety, I felt that the BMC's proposal was justified because it didn't affect me in any way. I think this is also how corporators make their decisions, by doing what doesn't affect them personally. It may also explain the state government's approach to education, given the average corporator or minister's lack of familiarity with anything beyond Std X. If something doesn't affect them in any way, it stands to reason that they will feel no need to prioritise better classrooms, healthier meals, or spaces for children to run around in.

I understand that some people may think of this as a callous way to govern a city or state but, luckily for Bombay's well-being, these people are never elected as corporators. In fact, empathy has always been a failing if one is to try and become a corporator. I have learned this simply by watching how the BMC works since I was a teenager.

Here's something we need to consider before getting all hot and bothered about this plan: Football grounds don't really serve a purpose in a city that is starved of convention centres. A convention centre is for bigger things, like meetings and trade shows where a couple of thousand people can gather to discuss important subjects like eyewear or textiles. A football ground, by comparison, only brings happiness to the young people who can kick a ball around it. If the BMC starts using the happiness of young people as a parameter on which to base its decisions, how will Bombay attract the kind of serious business folk it really needs?

The good thing is that this sort of approach has been in place for a while now. Sure, it may mean that open spaces are shrinking and everything that was once managed by residents is being repurposed for public projects, but criticism of this seems a little short-sighted. Take Bombay's fabled waterfront, for example. Once upon a time, millions of residents could see the sea if they chose to. It was right there in front of them across large swathes of South Bombay, and if its disappearance on account of the Coastal Road has not been mourned, it's because we all recognise how good this has been for owners of four-wheelers. That is the mentality we need to cultivate whenever we learn about the loss of a football ground. How can anything be a loss when one's city gains an exhibition centre?

Another interesting thing I learned while reading about this ground is that Bombay has no official policy when it comes to open spaces. This may seem like a failing, until we stop to acknowledge how policy has an annoying habit of getting in the way of real estate plans. The BMC has reportedly taken over 1.5 lakh sqm since 2015 and I believe this shows how committed it is to making property available to residents who have a lot of money at their disposal. This may sound as if the BMC places commercial interests over everything else, but when did that become such a bad thing? Are we really advocating for a city where the poor have as many rights as the rich? We should always remember that there are still a few open spaces left for anyone who chooses to look hard enough.

A couple of generations from now, our grandchildren may not know what it means to play outdoors, or what it feels like to sit in the shade of a tree. That is still a small price for what they will have been bequeathed by us in return. Their Bombay will be a magnificent city of skyscrapers, flyovers, and convention centres.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He can be contacted at www.lindsaypereira.com
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.