Activists demand sea change from Congress

Prominent activists from the city raised their concerns at the event

Why can't Congress volunteer to be governed under the Right to Information Act? Will the party meet the challenges related to urbanisation, housing, water-supply, solid waste management, roads and transport, traffic, environment in order to make Mumbai better and livable? These were some points that the city's civic, RTI and social activists posed before a sub-committee of the Congress poll manifesto at the MCA on Tuesday. The party had invited eminent people to seek their inputs that will be incorporated in the 2019 election manifesto.

Activists say
RTI activist Anil Galgali told the committee headed by former union minister Kumari Selja, that the Congress should promise internal reform, by declaring that it would implement the Right to Information Act and entertain queries under it. "Your party introduced the legislation. So I think you should be the first party to volunteer to be governed under the RTI Act," said Galgali. He also suggested that the Congress should assure to conserve the city's rivers like Mithi.

'City must expand'
Author and journalist Sucheta Dalal said the city was bursting at the seams. "We have no option but to expand. Urbanisation is a fact of life, people will migrate for better opportunities and we need to build for it. Today Greater Mumbai is unaffordable for most people. We need to open the hinterland through the trans harbour links," she said. "We liked the concept of 100 smart cities. This government has not delivered but it is needed. We should also explore building infrastructure around industry hubs," she added.

'Rescue public transport'
Transport expert Ashok Datar highlighted the importance of giving an impetus to the dying public transport. He said there was a drastic change in the Vehicle Space Index in the past two decades. "29% of roads were occupied by vehicles two decades ago and today it has reached 81%, while the percentage of the people who use public transport has dropped from 20% to 10% during the same period," he said.

'Protect the environment'
Praja Foundation's founding trustee Nitai Mehta asked for empowering city governance and citizen participation. Mukesh Gupta, development scheduler of Dharavi said that Mumbai will be able to take more pressure if only it is planned better. Advocate Afroz Shah said metropolitan cities have become urban villages today and the environment should be protected with effective laws and
policies. Selja said, "While the biggest housing schemes are found in Mumbai, we can also find Asia's largest slum here. It takes decades to form institutions in any country. The Congress Party has given the country many credible institutions. But unfortunately, they are being destroyed one after the other."

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