Arbit Raj

Recently Mumbaikars would have read about the power crisis in Maharashtra and how finally it may start affecting the situation in Mumbai. Until now, Mumbai has enjoyed an insulated existence. Even in the extended suburbs of Mumbai there's load shedding for a few hours everyday. Once you go further away the situation is quite bad. There are industrial estates run by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), where units have turned sick solely because of the lack of sufficient power supply. No unit can run on a diesel generator forever. Operating costs will hit the company so badly that it will not be too soon before the owner decides to shut down. In small towns and villages there are scheduled power cuts. Take it or leave it. That's the way you will get electricity supply.

Set me thinking. Why is it that Mumbai should get preferential treatment? Are the lives of people any more important than the lives of people living out of Mumbai?

Recently I read a book called "Ecology and Equity" which talks about the "Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India" (as the title page says). It was an illuminating book with deep insights into how systematically ecology has been damaged in India with short-sighted policies and apathy. It talked quite harshly about people living in urban agglomerations as "omnivores". In the book's context it was a metaphor for unlimited consumption. It describes how power projects are set up with utter disregard for the local people and the environment. Rehabiliation packages are promised, but they fail to be implemented. Sensitive local eco-systems are pushed into jeopardy. And who is this power for? The vast urban spreads, that are like cancer, always thirsty for more, eventually destroying the host body.

Specifically, the book talks about the case of the Koyna hydroelectric power project. It describes how the project was envisaged to meet the growing requirements of cities in Western Maharashtra. But the irony of it was that the villages in proximity to the Koyna dam were languishing in the dark, without the same comforts, that a steady supply of electricity afforded the cities. How does it feel to know that?

I say, bring on the load-shedding. Let the people of Mumbai learn to sweat it out a bit too. Time to get out of your cosy and sheltered existence.

No more should some be more equal than others.