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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Ripples before BMC elections

Congress solo threat rattles MVA Mumbai : The unilateral decision of the state Congress to contest the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently has apparently rattled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) main allies and smaller parties, with hectic backstage politicking underway.   Barely a week after AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala’s terse announcement, supported vociferously by Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad, there are indications of the other parties considering...

Ripples before BMC elections

Congress solo threat rattles MVA Mumbai : The unilateral decision of the state Congress to contest the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently has apparently rattled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) main allies and smaller parties, with hectic backstage politicking underway.   Barely a week after AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala’s terse announcement, supported vociferously by Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad, there are indications of the other parties considering counter-moves – to convince the Congress on a re-think.   The grand old party’s virtual threat not only unnerved the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and their allies, but also the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), at which eyebrows are being raised for the purported discord in the MVA.   The Congress this week reached out to NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar to join hands, and the latter is reportedly keen for a broader Opposition alliance that includes the MNS.   Congress insiders claim that internal surveys have not exactly painted a rosy picture for the MVA’s prospects in the BMC polls for 227 Wards, unnerving most parties even before the poll schedules are declared by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC).   A worse scenario could be, the sentiments may reflect across the other important municipal corporations that will go to the hustings along with BMC, adding to the gloom in the opposition camps, they caution.   Political sources deny that any so-called ‘conditional offer’ has been made to the SS (UBT) to dump MNS - if it wants the Congress ‘hand’ behind it – as reported in some sections.   Rubbishing such theories, MNS Spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande guardedly said that “we are an independent party and all our decisions are taken by the party President Raj Thackeray”.   Reiterating that the MNS is not a constituent of the MNS, Desphande also said the party is not concerned about which leader met whom or they said what about MNS, as any final call on a poll deal would be taken only after deliberations between Raj and Uddhav Thackeray.   As per current indications, the Congress will actively explore tie-ups with several Dalit, peasants, workers and minority parties/groups - though the Samajwadi Party (SP) has said it may chart a solo path – to avoid vote-split as well as safeguard the Congress’s 140-year-old ideology.   “We are not affected by claims made by anyone from any party. We shall abide by the decisions of the party high command, which was made clear last week. The party will follow it to the hilt,” a Mumbai Congress leader told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   Congress leaders continue to be apprehensive over the MNS’ old violent campaigns against north Indians and minorities which may haunt it in the civic polls, and possibly mar the chances of the opposition, already reeling under a crisis of survival after back-to-back political reverses in three state assembly polls. Meanwhile, the MVA allies continued to slam the ruling MahaYuti on various counts. Chiefly, the recent flying visits by the two Deputy CMs, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, the failing law-and-order against the recent rape-cum-murder of a minor girl in Malegaon, and the alleged suicide of a college student after he was assaulted for speaking in Hindi.

Choking Mumbai

For decades, Mumbai was perceived as a rare urban oasis, where the saline sweep of the Arabian Sea blunted the worst ravages of India's air pollution. That illusion has now been dispelled. A meticulous four-year study by Respirer Living Sciences (RLS), using data from its AtlasAQ platform, reveals the bleak truth that the city’s air is thick with pollutants all year round, with no ‘clean season’ left.


Mumbai’s annual average levels of PM10 (particulate matter ten microns or less in diameter) have consistently breached the national safety threshold of 60 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³). This is not merely a seasonal malaise tied to cooler winter months, as once assumed. Alarmingly, the city’s pollution levels persist even through the hot season, a time when improved atmospheric dispersion should offer natural reprieve.


Across the city - from Chakala in Andheri East to Deonar, Kurla, Vile Parle West and Mazgaon - pollution has become an unrelenting, ubiquitous presence.


The culprits are well known: traffic emissions from a burgeoning number of vehicles; unregulated dust from frenzied construction; industrial activity in and around the ports; and a conspicuous lack of dust control measures. Mumbai’s ceaseless growth now risks becoming a chronic liability.


Worryingly, the regulatory response remains sluggish. Mumbai’s urban planning continues to treat clean air as a peripheral concern, not a foundational necessity. Development plans rarely integrate environmental impact assessments in a meaningful way.


A sharper, citywide strategy is urgently needed. Dust suppression rules at construction sites must be enforced strictly, with financial penalties for violators and incentives for best practices. Traffic management systems should be overhauled to ease congestion and encourage the use of public transport. Expansion of clean, reliable mass transit network needs to be urgently prioritised. In addition, comprehensive real-time air monitoring at the ward level should be deployed, enabling authorities to respond to localised pollution spikes swiftly rather than relying on citywide averages that conceal dangerous hotspots.


Longer-term, clean air targets must be hardwired into the city’s master planning and transport policies. Green buffers along major traffic corridors, stricter emission norms for commercial vehicles and incentives for rooftop gardens and urban afforestation could all play a part. Industrial zones near port areas should be subjected to rigorous air quality compliance measures, not token self-certifications. Private developers and large infrastructure firms, often among the worst offenders, must be made stakeholders in the clean air mission through binding regulations.


Mumbai’s commercial dynamism - as a magnet for migrants, entrepreneurs and investors - depends not just on glittering skyscrapers but on something far more basic: the ability to breathe. Unless clean air becomes an unshakeable priority, the city risks suffocating its own future. For a metropolis that prides itself on its resilience against terror attacks, monsoon floods and economic shocks, the real test will be whether it can muster the will to fight an invisible, pervasive enemy slowly corroding the lives of its 20 million citizens.

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