Tag: nidhi qazi

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Big story

Dengue, TB, cholera rise in Mumbai

Praja Foundation report on state of city’s health throws up some grim truths on public health care in the city.
by Nidhi Qazi

In a recently-released report on the city’s health, the Praja Foundation has found an increase in the number of dengue, tuberculosis (TB) and cholera cases, though there is a decrease in the cases of malaria.

Praja, founded in 1997 by a group of eight Mumbaikars, released its white paper on ‘The State of Health of Mumbai’ last week. The data is based on information gathered through RTI from municipal dispensaries, hospitals, State Government dispensaries and hospitals and other Government health care centres.

Nitai Mehta, Founder Trustee, Praja, said, “BMC needs to be complimented on reducing the increase in malaria cases drastically from the peak of 2010-2011 (over 78,000 cases) to less than 22,000 cases reported in 2012-2013. But there is little reason for complacency. Cases of dengue have shot up drastically. TB incidences are also on the rise. Deaths due to cholera have almost tripled from the previous year.”

The data collected from MCGM dispensaries and hospitals and State hospitals and other Government health centres shows that in 2012-2013, there were 4,867 dengue cases as opposed to 682 cases in 2008-2009. Last year, 36,417 cases of TB were reported from municipal and Government dispensaries and hospitals, of which 6,921 patients died of TB.

Additionally, cholera incidences have once again started increasing in the city. Nine deaths were due to cholera in 2012-13 against three in the previous year.

Milind Mhaske, Project Director at Praja, added, “From another perspective, if we had to depend on this data for the entire city, in 2012-2013, 1 out of 567 people in Mumbai suffered from malaria, 1 out of 2,555 people had dengue (last year 1 out of 6,617 had dengue), one in 341 people had TB and cholera hit 1 in 63,000 Mumbaikars! The ratio has been on an increase since last year for all major diseases.”

Andheri (East) leads in diseases among all the municipal wards. The ward (K/E) has shown highest incidences of malaria, dengue and TB. Kurla (West), L ward of the MCGM has the highest incidence of diarrhoea, almost double its nearest rival.

According to surveys conducted by Praja, over 70 per cent of Mumbai’s population visits private health care centres for treatment and 35 per cent visit municipal and Government dispensaries and hospitals.

But since there is no way to track any data from the privately-owned health care custodians, Mehta rues, “How can civic authorities frame any health care policy for our megapolis when it does not have access to health care data from the private doctors, clinics and hospitals visited by a distinct majority of our city population?” The reasons for the poor data-tracking vary from fear of income tax scrutiny to increase in paperwork to sheer apathy.

Mehta concludes, “The report on the state of health of Mumbai raises pertinent questions of grave consequences for the city that our policy makers ought to consider seriously and expeditiously.”

See the full report here.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

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Bombay, bas

Eat, play, love and sex

Fort offers good options for eating, street art and buying sexual implements, which come in both plastic and rubber variants.
by Nidhi Qazi

I was at Fort over the weekend, just taking in the sights. Exploring the city is something I enjoy in my spare time, and my afternoon was a highly educational one. I ate at Irani cafes, strolled the archways at MG Road and had an awkward, dildo-related conversation, and finally landed at Kala Ghoda, where I got arty with some street artists.

EAT

KyaniOld furniture. Old pictures. Simple decor. Cheap food. History couldn’t get better. Yes, history I say. The number of famous and not-so-famous Irani cafes in the city are live archives of the city’s past and present. They stand out among their swanky contemporaries in all aspects, be it the choice of food, the decor or the experience. On a weekend, what better than a cup of Irani chai, bun maska and the home-like custard?

I started my food walk with Kyani & Co., where I enjoyed their bun maskas, a range of omlettes, burgers, cakes and custard. According to the co-owner, Farokh Shokri, “The old-world charm of this place is what people admire and they come here for the experience. It reminds them of the past. And since nostalgia can’t be captured in a photograph, we maintain it the way it has always been, since 1940.” He adds, “Even if we had to refurbish this place, we’ll have to then increase the pricing, which we don’t want. We earn honest profits by catering to the masses and we don’t want to lose them.”

Point noted. I then moved on to Yazdani Bakery, which is famous for its brun maska, khaari, coffee, chai and apple pie. Again, this is the place to be when you want to devour freshly baked breads, puddings and pavs. And don’t forget to wish the Yazdaniowner. He’s an adorable oldie. Just chat him up and get a few insights into the history of India, Parsis, current politics, and other items of interest.

