Mumbai’s transformers

Mumbai’s a city that is constantly under construction. The crane, that powerful machine that is both a boon and a danger, is redrawing the landscape.

MUMBAI: They say that one can judge the economic health of a city by the number of tower cranes that dot the landscape. And it's true, just think Beijing and Dubai and you'll understand what we're talking about. In recent times, Mumbai has come to the party with particular aplomb. Cranes - of the tower and mobile variety - have sprung up like jacks-in-the-box, steadily building a new city from the ground up.

Mumbaikars look to them as the heralds of the economic upswing, holding the city in its thrall. Every concrete slab added to a highway; every floor piled on a highrise; every truckload of rotting silt taken out of the Mithi; signals that tomorrow will be a good day. But on May 14, the dark side of unfettered construction clambered out of the shadows and laid its ugly talons on Mumbaikars. A crane working on the Metro project on JP Road in Andheri (W) leaned, then swayed, before toppling onto an autorickshaw, killing its passenger and seriously injuring the driver. One could put it down to bad luck on an intensely morbid scale: They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the searchlight is now shone on the safety issues plaguing constructions sites across Mumbai.

Accountability is the first port of call for those investigating such incidents. The buck must stop - willingly or by force - the only question is where. The second issue is rectification. Those who believe a dividing wall, separating construction sites, will save citizens from falling metal giants have certainly not seen the pictures plastered in yesterday's newspapers. The problem lies not only with contractors, but also with the government agencies responsible for ensuring that sites comply with safety regulations. If you don't have big brother watching, there's no telling the shenanigans one could get up to when the pressure is on and deadlines loom.

Yes, the incident at JP Road may simply be the exception that tests the rule - after all, even New York and Dubai have had their run-ins with errant cranes in the last few months - but it gives Mumbai a prime opportunity to address safety issues across the board.

The Maximum City may be reaching for the heavens, but that doesn't have to mean that its citizens follow.
 
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