Tag: Praja Foundation

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Mumbai becoming unsafe every year

Latest White Paper on law and order in Mumbai by Praja Foundation reveals huge spike in crime, low policing effort.
by the Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Maximum city is in the grip of maximum crime. And understaffed, under-motivated cops are adding to the problem.

A White Paper released by the city-based Praja Foundation today, November 25, confirms some extremely grim findings that most Mumbaikars had probably already suspected. Apart from crimes against women and children increasing, there is a serious lack of policing, the Paper finds. The survey was conducted with a sample size of 22,580 respondents in Mumbai for the period 2013-2014, across all strata of society, of which 32 per cent confessed that they did not feel safe in Mumbai any more. An astonishing 65 per cent of respondents confessed to witnessing a crime of the nature of an accident, theft, murder, or rape.

92 per cent of those charge-sheeted have got away scot free. Overall, the conviction rate remains at 22 per cent. Currently the city has a sanction of 41,643 personnel, but only 37,159 are working as of now, a shortfall of almost 11 per cent.

Among those who witnessed a crime, 44 per cent have faced a crime themselves.

Extremely serious realities

As per the White Paper:

– There is 47% increase in rape cases and 52% increase in molestation

– North Central Mumbai has highest rate of registered crime

– There is 8% conviction rate in Class II serious offences

– There has been a 66% rise in chain snatching cases

– There has been a 17% increase in cases of housebreaking

– There were 1854 accidental railway deaths in Mumbai

As per a press released issued today, Praja said, “Disturbing crime statistics reveal that Mumbai is in urgent need of change in the area of law enforcement. The city is fast becoming an extremely unsafe place to live in. Recently released reports by Praja suggest that a combination of low conviction rates and high levels of understaffing in the police force have resulted in the crumbling of law and order in Mumbai. Although conviction rates in Class II serious offences (cases involving bodily harm, murder, rape, grievous hurt, kidnapping, abduction etc.) improved slightly from 7 per cent in 2012 to 8 per cent in 2013, they are still very less. 92 per cent of those charge-sheeted have got away scot free. Overall, the conviction rate remains at 22 per cent. This is a low figure. To maintain law and order in the city, it is imperative that these figures rise. Low conviction rates lead to thriving crime and, consequently, an unsafe city.”

From L to R- T N Srividya, Nitai Mehta, Milind MhaskeNitai Mehta, Founder and Managing Trustee of Praja Foundation, said, “Crime has flourished all over the State’s capital, and we must question why there has been such a sharp rise, despite having a police force that is honour-bound to protect the citizens.” Perturbing figures have emerged for the North Mumbai (Borivali, Dahisar, Malad West) area, which recorded the highest number of chain snatching incidents (487 incidents, an increase of 84 per cent) in 2013-14. 44 per cent of the respondents find North Mumbai an unsafe area to live in. North Mumbai figures show that, since most of them called the police helpline numbers of 100/103 etc. (65 per cent), which are manned by a distressingly understaffed Control Room (deficit of 47 per cent personnel), many of the complaints failed to be registered appropriately.”

Milind Mhaske, Project Director of Praja, argued, “There is obviously an urgent need to upgrade and increase staff in the Control Room, so that cases get the attention they deserve and crime does not go unreported”. This can, perhaps, go to explain why there are high instances of crimes such as chain snatching and house breaking in Mumbai. Mhaske added, “In 2013-14, chain snatching has gone up by 66 per cent; theft, by 19 per cent, Rioting, by 8 per cent. These are the crimes that really affect people’s perception of the city. And that perception is that, currently, Mumbai is not the safe and secure place that it once was.”

On the whole, however, North Central Mumbai (Vile Parle, Kurla, Bandra) remains the area where registered crime is most rampant, with 734 cases of housebreaking, 1598 cases of theft and 819 cases of vehicle theft. Nitai Mehta said, “Understaffing and multiplicity of tasks in the Mumbai Police Force is compromising investigation and thereby leading to low conviction rates. A fully manned force will mean that the officers handling criminal cases will focus solely on these investigations, rather than being called on to man roadblocks and performing bandobast duties. Consequently, cases that make their way to the courts will be watertight and there will be an assurance that the guilty will be convicted”.

