Lindsay Pereira: Don't you have faith in the BMC?

What appears to have upset members of the BMC is an RJ mocking the state of our roads in a videoI have yet to meet a resident of Bombay who respects the BMC I have genuinely tried I asked family members and friends relatives and neighbours even the odd rickshaw driver and cabbie None of them had any respect for the organisation What they did have is scorn anger and derision No one in the BMC appears to understand this though This is the only possible reason why one of its employees recently announced his intention of filing a Rs 500crore defamation suit against a radio jockey simply because she had dared to mock the state of our roadsThe BMC needs to understand that defamation is possible only when an organisation has any character worth speaking of Maybe it did once a long time ago before it was taken over by what many perceive to be common thieves but it no longer deserves any respect whatsoever It takes the citizens of Bombay for granted year after year lies about everything under the sun makes promises it has no intention of ever keeping and then has the audacity to threaten residents for daring to ask it some tough questions A corporator even went to the extent of trying to create a parody video of her own couching an open threat under the guise of some inane lyrics It is this boorish behaviour that makes the BMC come across as a bigger joke than it always has beenWhat appears to have upset members of the organisation is a video about the state of our roads Theres no point discussing them now because as this column has noted time and again one can simply step outside irrespective of where in the city one lives and find a mess where a simple paved street ought to be Senior citizens fail to cross these streets pregnant women risk their lives and the lives of their unborn babies healthy young men have been thrown off motorcycles to their deaths while the organisation that collects our taxes shrugs its shoulders blames other organisations and checks balconies for malariabreeding mosquitoesA little over a year ago reports mentioned how the BMC had spent approximately R11000 crore on roads over the previous five years Apparently it had a budgetary provision of R14500 crore for repair and reconstruction between 2011 and 2016 and ended up with a further R5183 crore in its budget for 201617 In addition to this it declared that R2000 crore would be spent on repairing more than 1000 roadsThis is staggering amount of money by any stretch of the imagination It is an amount that disappears every year the minute the rains roll in Engineers have been named and shamed dubious firms have been listed and blacklisted hot and cold mixes have been made here and imported from abroad all to no avail Its as if we are stuck with a bunch of people who simply have no interest in ever giving us a single decent road because doing so will result in a loss of personal earnings for a select fewHeres an interesting piece of information to consider The BombayPune Expressway an impressive 94kilometre stretch that passes through some of Maharashtras most difficult terrain was built at a reported cost of R1600 crore It sees traffic of over 40000 vehicles daily but still manages to be smooth for much of the way at least until the minute one enters Bombay If a stretch of that size can manage with that kind of traffic why cant small streets deal with onetenth the number of vehicles Why do potholes and loose paver blocks long identified as a failure and long upheld by the BMC as a perfect solution in the face of evidence to the contrary continue to make all streets here a hazard for those compelled to use themThe BMC struggles and fails to run anything under its ambit with any degree of efficiency It fails on healthcare education and just about anything else one cares to examine a little more closely despite collecting the kind of taxes that could run a small country in the hands of people with more integrity and intelligence It wilfully refuses to recognise its shortcomings choosing to threaten the people it is supposed to work for insteadWhen a radio jockey asks Dont you have faith in the BMC it isnt just her backing vocalists who shout out a reply Millions of us shake our heads vehemently in response We dontWhen he isnt ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom