MANAGING OUR CITIES must be left to professional urban managers. Transforming Mumbai into Shanghai! That was heard not long ago. However, that seems to be distant as of now since we are witnessing pothole-ridden roads and traffic jams at a growing pace in India’s economic capital.

 

Why is it that Indian cities, especially Mumbai, continue to lag behind other Asian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tokyo and now Shanghai and Beijing? With all the progress we have achieved in science and technology and the talented human resource we boast of, are we incapable of clearing our garbage, laying quality roads (the Mumbai-Pune road, which is one of our best highways, is said be far behind the Chinese highways), managing our traffic and providing decent shelter to the poor living in slums? Is paucity of financial resources of our urban local bodies the real cause for the sorry state of our cities, as it is often argued? Or is the growing human as well as vehicular population leading to the ever-increasing congestion?

 

Developing urban infrastructure no doubt calls for massive investments. What is disturbing is the poor maintenance of assets created. It is no secret that only about 30-50 per cent of the money spent on municipal roads goes into the actual making of the road and the balance to the pockets of the contractors and the powers that be. The revenue potential of our cities is enormous, but the realisation is poor. Corruption is eating into the vitals of municipal coffers.

 

India is emerging as a major economic power in the world, drawing comparison with China, although we are still far behind. India’s full growth potential can be realised only if our cities - the engines of growth - are revitalised to compete with the best in Asia. Here are a few suggestions to revitalise our cities, especially Mumbai:

 

First, the Government must adopt a proactive policy towards urbanisation and should come out with a policy statement on the development of Indian cities from a national perspective. It is not just Mumbai, but the smaller cities and small towns that have the capacity to absorb rural migrants, which need attention. This will divert the migrants and will certainly help in reducing their inflow into Mumbai, which is already bursting at its seams.

 

Secondly, there must be a vigorous drive to mobilise resources. Revenue from property tax alone can be trebled through rationalisation measures and by improving collection efficiency. The municipal authorities appear to be in no hurry to reap the benefits from the flourishing real estate market. It is also time the private sector contributes its share to improve the city infrastructure.

 

Finally, there must be a sincere and systematic effort to improve the governance in Mumbai without which all other measures will prove counterproductive. We need to fix functional responsibilities on those endowed with power - be it politicians or bureaucrats. Managing a city of this size and magnitude is no more an ad hoc or fire fighting business. It must be treated as a professional job to be performed by trained urban managers.