What is the issue?
- Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road railway bridge recently witnessed a horrific stampede killing and injuring many.
- Notably, the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Mumbai city police argued over each other's jurisdiction, instead of coordinating.
What is the larger governance concern?
- This jurisdictional confusion is indicative of the larger governance flaw in relation with Mumbai’s infrastructure.
- There are too many agencies and no one is willing to take responsibility when a tragedy takes place.
- This accountability and jurisdictional anomaly is plaguing much of Mumbai's development discourse.
- Ex: There are at least five agencies that handle roads in Mumbai.
- BMC.
- State Public Works Department.
- Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
- Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
- In some cases even the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
- In most cities around the world, the city's ultimate control is with the mayor.
- But in Mumbai, the mayor has been reduced to a figurehead.
- The real powers lie with the municipal commissioner, who is appointed by the State government.
- The powerful standing committee, comprising elected representatives, can frame policies, draft bye-laws, and sanction the city’s budget.
- But the person to oversee and implement everything is the commissioner.
- Besides, a large majority of the State’s elected legislators have no stake in the city’s progress.
What is to be done?
- Notably this is not the case only with Mumbai but is an issue hampering development in many cities in India.
- There is thus a dire need for ruling out the jurisdictional ambiguity as a result of multiplicity of agencies.
- Mumbai and other cities of India need a single coordinating agency with adequate autonomy and power to make decisions.
- This is essential to ensure accountability as well as to take forward the implementation of many drafted developmental plans.
- Political will is also very important to materialise all these.
Source: The Hindu
