Citizens want infrastructure to keep up Mumbai spirit'

Mumbai: The famed spirit of Mumbai may have been broken as Mumbaikars are tired of fighting adversity, claim advocates and activists who are contesting cases in the Bombay high court, seeking an improvement in the infrastructure and facilities in the city.

The opinions were in response to queries on why the city witnessed a near holiday on Wednesday following the IMD warning of heavy rains. While the roads were bereft of traffic, trains too wore a deserted look even though the rain warnings did not come close to fructifying.

According to Atal Bihari Dubey, who has filed a petition in the HC seeking directions to the BMC to do something about the flooding that the city witnesses everytime there is heavy rain said, “Yes the spirit of the Mumbaikar is broken due to the flooding and threat to life. The death of Dr Deepak Amrapurkar during the last deluge jolted the Mumbaikar’s confidence in the civic system. By staying home on Wednesday, they have shown that the spirit they displayed after natural or manmade disasters in the past has been broken.”

Advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, counsel for the CBI concurred and said that the painful experiences during disasters has led to  citizens becoming distraught.

“Past experiences and hardship faced by Mumbaikars is responsible for the empty roads and trains,” he said.