Citizens, officials can work together to beautify city

Ready, set, glow all the way to Regal (right) Megawatt Monday night in causeway

The South Mumbai enclave of Colaba recently inaugurated a row of ornate street lights, that added a dash of aestheticism at the buzzing Causeway area. These lights act as adjunct to existing streetlights and serve a dual purpose: that of beauty and utility. A report in this paper highlighted an upbeat launch where citizens and public representatives came together to spread the light, both literally and figuratively.

There are several takeaways, one of which is citizen engagement. There were several locals who played an active part in seeing the project take off. We want to see more citizens in different areas get involved in community work. While time is a constraint for most, to eke out some time for the area is always good and makes us more aware and vigilant. Having said that, corporators, or ex corporators need to work together, be accountable and get things done to the best of their ability. In many spots in the city, we witness certain active locals pushing on a number of projects while others have an attitude of, I do not have time, or let the others do the work. If shared more equitably things will get done faster, and mitigate the load on a few.

The other takeaway is that well lit spaces play a vital role in ensuring discipline and safety. At times, we see streets are well lit, but footpaths are relatively dark. This should not be so, and footpaths should be illumined to make pedestrians walk safer. Dividers and crossings should have enough light so that people feel comfortable standing on them, rather than tripping because of poor visibility. Every citizen claimed beauty was one aspect, but safety, one notch higher on the priority list. Brighter is definitely better when it comes to our public spaces and we have numerous examples bearing that out.