Still looking for more eats in the area? Go to Sassanian Boulangerie. Their famous dishes are chicken dhansak, chicken sali boti and raspberry drink.

PLAY

There are stars and there are stars. Likewise, there are artists and there are artists. On the street outside Jehangir Art Gallery is a world of these artists, uncelebrated but highly talented. They lag behind their most established brothers when it comes to showcasing their work, but thanks to Kala Ghoda Association and the popularity of street art, Mumbai has its own street art outside the Gallery. Chatting up to a few of them reveals some stories.

Dhammpal KiradakArtist Dhammpal Gyanrao Kiradak (in pic on left), a resident of Kalyan, originally from Akola district, rues the lack of visibility artists like him suffer from, thanks to bigger artists. “The selection body of Jehangir Art Gallery selects an artist based on the market value. We may not have the market value, but we are no less when it comes to talent,” he declares. Showing his work of art, he adds, “Art festivals don’t exhibit the real art work. It is plain show, wherein the rich get their way. We are poor. Humein koi kuch samajhta nahi (Nobody gives us our due).”

But he is thankful that artists like him have the entire street to showcase their work, at the very least. The artists mostly present their work on the stands (except for the monsoon season) provided by the Kala Ghoda Association, which charges Rs 100 a day for the using the same. Kiradak’s paintings are priced at a minimum of Rs 500 and go up to Rs 10,000.

Further down, I browsed the work of artist Swaroop Kaintura, and immediately spotted its novelty. He does ‘Ticket art’, which ticket artincorporates used tickets of buses and trains in his work and builds a story around them.  “It is my creation and I feel happy doing it. It makes people happy, too,” he says. Take a close look at his work and you’ll realise the beauty of this amalgamation of drab-looking tickets and the bright colours, which tell their own little stories. Each of his creations is priced at Rs 500.

Another interesting artist here is Munna wirewallah, who is a unique talentwallah! His talent lies in his ability to twist a single wire into anything – from a simple key chain, Buddha’s face, to 3D objects like bicycles, bikes, flower vases and puzzles etc. (see pic below). Behind the popular name, Munna is sexagenarian Harish Kumar Bhanusha, hailing from Gujarat, who came to Mumbai to earn.

wire artHaving been on the pavement since 1972, Munna started playing with wires and made random objects till he realised it was actually fetching him money. He then shifted from junk wires to better finished ones and started making new things. His creations were bought by ‘Lataji, Raj Kapoor and others,’ he says. In fact, he adds, Ashaji had also ordered some stuff from him, but as time passed she never visited again, because “Woh toh ameer ban gayi aur hum gareeb reh gaye (She became rich while I remained poor).” His pieces are priced from Rs 20 to Rs 700.

LOVE and SEX 

In one of the lanes around Fort is a busy lane, turning left to the Mahatma Gandhi Road. This lane is an open one (figuratively) for it showcases the hidden and the hush-hush – the vibrator. For those uninitiated, a vibrator is a sex toy and resembles a phallus (see pic below). This entire lane has a lot of shops selling them. As for my conversation with a vibrator-seller, here’s how it went:

Me (after pretending to be interested in umbrellas and hair dryers) : Bhaiyya, yeh kya hai?

vibrators on sale

Vendor: Madam, yeh vibrator hai.

Me (pretending to be really innocent): Iska kya use hai?

Vendor: Yeh sex ke liye use hota hai. Chahiye? 300 rupees ka hai.

Me : Nahin bhaiyya, thanks.

Vendor: Le lijiye, bahut kaam ki cheez hai. Aap ko 250 mein de denge. Yeh achcha nahi laga toh rubber ka bhi hai.

I run.

Bombay, bas is a weekly column on getting around the madness of Mumbai and exploring the city with a fresh perspective. 

(Pictures courtesy Nidhi Qazi)

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Bombay, bas

The Shahrukh Khan of Marine Drive

The city is home to several film ‘strugglers’ – while most simply fail, one became a star on the street.
by Nidhi Qazi

After a weekend well spent at the NCPA, spending time at Marine Drive seemed to be the obvious next choice. I couldn’t have gone there at a better time, for I saw a crowd of about 30 men huddled to watch someone perform. That someone was a man with long hair, lovingly called ‘Shahrukh’ by the crowd. He was enacting a Shahrukh Khan dialogue from the movie Mohabbatein, adding his bit of humour. “Woh mere ghar ke saamne se nikalti thi, thoda sharmati thi, lajaati thi. Kuch kehna tha usko magar keh nahi paati thi. Baad mein pata chala, woh gutka chabaati thi.” The audience applauded and whistled.

