Is Mumbai on the verge of exploding?

A decade back, a cartoonist turned politician claimed that the infrastructure of Maharashtra state and particularly Mumbai is being burdened by the outsiders from UP and Bihar. This claim created a rift between the son of soils and outsiders as Marathis Vs Non-Marathis. It also didn’t go well with the classes who were kind of settled in Mumbai and the masses who came in the business capital of India in search of bread and butter (or name and fame). This time again, the politician has raised the same claim although skilfully, when 23 innocent people got killed in a stampede at Elphinstone Road Foot Over Bridge. The political parties in opposition have raised the issue of infrastructure in Mumbai after this mishap and the recent flooding situation in Mumbai on August 29. Both the incidents underline one common thing and that is Mumbai's infrastructure is overloaded and on the verge of exploding.

One thing I always wonder in Mumbai, wherefrom so many people come to (all the areas of) Mumbai? And if the administration of the city is aware of this, why there are no steps taken to cater to them. Government is talking about smart city project and affordable housing, but still, housing and commuting are two major issues that every Mumbaikar faces every day. Still, people live in this fast metro city to fulfil their aspirations. They claim that there are more professionalism and discipline in this city. Agreed, but it has come out of compulsion, which is sugar-coated as Mumbai-spirit. Whatsoever may happen, the spirit of earning a livelihood doesn't die and so the city and citizens keep running to chase their dreams of getting a job, then promotion, owning a house and so on.

But what makes people come to metro cities like Mumbai is lack of quality jobs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Likewise Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Pune have also expanded and have become saturated because the other prominent cities in those states don’t offer similar quality and standard of life. Although Mumbai is landlocked and has limitations in expanding, this doesn't deter people coming to the city, because the city never sleeps.

In Maharashtra, apart from Mumbai and Pune, Nasik, Aurangabad, Amravati and Nagpur could become alternatives or smart cities as they say because most of the population in Mumbai and Pune are from Marathwada and Vidarbha region. But there are not enough industries in these cities to accommodate the working population. On the other hand, Industries complain of talent availability in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, whereas the talent prefers metro cities due to the plethora of opportunities. Even, MIHAN, Nagpur which was supposed to be the biggest export hub of central India has half of its employees working from Mumbai. Although the government has changed, the job scenario has not improved. The new government has not yet been able to build an ecosystem in cities like Nagpur or Nasik to create a win-win situation that would prevent the metro cities like Mumbai from overcrowding. Unless the government does something to move out its prominent offices to other less crowded cities, incidents like stampede and flooding are more likely to happen in future. Still, everyone has to salute the spirit of daring Mumbaikars.