Mumbai suburbs are in for a festival bonanza as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced 50 percent extra Floor Space Index (FSI) for people living in the suburbs for redevelopment projects. The move could be politically motivated on account of coming civic elections but construction activities of mammoth size without actually building infrastructure like roads, overhead bridges, increasing bus and rail capacity, sewage, dams, water supply would backfire in the days to come. Mumbai has become a concrete jungle and more construction would signal doomsday for the city.
Lakhs of flats are lying vacant in the city for want of buyers. More inventory in the infrastructure sector is not good news for the city. Mumbai needs proper planning and development and politicians should be taking decisions which is in the interest of the city and not just for winning elections. The metropolis needs more green space and let us build a healthy city and not convert it into an gas chamber where people struggle to breathe for want of fresh air and oxygen!
S.N. Kabra
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