He started on another one from an Ajay Devgan movie – “Mujhe apno ne loota, gairon mein kahaan dum tha. Meri haddi vahaan tooti, jahan hospital band tha.” The crowd roared again.

Who is he? I wondered. Catching up with him later, I learnt that ‘Shahrukh’s’ real name was Gabbar Singh. Confused? Wait, let’s start this story from the beginning.

The star of Marine Drive

Gabbar Singh Chauhan (25) has been a star entertainer at Marine Drive for almost a decade now. The crowds simply love his acting of the famous movie scenes and stunts and dialogues with his touch of humour thrown in.

Gabbar Singh has been there, done that in Mumbai. Part of a dozen reality shows like India’s Got Talent and Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, he is a sought-after entertainer in family functions and a regular face at the endless auditions of the reality shows that have mushroomed in the electronic media. He carries a portfolio full of newspaper cuttings featuring him wherever he goes.

Watch a clip of Gabbar performing in Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega:

 

He has long straight hair, inspired by Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish, a heart tattoo on the right arm and a petite frame, and comes across as another wannabe actor who is in this dream city for his big dream – Bollywood. But that is until you actually hear his story.

A tête–à–tête with Gabbar:

Gabbar Singh ChauhanI sat him down for tea at an eatery in Churchgate, and he proceeded to tell me his story. His conversation was liberally peppered with anecdotes illustrating how he is a people’s star. As if on cue, a waiter comes to the table and says, “Aap media se lagte ho. Yeh Gabbar Singh hain. Khayaal rakhiye inka. Yeh bahut achche actor hain. Maine inko Girgaon chowpatty mein dekha tha perform karte hue. Jamm ke likhiye inke baare mein (You must be from the media. This is Gabbar Singh. Take note of him, he’s a very good actor. I’d seen him perform at Girgaon chowpatty. Write a nice big piece on him.)”

The small display of his fan following aside, Gabbar proceeded with his story. An SSC passout, he is a resident of Mathura, UP and acting was not what he wanted to do. His parents named him Gabbar because he was “stubborn like Gabbar Singh”. He said, “I didn’t want to want to become an actor. Desh ki janta ne mujhe actor banaya hai (The people of the country made me an actor).” He added, “I saw a Shahrukh film on TV, then enacted the scene in front of a mirror and thought I was a very good actor.”

Mathura gave him a platform to perform at local events and his fan following increased. People started calling him ‘Mathura ka Shah Rukh’. Eventually, he got coverage in the local media and all this attention led him to come to Mumbai, only to get rejected.

“I came to Mumbai in 2002. People made fun of me when I asked them about Shahrukh’s and Amitabh Bachchan’s address. Nobody guided me. I didn’t know anyone in the film industry.” He then went back to Mathura. At that time, he was spotted by a director, and eventually got a role in Ravi Kissen starrer Dharam Shakti. Though the film did not release, it motivated Gabbar to chase his Bollywood dream and he came back in 2004.

Not a struggler

Speaking about his ‘public demand’, Gabbar says, “Aaj kal ke strugglers ki koi demand nahin hai. Main hoon asli zindagi ka hero. Public kehti ki aisa actor unhone zindagi mein pehli Gabbar Singh Chauhan baar dekha hai (No strugglers are in demand these days. I am a real-life actor. People say they have never seen an actor like me in their lives.”) But the passion with which he says this doesn’t really come across as boastful.

He then shows me a few mobile clippings featuring him. I see the judges laughing at him and point it out to him, but he says, “Judges hans rahein hain kyunki woh mujhe pasand karte hain, mujhe talented maante hain. Farah Khan ne toh mujhe apni film Happy New Year mein ek role bhi offer kiya hai (The judges are laughing because they like me, they think I’m talented. Farah Khan has even offered me a role in her film Happy New Year).”

In one clip, Anu Malik goes a few words further in his appreciation for Gabbar, “Gabbar Singh, tu filmi nahi hai; tu toh apne mein ek poori film hai (You are not just filmi, you are an entire film).” And he believes them all because, “Judges don’t lie.”

