Even as Dilli and the rest of the country mulls over a recent World Bank report that many Indian cities will run dry by 2020, Mumbaikars already have got a whiff of what's in store

Mumbai's water woes

Even as Dilli and the rest of the country mulls over a recent World Bank report that many Indian cities will run dry by 2020, Mumbaikars already have got a whiff of what's in store.

The decision of the Maharashtra government of not providing water to new high rise buildings in Mumbai until 2012 puts a dampener on many real estate developer's plans, but Dilli hasn't yet opted to go this way.

According to the World Bank study, among Asian cities, Dilli and Chennai have the worst record in terms of water availability per day, while Mumbai appears second on the list.

The move has once again focussed attention on Mumbai's perennial water crisis. The government may feel that it has acted 'decisively' in dealing with the crisis, but by linking the ban to the completion of three key water supply projects, it may have just upped the stakes in what inevitably is a long-term problem.

Road fever

The cover has been finally blown in the bus mishap story. Dilli's tryst with low-floor buses seems to have run into some of its fabled potholes after a rapid sequence of mishaps, including some buses that caught fire while plying their routes. Besides the excitement caused on the city streets, the aftermath has been equally riveting.
One particular explanation trotted out to douse public ire, in fact, created more hungama than the manufacturers, the Tatas, expected.

Apparently these state-of-the art public vehicles are not meant to ply on bad roads, which rules out the whole of India!

Following these enlightening exchanges between the government and the manufacturers, bus commuters are now mulling the idea that the mishaps were perhaps karmic payback for aspiring and riding superior buses they clearly don't deserve!u00a0

Widely regarded as India's 'Image Guru', Dilip Cherian is a lobbyist, celebrity creator and tycoon watcher. He currently parties on a 24/7 schedule that mixes cities, nixes bores, and analyses Dilli. Follow him on Twitter @dilipthecherian