Mumbai - a concrete mess

Mumbai as a city is most certainly fast decaying and rotting. This mad rush to build apartments, luxury apartments for big money is turning the once beautiful city into a concrete mess. There are high rises cropping up in every open space the state Govt, wanting to raise more revenue, is eyeing the balance open places, probably the only green spots in the city. If the lungs of the city also close down, how will Mumbai breathe?

This mad bid to make Mumbai into Shanghai has truly messed up the entire place. In fact old timers say that Mumbai can never become Bombay – those who know will know how cynical this remark really is. The sad part is that the city is losing its character. The old buildings, many of them heritage are turning into steel and glass skyscrapers. The old distinctive buildings is what set the city apart and today, those are being razed down to build a faceless, characterless, non-entity city.

“Town side” or South Mumbai is known for its rich heritage buildings, all legacies of the British era. The Central Railway or VT or CST as it is known today is crumbling and the BMC, located bang opposite does not care.  Before the bite of realty bug spread the disease of greed, Mumbai took a lead in India when it came to heritage conservation. In 1995, it named more than 570 structures and 14 precincts as worth protecting for their historic or urban significance, widening the scope of prevalent rules that only considered buildings older than 100 years. But sad to say, all energies continue to be on making money out of every inch of land, heritage be damned!