Gabbar’s source of income is the performances he gives at birthday parties, orchestras and the stage, and he makes about Rs.10,000 per month. As for Marine Drive, he performs on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 pm till about midnight.

Aiming for the stars

Gabbar in the newsAfter almost a decade of entertaining people by enacting famous scenes from films with his touch of humour, mimicking and performing several antics, what does he think he has achieved? “Name, popularity and respect,” he says. “Public ek star ko jitna pyaar deti hai, mujhe bhi utna deti hai. People ask me for autographs, photographs and wherever I go, people recognise me. Even media asks me for bytes on various incidents.”

Having “trained at Prithvi Theatre for three months”, Gabbar feels he doesn’t lack in talent but the only shortcoming is his improper Hindi and English diction. “Meri angrezi mein shehri touch nahi hai (My English is not very posh),” he rues.

With Bollywood as his “asli maksad”, doesn’t he feel his chances are reduced due to his non-filmy background? “Background doesn’t matter. Yes, the struggle is less but ultimately, public is the real judge. Take Sonu Sood, Shahrukh Khan, Mithun. None of them had a filmy background. Background ka achaar dalenge agar janta pasand nahi karegi!””

When fans follow

Gabbar Singh ChauhanAfter an hour of talking, we go back to Marine Drive, only to witness the much talked-about fan following. The first in line is a driver who calls out “Namaste, Shahrukhji.” Next, a couple of drivers say, “Kya haal Gabbar?” Two men on a motorbike at the signal shout across the road, “Hi, Gabbar!” Finally, at the stretch from Pizza by the Bay to the Air India building, chaiwallahas and local vendors greet Gabbar. There is a group of teenage boys who want to get a picture clicked with their Shahrukh.

We also chance upon the waiter who is done for the day and is relaxing by the seaside. He is Aditya, a huge fan of Gabbar. He says, “So many people like him, watch him. His acting style is fun but he should concentrate more on comedy.” He adds, “If big newspapers write about him, he would be instantly noticed by the industry bigwigs.”

Meanwhile, Gabbar Singh dials “Farah Khan’s number” only to find it “switched off”. And we call it a day.

(Pictures courtesy afternoondc.com and Nidhi Qazi) 

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Learn

Privatising BMC schools an assault on education: Experts

BMC’s proposal to allow privatisation in its schools will only worsen its flaws and introduce new ones, some experts feel.
by Nidhi Qazi

“World Bank’s agenda is demolition of public-funded school system and open gates for privatisation and commercialisation.”

“Education is not a component of social development but an investment for information society and market competition”- Ambani-Birla Report (2000)

These statements laid the tone for an evening dedicated to the current mess that our education is in. In a panel discussion titled ‘Neo-liberal Assault on India’s Education System and Corporatisation of Mumbai’s Municipal Schools under PPP’, Dr Anil Sadgopal and Simantini Dhuru, both educationists, spoke at length about the education system in India in general and of Mumbai in particular. The speakers also spoke against privatisation and how it is only going to worsen the system.

The talk came in the context of BMC’s recent proposal to allow public-private partnership (PPP) in the management of civic schools. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on January 23, 2013 took a decision to hand over all of its 1,174 schools to private organisations and companies under a ‘Public Private Partnership’ scheme of ‘School Adoption’.

At present

Dr Sadgopal and Ms DhuruSimantini Dhuru, Director, AVEHI ABACUS Project and member of Mumbai Samaan Mulbhoot Shikshan Hakk Samiti, talked of the present scenario of BMC schools.

She said, “The number of children going to non-BMC schools has been on a rise for a long time and thus, there has been a decrease in the number of teachers and children going to BMC schools. Also, the number of students going to English-medium schools has increased even though the percentage of English-medium schools remains low.”

There are two main reasons attributed to the decline in the number of students going to BMC schools. First, there has been a lack of secondary BMC schools for the past 25 years. Second, a large number of students drop out after Class 7.

Some concerns
Coming to the BMC’s proposal, Dhuru raised questions and concerns over the conditions under the Public Private Partnership Model.

There are four models of partnership: Type-i is Full School Management with Private Partner Teachers; Type-ii is Full School Support; Type-iii is Specific Services Partnership and lastly, Type-iv is School Input.

Dhuru pointed out that under the objective of PPP, there has been no mention of ‘Right of Children to Free and compulsory Education’ Act 2009. Also, the period of the PPP arrangement is 10 years, which Dhuru said “could ensure that the handover will acquire permanency.”

