Blame It on Kargil and Colaba

Otherwise, who has ever given a damn in Mumbai about a land scam like Adarsh?

The Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam will most probably see a chief minister going down. There could be a shake up in the armed forces, and, since politicians never go down alone, there will be scapegoats in the bureaucracy too.

That there has been massive corruption and flouting of rules is beyond doubt by now. It is, however, puzzling why anyone is shocked or even surprised. Surely, there is not a single human being in the establishment or media who does not know about land grabbing in Mumbai. It has been going on for decades.
Back in 1982, Chief Minister AR Antulay had to resign for being involved in a cement purchase scam. But, as we all know, even token temporary exile is not necessary now. Why then does poor Ashok Chavan find himself suddenly being shunted out for something as minor as organising a tiny flat for his beloved mother-in-law?

The answer is two words: Colaba and Kargil. The thought that the land was to be given over to Kargil widows automatically takes it to an emotion­al level, no matter how hypocritical it is. Because how many times has anyone in this country ever thought about Kargil widows? The second reason is the location of the society: south Mumbai.

If Adarsh had been located in a suburb of Mumbai, it would have made a single column on page 5 of a newspaper. Television channels wouldn’t even have bothered to run it. Take the case of Ulhasnagar, a dusty suburb in Thane district, about 50 km from south Mumbai. Over 95 per cent of the constructions there, including buildings of the munici­pality and the police station, are illegal. The entire establishment is involved in a massive land grab. How many chief ministers have resigned over this? Zero.

The redevelopment of slums and chawls into skyscrapers is also fertile criminal ground in Mumbai. All the names in the building industry and politics are implicated in it. The underworld is deployed to evict reluctant residents who don’t want to give up their land to builders. Everyone knows it. No chief minister has had to resign over it.

The only effect of the Adarsh scam will be that Kargil will be too dangerous to be of corrupt use anymore. The widows of Kargil will really not care because they know that not using their name is not the equivalent of their getting anything. The politicians will, however, not let go of lucrative south Mumbai. New ingenious ways of grabbing land will be devised. That’s for sure.

About The Author

Haima Deshpande