Sir, The last few bits of salt-pan lands, mangroves, openspaces, wetlands, ponds, quarries or pits, creeks, etc needs to be protected to counter rising sea levels, sea erosion, flooding and to protect the vulnerable coastal population of Bombay from the potentially killing impact of tidal waves and heavy rains. In an era of Climate change and global warming, maintaining ecological balance is essential to good health and progress.
But considering the fact that politicians whether from the ruling parties or opposition parties are dependent on funds from the builders lobby and votes from the slumdwellers, it is unlikely the politicians will be interested in protecting the last few bits of saltpans, mangroves, openspaces. Officers in collectors office, city survey office and bombay muncipal corporation are also on the payroll of the builders lobby. Approval letters for all aspects of projects - layouts, buildings, water supply, drainage, firefighting, tree plantation, etc are known to be prepared in the builder's office and sent to the approving officers for their signatures, the price having been already paid. The slumdwellers who are living illegally in bombay have their ancestral homes and lands in their native places. They were able to encroach land in bombay by bribing local slumlords, police & municipal officials. 15 years back the slumdwellers of bombay were dependent on the common municipal public taps in their areas for water. Today most of the slumdwellers have got individual water connections without spending a single paisa in return for giving votes to the local corporators and how can the MPs and MLAs be far behind they also need votes of slumdwellers to win elections, and in return for votes the MPs and MLAs not only passed laws to give legal protection to slums but are also in the process of giving the slumdwellers free 300 sq.ft. flats. Jai Ho Slumdwellers. The cartoonist-turned Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray who is a migrant from Pune, took a personal interest in changing the name of Bombay to Mumbai but this same Bal Thackeray did not take any interest in changing the name of Pune to Punnaka the citys original name. People are misled to believe that Bombay was a British corruption of Mumbai. However, records show that the Portuguese colony on the islands was called “Bom Bahia” (meaning “Good Bay”). This was given to King Charles II of England as his dowry when he married the Portuguese princess Catherine de Braganza in 1661. That is when the name was anglicized to “Bombay”. After the Protestant mercantilist Britishers took over the seven islands from the Portuguese and allowed the Marathas, Gujaratis & Parsis to settle in Bombay. One of the Maratha settler was a woman by the name “Mumba” who sold her gold jewellery to built a temple and gave the temple her name which came to be known Mumba Devi temple. Bombay’s name has been changed to Mumbai by shiv sena not in honour of any koli woman but a maratha woman and this fact the sena chief Bal Thackeray knows very well. By changing the name of Bombay to Mumbai, Bal Thackeray thundered that Mumbai belongs to Marathas. But the ignorant Kolis who are ignorant about history and ignorant about the game the shiv sena has been playing believe that the mumba devi temple was built by a koli woman. The ignorant kolis also don’t realize why the Shiv Sena that has been controlling the BMC for the last 20 years and also came to power in Maharashtra State in 1995, did not bother to help kolis. The only thing the ignorant kolis know is how to catch and sell fish and drink liquor. Andrew Fernandes Bombay, Konkan.