Dhuru also critiqued the arrangement for the proposed ground checks, under which supervisors of the Education Department are to visit the handed over schools four times a year. “This condition is contrary to the present practice wherein Government officials walk in to the schools as and when they feel like throughout the year. Why should the PPP schools  be visited by officials only four times?” said Dhuru.

Further, the clause that ‘Teachers appointed by the PPP schools will not do any administrative work and will not leave school for any work’ is contrary to the present practices in our schools.

For Type-ii of the model where NGOs appointed and BMC teachers work in combination if the BMC fails to appoint staff by August 31, the NGO may appoint its own staff. “This amounts to systematically disbanding BMC permanent staff and creating another layer of contractual teaching staff,” said Dhuru.

She also pointed out some clauses as a means of coercion: The first clause mentions that the PPP partner organisations will be allowed to evaluate the performance of the teachers appointed in their school and can demand that non-performing teachers be sent/transferred to another MMC school. Second clause mentions that the PPP organisation will have the right to record its remark in the teacher’s confidential report along with the head teacher.

“Besides coercion, the NGOs/Corporate houses will be allowed to lure teachers monetarily into supporting and continuing the PPP arrangement,” she said.

The overview of education

Dr Sadgopal (in pic on right), of the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) and former dean, Delhi University, gave a critical overview of how the education system has deteriorated over Dr Sadgopaltime.

“In the last two years, expenditure by BMC schools has increased. That may be good news but do we question why or for whom has it been increased? It is simple. Funds are given to deck up these schools for corporates so that they don’t have to spend from their pockets,” he opined.

According to Dr Sadgopal, these private players comprise NGOs, corporates and religious bodies who will “worsen the disparity in education by increasing the cost of education under the garb of improving quality.”

Dr Sadgopal is a pioneer in the field of education and has been instrumental in successfully running the Hoshangabad Science Training Programme (HSTP), a first-of-its-kind national-level initiative for pedagogical improvement. Having been part of various government bodies like Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) and NCERT, the septuagenarian views education through the Constitution. “The BMC, due to its failure has decided to abdicate the entire constitutional responsibility in order to improve the quality of education, but how can it do that when the Constitution of India mandates it to run good schools and not bad schools?”

He talked of how this move is nothing but brushing off one’s responsibility. “The onus of improving Government schools lies with the Government but it seems to have given up before even trying.”

A supporter of the ‘Common School System’, Dr Sadgopal added, “Such a system is the most feasible system in our country which suffers from huge disparities. With such a system, all the students, irrespective of class and caste can study together. Besides, when schools ask fees, the very idea of equality gets violated and that is contrary to what the Preamble stands for.”

Referring to the Bihar tragedy where students of a primary school died after consuming food under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Dr Sadgopal critiqued the many school systems India has. “Such tragedies strike the poor. Media editorials suggest better participation of parents and teachers, better transparency, etc. But none of them question the layers having been created in this unjust system,” he said.

“The common refrain is that policies are good, their implementation is bad. On the contrary, I say policies are bad, they are anti-people but their implementation is good and with all dedication.”

 (Pictures courtesy www.afternoondc.in and Nidhi Qazi)

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Trends

The city of carcentricity – Part II

Trupti Amritwar Vaitla explains how we all are paying for road infrastructure that caters to a small proportion of people.

Read Part I of the series here.

Yesterday, we featured Part I of Nidhi Qazi‘s interview with Trupti Vaitla (see pic on left), Chief of Operations at Mumbai Environment and Social Network (MESN), and also the head of Rachana Sansad’s Urban Design Cell. In the concluding part of the ‘City of carcentricity’ series today, Trupti explains how the majority pay for a small proportion of users’ car infrastructure by way of taxes and more.

Nidhi: Why this car-centric approach? Whom does this approach benefit and how?

Trupti: The projects in the city are car-centric as cars are a big business for many, like the car manufacturing industry, the road infrastructure industry and many car-related service industries. There is also a belief that car industry provides employment to a large number of people, and so, going against it is as good as going against the employment of working class.

We have a big impact of American lifestyle, where people live in sparse suburbs and are totally dependent on cars for mobility. For us, this model means ‘being developed’ and we are imitating them blindly in our cities which are dense, compact and actually ideal for mass transit. America is now seriously rethinking its car-centric ways which have proved unsustainable.

