Mumbai, ‘under construction’: Is there a solution for the series of unnecessary, wasteful projects?

The engineering departments of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai seem hell bent on new construction work that does nothing for the city. A few years ago it was bridges across the city that were declared unsafe, calling for urgent reconstruction. This was triggered by the collapse of a footbridge near the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in 2019.

The resulting panic was the perfect, instant fertiliser that led to numerous bridge replacement projects bursting forth. These were strongly advised by a professor from one of Mumbai’s oldest engineering colleges. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and reconstructions were trivial.

Over the past year, there has been a debate on the proposal to demolish the Malabar Hill Reservoir, deemed unsafe, and reconstruct it at a cost of over Rs 700 crore. According to the original proposal, this will require the construction of an additional tank at a further cost of Rs 700 crore and the cutting of 189 trees plus transplanting of another 200.

Fortunately, protests by citizens have persuaded the civic body to appoint a technical Committee of seven experts, four of whom are professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, and an eighth member who is a civic officer.

After the inspection of the tank, four of the experts, including one of the...

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