I have been surprised by the anger directed towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in recent months; an unending outpouring of rage by people who claim that Bombay is no longer a liveable city. They cite multiple issues while making this ridiculous statement, but one of the biggest appears to be how every street has been dug up by people who have no idea of what they are doing. I don’t take the latter half of that complaint seriously because it is a moot point. No one who has lived in Bombay for more than three months will ever assume that the BMC knows what it’s doing, so how is that relevant?

As for the roads dug up everywhere without any semblance of a plan, that is also untrue because the latest budget explicitly states that a plan exists. I am aware that it doesn’t mean much because creating or announcing plans has always been the only Key Result Area by which BMC employees are evaluated, but at least we know this plan exists even if execution does not. Shouldn’t its presence count for something?