Municipal Elections in Mumbai

--- On Thu, 3/3/11, Deepak Tralshawala dtralshawala (at) yahoo (dot) com wrote:

8th November 2011.

Hi Friends,



Please spread the word.

I wrote this piece on March 11, 2011. 8 months down the line this is even more relevant. I am forwarding it again, with a few modifications.

Is Bombay beyond redemption? Looking at the number of PILs filed against the BMC in the Bombay High Court it would certainly seem so. Potholes, dirty drinking water, illegal constructions, indiscriminate digging up of roads, mangrove hacking, traffic nightmares – you name it, the Bombay High Court is seized of the matter.

What is going wrong in the BMC?

We know the answers. No, let us not use polite terms. It’s high time we called a spade a spade. Pure and simple, Bombay has buckled under its own weight of greed, pelf, sloth and corruption. We are governed by people who would not get employed as daily-wage workers in the BMC. In perfect co-ordination and unity of purpose our elected representatives from the Congress, BJP-SS, MNS etc, and the BMC officials have collectively brutalised, raped and destroyed the city. Take a look at the performance of our beloved glorious municipal councillors as on March 2011 in just “A” Ward:

Name Attendance QuestionsAsked Money Spent

Geeta Kanojia 132/175 8 Rs. 98,92,171/-

Vijaya Dhulla 147/208 2 Rs. 95,80,775/-

Vinod Shekhar 192/273 111 Rs. 91,27,221/-

PremaSingh 171/186 0 Rs. 1,00,46,153/-

Only Vinod Shekhar out of the above is a graduate, has asked the most questions, and spent the least (on what, is another issue). The others have barely scraped through SSC. Take a look at the money spent by them on civic amenities, education and health – and ask yourselves “WHERE HAS THIS MONEY GONE?" Your first guess will be the right answer. These figures have been taken from praja.org. Visit this site. It will be a revelation. The story is similar in other Wards as well.

So, why am I sharing these stats with you?

Simple. It’s time we took matters in our hands. Enough is really enough. The civic polls are round the corner, around February 2012. We must identify a few persons in our localities who are concerned about the all-pervading rot, persuade them to stand as candidates, back them, and spread the word. Fortunately, we now have - thanks to the Anna Movement - some Independents, and organisations like Lok Satta Party (LSP) and Mumbai 227 who are fielding educated and committed citizens with terrific background. Please back them.

DO NOT VOTE FOR THE Congress, BJP, SS, MNS, etc. They possess not an iota of Integrity, and are Intellectually and Morally utterly bankrupt.

Once upon a time not very long ago our city guardians were those venerable Parsi gentlemen whose statues adorn the Flora Fountain, Metro and Gowalia Tank areas. They made Bombay what it was by showing the way. We too can, and we must. It is time.

If this mail makes sense please forward it to your friends, with a request to forward it in turn to theirs. This is a first in a small series of messages. It doesn't matter if you do not reside in Mumbai. Please do forward it to your friends who may be Mumbai-ites



Incidentally, there is an excellent candidate from South Mumbai. More about him next time.

Please forward this onwards. And please do write in with your comments.



Deepak Tralshawala