As Asia’s richest municipal corporation heads towards the BMC elections 2026, Mumbai stands at a decisive crossroads. One path leads deeper into a politics of short-term freebies, fiscal populism, and creeping corruption. The other points towards clean air, efficient mobility, accountable governance, and strong public services. Reassuringly, recent signals suggest that Mumbaikars know exactly which path they want the city to take.
What Mumbaikars Want: A City That Moves Faster and Breathes Easier
A clear and compelling vision has emerged from recent policy announcements by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has articulated the idea of “building a Mumbai that moves faster and breathes easier.” The proposed ‘Green Mumbai’ initiative anchors development in sustainability—linking mobility, air quality, and climate-conscious budgeting.
Key elements of this vision resonate strongly with citizens:
- Cleaner air and stricter pollution control, including real-time monitoring of over 1,000 construction sites and a shift by local industries to cleaner fuels.
- Integrated and efficient public transport, backed by a 411-km metro network, the Aqua underground line, and a growing fleet of 5,000 electric buses—already reducing congestion and carbon emissions.
- Climate budgeting, with nearly 38% of the capital expenditure of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation earmarked for green initiatives—an unprecedented commitment in South Asia and a serious step toward Net Zero 2050.
This is the kind of productive public spending citizens are willing to support—long-term investments that improve daily life while safeguarding Mumbai’s future.
What Citizens Are Demanding: Governance, Not Gimmicks
Across Mumbai’s neighbourhoods, citizen collectives are speaking with remarkable clarity. From Chandivali to Andheri, and other localities, residents are demanding basics done well:
- Pothole-free and durable roads, without endless digging and re-digging.
- Clean air, functioning public gardens, and regulated encroachments.
- An anti-defacement pledge, asking political parties to stop defiling public spaces with banners and posters. The message is blunt and powerful: “Paisa humara, naam tumhara nahi chalega.”
- Transparency and accountability, including monthly citizen forums and escalation of unresolved complaints to civic authorities.
These charters underline a simple truth: Mumbaikars want outcomes, not optics. They want corporators who fix problems, not politicians who plaster their faces on public property.
Healthcare: Invest Publicly, Not Privatise Quietly
Equally strong is the call to rebuild public healthcare. Civil society groups such as Jan Swasthya Abhiyan have warned that privatisation and outsourcing have weakened Mumbai’s once-robust civic health system. Their demands are neither ideological nor extravagant:
- Increase health spending to 25% of the civic budget over five years.
- End indiscriminate PPPs in hospitals.
- Fill staff vacancies on a war footing.
- Expand aapla davakhana clinics within neighborhoods and walking distance.
At a time when municipal finances are under pressure, citizens are clearly saying: spend more on hospitals, not handouts; doctors and diagnostics, not doles.
What Mumbaikars Do Not Want: Freebies, Fiscal Drain, and Corruption
Against this backdrop, the politics of freebies stands increasingly exposed. Populist announcements—such as free transport rides or cash-equivalent benefits—may offer instant applause but come at a high cost. They:
- Strain the exchequer of Asia’s richest municipal body.
- Crowd out spending on infrastructure, healthcare, and environmental resilience.
- Create fertile ground for leakages, patronage, and corruption.
The spending sprees promised on non-productive freebies, sharply contrast with citizen aspirations. Mumbaikars are not asking for gifts from the BMC; they are asking the BMC to do its job well.
A Silver Lining for Mumbai
Encouragingly, the narrative is shifting. A convergence is visible between:
- A state-level push for green mobility, clean air, and climate-linked financial discipline, and
- Grassroots citizen movements demanding ethical governance, better roads, functional public services, and dignity in public spaces.
This convergence offers Mumbai a rare chance to reset its civic priorities.
The Choice Before Mumbai
The 2026 civic elections must not become a contest over who promises bigger freebies. They should be a referendum on how Mumbai lives, breathes, and moves.
Mumbaikars should send a clear message:
Stop Mumbai from going on the wrong course. Reject freebies and corruption. Choose promises of investment in infrastructure, healthcare, pollution free environment, climate actions, sustainable mobility, better sanitation, safe drinking water, roads that are motorable and footpath which are walkable and available across the city and not just in certain elite localities over inducement, governance over gimmicks, and a city that is livable, breathable, and worthy of its citizens.
Time is to vote to set Mumbai on right course, freeing it from culture of freebies and corruption, towards a livable and breathable future.
No comments:
Post a Comment