Big buck bullies?

Peddar Road residents are accused of using their influence and money power to stall and scotch the Peddar Rd flyover. SoBo rejects the elite thugs label bestowed on them saying it is not an Us vs Them matter

Big buck bullies?

Peddar Road residents are accused of using their influence and money power to stall and scotch the Peddar Rd flyover.u00a0SoBo rejects the elite thugs label bestowed on them saying it is not an Us vs Them matter

They have been called elite thugs and people say they have a voice in society which gets a hearing simply because they can flex their financial muscle.

Last month's public hearing which was disrupted by
political party workers shouting in support of the flyover

Peddar Road and other South Mumbai residents, opposing the Peddar Rd flyover have been accused of holding the city to ransom with their staunch opposition to the project.

Other residents say they had little choice when infrastructure like flyovers were built near their homes, why should this one be any different?

The creme de la creme like they are called, though counter these allegations simply saying that, to raise concerns and objections democratically does not make them bullies.

Right now, they are certainly not as snug as a thug in a rug brushing off the elite thugs description with anger.

Says Dr Shyam Nichani from the area, incidentally, Dr Nichani was particularly vocal during a public meeting on the flyover issue, he was seen flouncing out angrily from the hall, after rowdies supporting the flyover took over the meeting.u00a0

"We are being called elite thugs because we are expressing ourselves and exercising a basic, fundamental right. Does looking after one's own welfare and that of one's family make you an elite thug?" Nichani also asks, "While work on the flyover is on, how are we supposed to drive into our own buildings?
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It is not a question of being high profile, or whatever, it is about exploring alternatives." When told that the authorities stand is that the flyover is the most economically viable project, this Shanti building resident countered angrily, "There is money for scams and looting but not for infrastructure.
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Why can't the govt. think of taking a loan from the World Bank if there is no money for infrastructure projects?"

Sinister
Meanwhile Malabar Hill MLA, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, simply asks, "How can money power be used to combat this? How can we be termed as elitist thugs?u00a0 This is not a blanket opposition to the flyover. We are simply asking for better alternatives."

Sandeep Parekh, Ajoomal Mansion resident, believes there is a sinister design behind using terms like 'elitist thugs' which is, he says,u00a0 "to make this a war between the haves and the have nots. It is a way to pit the rest of the people who may not be as well off perhaps, against the residents and so get the flyover.
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It is emotional blackmail," he states forthrightly. Parekh says that they have genuine reasons for opposing the flyover, "We too, as residents, do not want traffic but there are other ways to battle this. This elite charge shows that this being made intou00a0 an ego problem, it is also being done to play on the vote banks and politicise the issue."

This banner was seen some time ago

When told that other flyovers like the JJ flyover and the Sion flyover too, had come up without public hearings and debate, Parekh said, "Every flyover is different and one cannot compare this with others. Moreover, one mistake does not mean there should be another mistake, dividing people is playing the issue emotionally rather than logically."u00a0

The two wrongs do not make a right theory seems to ricochet right through. Capt. Ashok Batra of Altamount Road agrees, "Two wrongs do not make a right. In the case of the Peddar Rd flyover, before I went into the details of the environmental impact, I myself was not against the project.
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It is only when I went through the reports and studied them was I convinced that the flyover was not a good option. During the construction phase, there will be complete chaos -- irrespective of what the authorities state."

Fury
Batra's sedate tone is in contrast to the volcanic fury of Woodlands building resident, Veena Singhal, chairperson, Peddar Rd residents association who asks, "If the Govt. had an intention of building the Worli to Nariman Pt Sea Link, then why have they just built half the Link from Bandra to Worli, and thrown all this extra traffic into the already crowded roads of mid-town Mumbai? China can build a 42 km long sea bridge, but here we are exhausted after building just seven-km from Bandra to Worli and keep touting it as a wonderful achievement.
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If the flyover was the magic answer to South Mumbai's traffic mess, then what stopped Mumbai State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) from building it 10 years earlier?" When asked specifically about the thugs charge she says, "As for thuggery, you only have to read your own paper and see the visual media to know where the real thugs are!" Talk about other flyovers and she says, "Since when has a wrong solution in one place become a justification for a wrong solution in another area? That is nothing but vindictiveness on the part of those advocating the wrong solution.

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Mangal Prabhat Lodha and years earlier, Peddar Rd resident
Asha Bhosale had facedu00a0 flak when she had said that she would
move to Dubai if the flyover was built

Of course, the elitist tag is again pinned on us, but if the public transport system was not so overcrowded many of us would prefer to use buses and trains just as we do in other global cities," she finished. Peddar Rd's Sudha Chowgule simply said that, "Anybody can say anything and implicate someone," when asked to react to the elite slight. "The flyover is not a holistic or long-term solution to the problem."

Fire
"Every problem has a solution," says Mahalaxmi resident, Dhaval Jangla, "and the flyover may not be the best way to resolve the traffic crisis. Improve public transport, look at congestion tax to reduce cars into S Mumbai, these are just some alternates." Meanwhile, Jangla rebuffs the thug label with a question, "Did we tell others not to raise their voices when infrastructure was coming up near them, if they had concerns?

If I chose to practise my right of free speech in a democracy, while others preferred to remain silent, is it my problem? Some of those who disrupted that public meet screaming 'we want bridge' should have fought for better public transport, rather than shout such slogans."

While things are still simmering in the Peddar Rd pot, Devika Patel of Woodlands building, actually sees some humour and says, "Elitist thugs is a very amusing title. I want to simply ask people, if there is a fire, would there be place for a fire engine to come into our buildings while work on the flyover is on? Or, is it okay that we get burnt alive, because we are, like they say, elite thugs?" she questions sarcastically.

There's no fire, but there's smoke coming out of a lot of ears that no fireman on a fire engine at Peddar Rd or elsewhere can douse.

Highlights
SoBo accused of using clout to stall Peddar Rd project.
Other flyovers were allowed in Mumbai, why not this one?
Elite thuggery claim flyover supporters.
Flyover protestors say it is not money but right of expression.
Terming it war between have and have nots, designed to divide.