Our politicians, policy makers, bureaucrats and other authorities, are all car users, and view the entire situation from that lens and believe that owning a car is progressive and getting car infrastructure is the motorist’s right.

Big infrastructure projects like highways, freeways, sea links and flyovers which require huge investments, and are justified seeing the congestion on the road, but what causes that congestion never gets highlighted either by politicians, authorities or even by media.

N: How much does the government spend on the public transport system?

T: While in Mumbai, public transport carries 70 per cent passenger trips (down from 80 per cent about a decade back), the expenditure by users of public transport is less than 6 per cent. On the other hand, users spend more than 70 per cent on private transport which caters to barely 12 to 15 per cent of trips.

All the Western and Central railway suburban stations and tracks were completed by 1925, and since then, there was very little investment in upgradation till 2004 except in Navi Mumbai stations after Mankhurd. During the last 10 years, due to MUTP 1 (Mumbai Urban Transport Project) and MUTP 2 there was an investment of about Rs 2,000 crore for replacing the old tracks, coaches and extension of platform.

Recently some investment up to Rs 4,000 crore is made for the metro and monorails. Also 1,000 new buses more were bought under JNNURM, where half were in lieu of grant and the rest were bought by the Municipal Corporation. Of these, 600 were to replace the old buses and only 400 were added to the existing fleet. There is no investment in any kind of bus system to improve its efficiency. About Rs 8 to Rs 10,000 crore were spent on highways, the Sea Link and flyovers within Mumbai in the past 10 years.

N: Can you give us a comparison between the taxes paid by buses and car-users? Why is there a difference? What are the solutions?

T: Depending on the cost of the vehicle, the private vehicles have to pay a lumpsum one time tax of 7 to 14 per cent  for an individual and 14 per cent to 20 per cent for a company-owned vehicle for a lifetime. A bus has to pay tax annually and on per seat basis, depending on the type of vehicle (like basic, luxury, and AC bus). It is estimated that buses, considering a life of seven to eight years, pay 25 to 30 per cent tax i.e. two to three times higher than the private cars ! Also buses have to pay sales tax of 3 per cent on the sale of the tickets.

We also have a street tax which is based on the property value at 15 per cent  and not on the vehicle value or size. If we have pro-public transport policy, then why, under our tax regime, do buses pay much more than private vehicles? Why don’t we have taxation or road user fees that are designed to restrain private vehicle ownership and tilt in favour of buses? Also why can’t we charge nearer the real and total cost of parking spaces? Such rationalisation is easy and will make a great difference in favour of public transport usage.

It’s a Catch-22 situation, where it is unrealistic to expect migration from private transport to pay heavy charges and expect people to travel in the poor public transport. At the same time, it is not possible to wait for public transport to improve to restrain the growing numbers of private vehicles.

The basic rule is that mass transit can improve mobility, but it cannot solve congestion. Congestion can be solved only by a restraint on private vehicles and provision of good public transport. Both measures need to happen simultaneously to achieve a sustainable mobility. Instead of time consuming options like the metro rail to improve mass transit, this city needs solutions like improving the buses with dedicated lanes or BRTs, which are time and money efficient ways but which need vision, will and discipline.

Organising the existing intermediate public transport fleets like autos and taxies with dial system and shared routes to optimise its use and provide effective last mile connectivity.

Besides, we should focus on improving information and ticketing systems for better utilisation of public transport.

(Featured image courtesy purveshg.blogspot.com. Trupti’s pic courtesy bmwguggenheimlab.org)

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Trends

The city of carcentricity – Part I

The first of a two-part series on why public transport, and not cars, is the ideal solution for Mumbai’s roads.

Trupti Amritwar Vaitla (see pic on left), Chief of Operations at Mumbai Environment and Social Network (MESN), and also the head of Rachana Sansad’s Urban Design Cell, throws light on the state of public transport in Mumbai and the loopholes therein – the biggest one being the shift of focus from public transport to a private, car-centric model one that the city has resorted to.

Excerpts from an email interview that Nidhi Qazi conducted with her:

Nidhi: What is the increase in the number of cars seen on the roads in the past decade? How has that impacted the public transport system of Mumbai?

Trupti: As reported by MMRDA in its latest compilation of Basic Transport Statistics in Mumbai, the growth for the last 20 years is 214 per cent of four-wheelers (4W) and 432 per cent of two-wheelers (2W). If we consider also the growth together with Thane city, it is 2875 per cent of 4W and 1500 per cent for 2W.

