WE HAVE RS 300 CRORE TO SPARE?

The first person to vehemently object the 321 ft statue of Shivaji Maharaj to be built in the Arabian Sea, 1 km off Marine drive in Mumbai, at a cost of Rs. 300 Crore would have been Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj himself!

To the “King of the People” who gave importance primarily to the welfare of the people and administration of the state, such an extravagant expense by the state government at a time when as many as 221 talukas in 27 districts have been declared drought prone, more than 40 farmer suicides have taken place in the last three weeks and there have been reports of 3,000 child malnutrition deaths in tribal areas would have been acrimonious.

Those in favor of this massacre of reasonability are contesting that the city needs monuments that will serve as Tourist attractions and thus rake in the income through tourism. It is observed by those in power that Gateway of India as well as Bollywood star mansions have now become redundant and hence tourists landing in Mumbai head immediately to Rajasthan or Kerala. Reasonable as this may be one needs to point out a very conveniently overlooked point to these state administrators that although a delicious dessert makes for a fitting end to any dinner, it makes no sense at all if the dinner is rubbish and the dessert excellent!!! In this case the dinner is the day to day working of the city, the welfare of the state and its residents and the dinner ofcourse are tourist attractions!

Where shall I start venting my anger from? The roads? Or the make shift patches that one fills them with making them further disheveled and jerky? The health facilities that were seen stretched in the recent event of swine flu? The garbage cleaning networks? The hutments under the sparkling flyovers? The non-availability of toilets for woman? Men are ofcourse to pee on roads or latrines with no doors, right? Thane I believe is still reeling under daily power cuts. And yes, should I even dare to venture into crime and TERRORISM measures in the city???

Yes, the British built the current monuments that the city boosts off but they did that after or simultaneously while giving complete attention to the planning and working of the city. They did not build monuments at the cost of the city and state administration! Oh, let’s not draw comparisons for it gets embarrassing after a point to praise the British.

All the same the point is very simple and clear if it’s not been drawn across yet- the statue is good from the tourism point of view BUT there should be another 10 years before it can be considered. There are other far important areas that need the 300 Crore right now!

And I have not even touched the environmental angle yet considering we are going to nail it all in the sea! Shall we stop messing with nature please? It might just turn back and smack us so hard that we won’t be able to take it for sure!!

Jai Maharashtra.