As far as I can tell, Mumbai and Mumbra have now achieved a unique distinction in the world. These are the only places where more or less every month, a building collapses and people die. Where else on earth do such things happen without earthquakes What requires forces of nature elsewhere is being achieved by mere human corruption and stupidity here. The tragedy and irony is that the average Mumbaikar remains deeply honest. A survey by Readers’ Digest, results of which were reported around the world, recently found that Mumbai is second in the list of most honest cities in the world, after Helsinki in Finland. They determined this by dropping wallets with the equivalent of '3,000 in cash, and a cellphone number and business card, in various places. Cities where the average income is far, far higher than Mumbai, such as New York and London, had fewer of the wallets returned. What this tells me is that the corruption in our country is not really one that grows from below. It is one that starts from above. In other words, the constable or the clerk is taking a bribe because he believes the entire system to be corrupt. If the ministry and the top layers of the bureaucracy were to be completely cleaned up, it is likely that the corruption below would also see a dramatic decline. In the specific context of Mumbai, Mumbra, and their falling buildings, the deadly effects of greed and corruption become clear. The buildings that have fallen in recent times have either been illegal ones, poorly constructed, or they have been older buildings, to which illegal structural changes were made. The latest case of building collapse in Mazgaon seems to have been caused by modifications to its basement. The collapse in Mahim in June was for the same reason. Structural changes are made by fools who do not realise that there are some laws that cannot be safely broken by paying a bribe. The building inspector cannot alter the laws of gravity. As for the illegal buildings, there is little doubt about who the guilty parties are and how they are all colluding. Everyone knows that politicians across parties, municipal officials, some policemen, and builders are to blame. This was seen to be the case after the building collapse in Mumbra in April this year, in which 74 people died. However, politicians such as Jitendra Awhad from the NCP were visible on national television speaking against demolition of illegal buildings, and by extension, protecting those who built them. Hira Patil, a corporator from the same party, was among those arrested after the collapse of that building. He had allegedly facilitated its construction. The lack of affordable housing drives people to live in illegal buildings that then collapse on their heads. The key word here is “affordable” because there is no shortage of housing in Mumbai. As a study by Liases Foras, a real estate rating firm, found recently, 1.35 lakh units of housing are currently unoccupied. In other words, lakhs of flats are lying empty, but lakhs of people are homeless or forced to live in very poor housing, because the prices are unaffordable. According to market economics, the prices should fall, but that is not happening. The prices are being artificially sustained by builders with help from banks. Mr Awhad has been pushing for a cluster redevelopment project for Mumbra. There is certainly need for such redevelopment. There is only one question: do illegal properties automatically become legal at the time of redevelopment What happens at present is this: criminals take over public lands and forests, construct illegal buildings on them, sell them cheap to gullible or corrupt people, and then bring political pressure to bear to legalise the whole thing. Should the state encourage this If the answer is yes, then other forms of robbery should also be legalised.
