Why have the Thackerays, who lord it over the city, watched passively as Mumbai has given way at the seams?
T N Ninan / New Delhi Nov 28, 2009, 01:33 IST
What do the Thackerays read? Did they read the report last week which said that more flights now operate from Delhi’s than from Mumbai’s airport? It wasn’t so long ago when Mumbai accounted for half of all flights in the country, so this is a big change. It is after all a global rule that any city which becomes the transport hub becomes the centre of much other activity as well.
And did they read, a couple of weeks earlier, that Bengaluru now has about the same number of hotel rooms as Mumbai (with Delhi having many more, of course)? They must have known for a long time that Delhi is a much bigger market for cars and two-wheelers, but do they know that Delhi is now the bigger retail market for both consumer durables and consumer softs? And do they realise that, when an international company decides to set up shop in India, Delhi and Bengaluru usually score over Mumbai as the preferred location?
For the best part of a century, Mumbai has prided itself as India’s commercial capital, but it is now more correct to call it the country’s financial capital. As the place where its stock markets, central bank, main commercial banks and other financial services institutions are located, Mumbai has no challenger as a financial centre. But as a business capital, though Mumbai still houses the Tatas, Birlas, Mahindras and Ambanis, it is clear that Delhi is upstaging Mumbai.
It isn’t hard to understand why. Greater Delhi (including Gurgaon and Noida) offers substantially cheaper office space of comparable quality, and lower living costs. It is quite simply an easier place to live in, and offers a better quality of life (public transport, choice of universities, golf courses, intellectual discourse). While there may be car thefts galore in Delhi, there is no organised gangland of the kind that Mumbai lives with. Above all, there is no one in Delhi to protest against migrants coming to make the city their home. Indeed, the city has thrived on migrants — as have other cities. It is not an accident that Kannadigas are in a minority in Bengaluru, and perhaps Bengalis in Kolkata. Successful cities are magnets.
As the national capital, Delhi has some natural advantages — and, let’s face it, it has been a relatively pampered city for decades (it shows!). But who is to account for the decline of what used to be the country’s premier metropolis? Not its good citizens, its hardworking millions, but its rulers — which is where the Thackerays and others come in. The city is an organisational mess (multiple authorities working at cross-purposes), a civic disaster, a transport nightmare, a housing impossibility, and a sprawling eyesore of slums.
None of it need be this way. When the textile mills shut down, Mumbai had a once-and-never-to-return opportunity to re-invent itself, to make mid-town Mumbai a modern, citizen-friendly living-cum-work-cum-recreation hub with homes and offices and parks of the kind that would have revitalised the city. That opportunity was lost as the city surrendered to the builder-developer mafia (and Raj Thackeray made a killing too).
So why have the Thackerays, who lord it over the city and declare who belongs and who doesn’t, watched passively as Mumbai has given way at the seams, and focused on dividing people, setting off street violence? Do the Thackerays really believe that Mumbai will not lose jobs if banks and companies lose the freedom to hire whom they choose? There was a time when businesses fled Kolkata. Heaven forbid, but there could come a time when they decide to stay away from Mumbai too.
I agree with Simon. Mumbai is "the" place because of it has the ability to pull people in & make its own. In a US style, I would say Mumbai is a country by itself.
There are goondas (in form of govt + thackeray & company), who have a very short vision, want to fill their pocket by beating people on the street, cheap publicity & asking for reservation for local people.
And there are some of my Marathi brethren, who don't realize that reservation is sure-fire way to keep one from progressing. Let the state feed them, pay them so that people become dependent & never think freely.
When time comes, use the scare tactics for people under "reservation" on the cultural/economic ground.
Mumbai will lead the country, only when people work.
People will be thankful to govt for removing the road blocks, the govt add from time to time.
Look at entire India, you will find that these are the people who block the road to growth everywhere.
Culturally, Mumbai is far superior to any other city. Here, the common man can live quite peacefully as he usuually receives the support of the locals. People here are very adjusting, and that is one reason mumbai is growing rapidly. If you have the funds and an idea but no local support, how you will run your enterrise? But now Mumbaikars are facing big population problem. I have been living last 50 years in mumbai and have a flat in Dadar. When i was child i would play cricket on the footpath and enjoy morning walks. But now, there is a huge mall in front of my building and footpath has been captured by bhaajivalas ... when i enter or exit my building, i have to put up with a foul odour. Property price have skyrocketed, so can u tell me, should the aam aadmi leave his own home and go back to Village? Mumbai sabhi ki hai, to Mumbaikar kya kare?
It is high time that India starts preparing for an alternative financial hub. SEBI, RBI and state banks should be made to branch out their HO functions to cities in south and east as well. keeping all eggs in (thakerey's basket) will only end up in a disaster. I am not even going down the path of arguing for the superiority of Mumbai over Delhi.
Any person/city which starts comparing itself to others and points out weakness of others to be its strengths (like Mumbayites complaining about so called lawlessness of North India) has already lost the race.
Once the corporates shift their HO's to places where their factories (or mines or main markets) are then Mumbai will loose the snobbish attitude of calling itself as the highest tax collector! Maybe they will blame people from some other region in India for that... Jai Maharashtra...
this article is conveniently biased... when it comes to commutation without hifi metro trains and volvos, mumbai's local trains and BEST are far more efficient than any other means transportation in any other part of country. talking abt Gurgaon and Noida i guess Mr. Ninan has forget to mention the crime rate... if one is talking about periphery of the city, i think you forgot about New Bombay which is far more well planned, cheap, convenient and "safe". Mumbai still generates far more jobs than any other city.
I live in Gurgaon and suffer 14 hour power cuts, my wife and daughter are terrified of driving to and from work, water is a nightmare. I have to speak in Hindi everywhere. DU has more elections than ALL of Maharashtra put together! I think Mr Ninan is totally of the mark. Dadar any day is better than ANY part of Delhi! If Mumbai is so bad, why are the North Indians so frightened of Raj declaring independence tomorrow ?
Surely the state government & the politicians care a hoot that the once great city of Mumbai is crumbling and no longer a place to attract new investments or business. Eventually even the existing companies may shift their head quarters to the other cities which offer lower costs & better standard of living & attracts migrants. Surely an obituary of the city can be written in due course of time baring a miracle.
Certainly during 1995 - 1999, when the Shiv- Sena BJP combine was in Mantralaya, and for a long period before and since, when they controlled the Bombay Municipal Corporation, the Thackerays have been at the top of the food chain. That is where their commitment to Mumbai begins and ends.
It is very convenient to use statistics to make absurd claims which are far-fetched from reality. A shift in aircraft frequency trend, which is in all probability cyclical, cannot be used to conclude that Delhi has displaced Mumbai as the commercial capital.
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