Currently the city has a sanction of 41,643 personnel, but only 37,159 are working as of now, a shortfall of almost 11 per cent. Due to the huge gap between sanctioned and available IOs (Investigating Officers), investigations have not been conducted in an organised manner. Mhaske contended, “A study of acquitted cases shows that the chief reason for acquittal has been ‘lack of evidence’. This, in turn, showcases the performance of the IO, the public prosecutor and the lack of coordination between the two.”

Summing up, Mehta said, “Priority must be given to training and staffing the police force so that it is strong enough to handle the crises a large and populated city like Mumbai throws at it. Issues related to crime and its curtailment must be a regular topic of deliberations. MLAs must be constantly engaged with the citizens as well as the police force to keep a diligent eye on the law and order situation in the city. Only then will Mumbai become a safe and peaceful city to live in”.

(Featured image courtesy www.thegoan.net. Picture is used for representational purpose only)

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‘Free housing’ will not benefit Mumbai: Study

Praja Foundation’s White Paper on Mumbai’s housing situation reveals a multitude of slums, homeless people and a complete lack of planning.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

In the recently held Assembly elections in Maharashtra, all the political parties acknowledged that one of the main problems that Mumbai faces is ‘Housing’. Governments in the past, including the current Government, have all come to power promising the citizens of Mumbai solutions to this problem.

The Special Township Policy, Cluster Redevelopment and Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, among others, are all projects which the Government has put forward; but unfortunately, these have not delivered much for the citizens of Mumbai – 52 lakh Mumbaikars still stay in slums!

Releasing its first White Paper on ‘Status of Affordable Housing in Mumbai’, Nitai Mehta, Managing Trustee, Praja Foundation said, “Praja through its ‘Praja Dialogue’ project has been engaging the citizens, the elected representatives and the Government on issues that concern the citizens of Mumbai. Education, health, crime, civic issues and working of the elected representatives are the topics on which we engage with them. This year we are adding ‘Affordable Housing’ to this list.”

Affordable housing is one of the most important issues faced by Mumbai and Mumbaikars, and it is also the most complex and challenging problem of this city.

What the study finds

As per the Praja White Paper:

– 11.36 lakh households stay in slums in Mumbai, out of a total of 28 lakh households

– 15,274 homeless households

– 57 per cent households live in one room

– 8 per cent households do not even have one room, but share a room with others

– Only 203,624 units of public housing were created between the year 1995-2014

– Average cost of a 269 sq. ft. house (at minimum ready reckoner rate) is 12 times the median annual income of Mumbaikars, whereas the norm is that it should be less than four times the annual income.

Milind Mhaske, Project Director, Praja Foundation added, “The political-social-industry discourse to solve the problem of housing revolves around two extremes: one, provide free or hugely subsidised houses and second, increase FSI (Floor Space Index) thus increasing supply and rationalising costs. Since 1995 about 203,624 lakh affordable houses have been added to the stock, whereas we need atleast 11.57 lakhs houses as of today. This estimate does not even take into account the future requirements. Clearly, ‘free’ housing schemes are not providing the remedy.”

Explaining why increasing FSI (Floor Space Index), i.e. building more dwellings on the existing land is a very flawed and lop-sided solution, well known town planner and one of the earliest proponents of ‘Navi Mumbai’, Shirish Patel says, “Proponents of higher FSI in Mumbai are not taking into account aspects of density, crowding and its impact on quality of life. Increasing FSI and building more dwellings translates into need for more amenities such as road space, open spaces, educational institutions, health care facilities, work spaces and so on; and this calls for more land. Thus, if more land is provided you end up again diluting the FSI or if not provided, then you end up cramping more people in the same space without any concern for infrastructure and amenities.”