This drastic growth, particularly in Thane district, is very striking and the reason is that many vehicles whose owners are residents of Mumbai get their vehicles registered in Thane to avoid paying octroi duty.

The huge growth in two wheelers indicates that bus users are shifting to this mode of private vehicles, which is affordable, faster and convenient till the last mile. On the other hand, the BEST bus trips have remained constant for the last 10 years on account of being stuck in traffic congestion (thus reducing its speed and reliability  thus becoming further unpopular and losing usership).

According to a National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) report, “Millions of man hours (and fuel) are lost with people ‘stuck in traffic’. The primary reason for this has been the explosive growth in the number of motor vehicles, coupled with limitations on the road space that can be provided as it is a very expensive infrastructure.”

Today in Mumbai, this congestion has impacted the efficiency of buses, and intermediate public transport like taxies and autos, (and even cars) as they are unable to complete the required number of trips  to carry more passengers with better frequency (although the number of buses has increased by 50 per cent during the last 10 years).

N: The reason for such an increase in the number of cars?

T: On the one hand, the deteriorating quality of public transport and on the other hand private transport is getting more attractive, cheaper and easily available.

Potential car buyers are increasing with increasing income levels between the 25 to 30 age group. Car prices have gone down, and now provide better quality, reliability and fuel efficiency and are available with easy car loans with reduced interest rates, and with no waiting period.

Most importantly, billions of rupees are spent on car advertisements to sell dreams to young potential buyers, increasing their aspirations. And if this is not enough, all our mega road projects are adding further fuel to this fire by providing dreams of more road widening, highways and freeways. And easy loans on attractive terms are available for asking – a thing unheard of until recently!

N: What does ‘equitable road space’ mean? Where does the city stand on that front?

T: I would like to refer to the NUTP report, which says “At present, road space gets allocated to whichever vehicle occupies it first. The focus is, therefore, the vehicle and not people. The result is that a bus carrying 40 people is allocated only two and a half times the road space that is allocated to a car carrying only one or two persons. In this process, the lower income groups have, effectively, ended up paying, in terms of higher travel time and higher travel costs, for the disproportionate space allocated to personal vehicles. If the focus of the principles of road space allocation were to be the people, then much more space would need to be allocated to public transport systems than is allocated at present.”

In Mumbai, road space allocation for buses is less than 10 per cent, taxi, autos is about 20 per cent and private transport is about 60 per cent, while commercial vehicles is about 10 per cent. Exactly reverse is the ratio of  passengers carried by each mode, where buses carry more than 65 per cent passengers, taxi auto about 20 per cent and private vehicles 15 per cent.

A study done by transport policy institute shows comparative per person travel space needs. A bus commuter requires 75 sq ft space travelling in a bus at 50km/hr, whereas a person travelling in the car occupies 250 sq ft while standing and about 1,500 sq ft moving at a speed of 50km/hr. Each car requires at least three car parking spaces in the city, one at home, other at office and third at shopping and other activities. Each parking space demands not less than 400 sq ft which is more than an affordable dwelling unit for four persons. This clearly indicates how space intensive the cars are and the tremendous pressure on the road infrastructure.

In the last 10 years, many highways, flyovers and the Sea Link have got built in the name of solving congestion in our city. When MESN did the traffic count, we realised that on an average 2 per cent buses, 23 per cent taxi/auto and 75 per cent cars ply on flyovers; on the Sea Link, less than 1 per cent buses, less than 10 per cent taxi and above 90 per cent cars.

The buses do not take the flyovers and also the fast links like Sea Link and the new Eastern freeway have very few entry or exit points, which again discourage bus usage, as they need more stops with easy accessibility. This clearly indicates that these big infrastructure projects are not pro-public transport and are in effect, getting subsidised by non-users’ tax money.

Road transport projects require large investment and cannot be self-sustaining through users’ fee alone; they need some viability gap funds. Giving such funding to public transport is acceptable all over the world as it is in the interest of many. However, in the case of Mumbai, unfortunately all the road transport projects are in effect, car-centric.

Part II, tomorrow: How non-car users are paying for the upkeep of cars and infrastructure that supports them.

(Featured image courtesy akshardhool.com. Trupti’s pic courtesy bmwguggenheimlab.org)

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