You just gotta love the powers that head the Public Works Department in this crazy city fondly known as Bombay. Many a times I have wondered if they have their own magic carpets to waft around the city or do they have some sort of 'floo-network', a la Mr Potter.
For I have never for one understood their twisted sense of humour, if it may be called so. The tarmac in this wonderful city has been under constant attack from myriad clueless agencies who come to work with a showel and an axe to pick. The planning boffins may have even been buried under a few feet of cobwebs by now, so long have they been absent from the city scape.
It truly is difficult to digest that the richest Municipal corporation in the entire country cannot provide its tax paying citizens some decent tarmac. The latest such example being the lovely idea of paving entire roads and junctions with interlocking cement blocks.
Just ask the common man and you will realize why this was not such a great idea. But NO! The wonderful powers that be in the BMC decided to go ahead and do just that. Entire budgets were poured into lining the city streets with these paver blocks. Tarmac that could have been restored and maintained at a fraction of the cost was uprooted and these ugly things put in place.
The result? A bumpy and harsh ride that kills the backs of the citizens of this city. A health hazard and a nightmare for the poor drivers who navigate through the bumps and the sharp edges. And a city that curses its way 24/7 while it nurses its wounds.
A cabbie recently told me - "Saab - Yeh BMC waale hai naa, hum log ko Essel World ki seher roz karaana chaahate hai, isliye yeh raaste aisi haalat mein chodte hai" Translation - The BMC wants us citizens to have a roller coaster ride similar to the ones available at Essel World, that's why they give us such roads!
