MMRDA has been not merely autocratic ( as pointed out by Jyoti Punwani,DNA,June 12), but highly bureaucratic and unsympathetic to needs of the public. It constructed many sky-ways in the suburban railway stations without surveying or consulting the railway commuters and now, many people do not use them. When it widened the M.V.Road ( Andheri-Kurla Road, I had written about need for having a proper pavement and to entrust the upkeep the corporate sector to maintain it. The pavement now has potholes and full of hawkers as ever. The widened road has become a parking place for school and factory buses. It has not insisted on the builders of the Metro to clean up debris and maintain road below the metro. Road has become nightmare both for the pedestrians and the motorists.
The British political philosopher C.E.M.Joad had said that the basic principle of democracy is " wearer knows where the shoe pinches". It is government by consent. In a democracy, the most affected people have to be consulted before any change is undertaken. In our country consultation comes after agitation, not before construction. Both our politicians and bureaucrats need to have refresher courses on democracy and good governance.
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