Wishing and hoping...

Pheroze I havenrsquot seen you look this spiffy since our awards night But I am glad to see yoursquove dressed up for New Yearrsquos Everdquo remarked Lady Flora hoping her friend would return the compliment He didldquoThe moonrsquos afterglow is making you look like a movie starrdquo he smiled shyly acknowledging his friendrsquos appearance Suitably happy both Bombayphiles decided to head down towards their favourite vantage point from the Cathedralmdashtowards Apollo Bunder where the Gateway was looking like a stunning jewel in the silhouette drawn by the near full moonldquoShouldnrsquot we quickly get cracking to curate one of our most fun things that I wait for all yearmdashthe wish list for 2024rdquo exclaimed Lady Flora ldquoI have heard that terms like lsquowork listrsquo that are being suggested by important and powerful people so I am not sure if we should prepare a wish list or a work listrdquo asked Sir PM hoping his friend would find a solution which she mostly didLady Flora gave her friendrsquos statement a long hard thought and replied ldquoWe can make it a good mix of bothmdashwhat we wish for and what can actually be worked uponrdquo Sir PM liked the idea and both put their heads together to get the list ready Here is their final listgtgt Breathe again We hope that the civic authorities treat the rising air pollution levels as a serious problem and approach experts and also refer to success stories in other cities There needs to be stricter fines on serial offenders especially when it comes to dump yards and construction sites This new concern is here to stay gone are the days when would poohpooh Delhi about their annual scenario Buckle up Bombay Pleasegtgt Spare us the nonroads More than half the city is dug up thanks to the unplanned coming together of infrastructure projects Can some bodyplatform come to our rescue to ensure we are spared of countless inexplicable craters and obstructions of every conceivable size and shape each time we are on the roadgtgt Remember the pedestrian Itrsquos been another year of destroying our footpaths and pavements This newspaper has been at the forefront of reporting on several unfortunate accidents Poor Pheroze too very nearly missed his footing while walking down DN Road thank god for the nearby tree that ensured he didnrsquot meet with a nasty accidentgtgt After the big fat elections Our netas are back to working at some speed to ensure major plans and projects are ready in time for the civic and general elections But what about after that Walk the talk dear neta and donrsquot disappear after your win Promises must be fulfilledgtgt Flooded with cluelessness Wersquove lost track of the number of times when Bombaywallahs have been at the receiving end of the apathy and lack of longterm solutions when it comes to annual floodingWhy cannot our babus and their large teams work in sync with the politicians to save our city from this annual trauma Last year was awful since due to lack of civic elections accountability nosedived and we had to literally pray to the gods not the rain gods to keep us afloatgtgt Art culture whatrsquos that The cultural scene was woefully lacking a solid thrust Barring the existing festivals and the odd visiting stellar exhibition there was little effort to revive or introduce new spaces and ideas Apart from the big glitzy one in BKC little else emerged to support the arts and culture communities Corporations should work in tandem with the authorities because not enough is coming from Indiarsquos financial capital that once boasted of its philanthropist spiritgtgt We like the colour green In the last year once again environmentalists were shouting from the rooftops to help save our paltry few and hence critical green patches these are our guardians from climate change that is already affecting the cityrsquos weather patterns Tighter rules and regulations ought to be the norm rather than the exception be it our mangroves the evergrowing drain called Mithi River SGNP and Aarey Thane Creek and countless other precious locations that need our protectiongtgt Redevelopment rethink Not every lsquooldrsquo building needs to be pulled down to make way for a tower Sadly the city seems to be quickly metamorphosing into a uniform landscape of such unimaginative towers Most of the eastern and western suburbs now look like replicas of each other There are ways and means to conserve existing buildings using experts and informed architects Ask residents of some of the buildings that form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Art Deco cluster that faces Oval Maidan about how they successfully and sensitively preserved their nearly centuryold buildingsldquoI am a tad worried that wersquove overshot the word count our creator Ms Bombayana will be in a bind so we should stop right hererdquo signed Lady Flora Sir PM nodded ldquoAgree itrsquos a bumper edition so we should be considerate Now itrsquos over to the powers that be to get cracking and make it their work listrdquo he smiledmiddayrsquos Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the cityrsquos sights sounds smells and stoneswherever the ink and the inclination takes her She tweets bombayanaSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom