The Name-Game

The name-game

Finally, the Bandra-Worli sea link opened to commuters. And what better way to celebrate this than to fire a controversy over the ‘naamkaran’ of this ‘setu’!

It is indeed an engineering marvel which took about 4 more years or some couple of hundred crores more, than the stipulated period and amount. As India struggles with its first sea-link, China in the same period is said to have come up with 6 sea-links. So, this scenario presents the Indian bureaucracy with a subject for contemplation as to what caused the delay. Can the delay be attributed to the fisher folk and the Green lobby only? Is Rs. 1200 Cr not an alarming figure which has been taken out from the pockets of the city’s tax payer? A city which has to necessarily rely on its share of tax payers only as it gets no relief funds from other states or unions; but is known to have been shifting its monetary resources to the centre for years together (and then reclaiming it later in form of Developmental Funds/Grants from the capital). Now, that the sea-link has emerged after a 10 year battle with the Indian administrative system, we have the politicians debating on topics like: in whose regime (NDA or UPA) was the tender for the project signed and what on the earth should this engineering wonder be called!!

Certain ‘visionaries’ see this bridge to not only ‘bridge’ the gap between Bandra and Worli, but also between the NCP and Congress. Whether it will really solve Mumbai’s traffic woes is a question that less bothers the politicians. Yesterday the polls conducted by the Marathi news channels showed that a majority of the maharashtrian public wanted this bridge to be named after an honorary person belonging to the state. Surely, Rajiv Gandhi was a visionary, but the state is not deprived of the same. While every fourth turn on Mumbai’s roads is dedicated to the Gandhis and ports and sanctuaries named after the Nehrus ; a christening of a different kind for the bridge will go about to show that the country does have great men who belonged to a dynasty other than the Gandhi or the Nehru.

The commuter is well aware of vote-bank politics. It’s the time and cost of fuel that bothers him more than the name of the bridge on which he may go for a drive. The vernacular news channels have given the verdict as to what the local population desires. . It must be remembered that the sea-link is one of its kind not only in the city but also in the country. Hence, a special sense of belonging felt by the Marathi population is thoroughly justified. It’s up to Sonia and Pawar saheb, to take a call. Though the Congress has recorded a historic win at the Lok Sabha elections, they will definitely not like to lose ground in the state by hurting the sentiments of the Marathi voters, with the assembly elections just round the corner.

While the controversy continues, let us hope that we have more of such infrastructure projects to add a global dimension to our beloved city.