This year began with a startling statistic that would have prompted outrage in any other city or country. According to figures cited by the state transport department, 1428 people lost their lives in 5508 road accidents across the Bombay metropolitan region between January and November 2025. This year’s figures may be made public in six months and will probably be as high, but that won’t matter. They will be ignored again, thanks to how casually we treat life and death in the world’s fourth-largest economy.

I was compelled to look up that report because of what happened during the onset of the monsoon this year. There was the usual mayhem, which doesn’t bear repetition given how familiar the story is, but what hurt was an incident involving a child. An 11-year-old died and four others were injured after a tree crashed onto a school bus in Chembur. It attracted a lot of publicity, as these tragedies are wont to do. The Mayor promptly ordered a detailed inquiry to find out if negligence was to blame, but anyone who has lived in Bombay for more than a couple of months will know how superfluous these probes are. In this city (or any Indian city for that matter), negligence is the norm rather than an exception when it comes to infrastructure. Everyone knows how little things will change, despite the many headlines and passionate calls for justice. In time, that child’s completely avoidable death will be written off as an act of God, and we will move on.