(Pictures courtesy Praja Foundation and upload.wikimedia.org)

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More Mumbaikars think sitting MLAs were corrupt

Praja Foundation’s survey based on the October 15 State Assembly polls reveals people’s perceptions about incumbent MLAs and their parties.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Assembly 2014 verdict for Maharashtra is already out, with the BJP securing the most numbers of seats in 2014’s second consecutive election in Maharashtra (after the Lok Sabha polls). Numerous exit polls had already predicted this result, with such factors as anti-incumbency and a purported ‘Modi wave’ doing the rounds.

However, the Praja Foundation and Hansa Research has just revealed a survey which shows why Mumbaikars could have voted the way they did. It turns out that as per data mapped over the years 2011 to 2014, there is a 17 per cent increase in Mumbaikars rating their sitting MLA as ‘corrupt’. This could be fuelled by the MLAs’ performance, or the lack of it, in such areas as crime, health, education, and civic issues.

As regards health, some Assembly constituencies like Borivali, Magathane, Dahisar and Vikhroli have performed consistently poorly in areas of control, prevention and deaths related to malaria, diarrhoea, tuberculosis and dengue. These constituencies, apart from Chembur and Colaba, also feature under the ‘Crime’ category, having done poorly in the areas of murder, crimes against women, chain snatching and rioting.

Mumbaikars have also logged in more complaints on civic issues every year since 2011, with there being a 13 per cent increase in the numbers of people saying their quality of life has decreased in Mumbai.

These are the worst performing Assembly constituencies across all categories, as per the survey:

(Picture courtesy indianexpress.com)

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Are these Mumbai’s best MLAs?

Praja Foundation rankings for 32 Mumbai MLAs put BJP’s Yogesh Sagar in top spot, followed by the Congress’ Amin Patel.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai is well out of the Lok Sabha election fervour, but in a few days, when the Election Code of Conduct sets in prior to the Assembly Elections later this year, the city will once again reel from election fever.

Before a new Government is elected, however, city-based Praja Foundation deemed it fit to release a ‘scorecard’ for the 32 city-based MLAs. Mumbai elects 36 MLAs in every Assembly, however, since four of the current MLAs are ministers in the current State Government, they were excluded from the ratings.

The findings revealed that 68 per cent people who voted positively for their MLA thought they were less corrupt; while 53 per cent people who voted against their MLA felt they were corrupt.

Releasing the Report Card, Nitai Mehta, Founder Trustee, Praja, said, “The current report card is going to be the last for the 12th Assembly and fourth in the series. This report card which we publish every year gives the citizens, elected representatives, political parties and the Government valuable feedback on the functioning of the elected representatives. We hope that it will set standards and benchmarks for the performance of the elected representatives.”

The number one MLA this year, too, has been the previous two years’ topper, Yogesh Sagar of the BJP. Also retaining their ranks from last year are Amin Patel of INC on second position and Madhukar Chavan, again from INC, on third position.

Rating methodology

The MLAs have been rated on four quantitative parameters and three qualitative perception-based parameters: 1) Quality of questions asked in the assembly, 2) Number of questions asked, 3) Attendance, 4) Clean criminal record 5) Perceived least corrupt 6) Perceived accessibility for the public from relevant constituency, and 7) Perceived performer for the constituency.

Said Mehta, “We collected quantifiable data through RTI applications over the year. We also commissioned Hansa Research to do a scientific-statistical survey from among over 22,580 people of Mumbai to gauge the public perception of the MLAs on the above mentioned parameters.”

Milind Mhaske, Project Director, Praja, added, “The appraisal is based on the constitutional role and responsibility of the elected representatives and opinions of their electorate.” The Report Card covers the working and performance of the 32 MLAs during Winter 2012, Budget 2013, Monsoon 2013 and Winter 2013 assembly sessions. It also covers the Local Area Development funds spent by the MLAs for the period between December 2009 and March 2014.

Mehta added, “There is no standard rule for establishing the performance of elected representatives. Voters have voted on traditional factors to expectations or perceptions to ideologies; few have attempted a scientific approach, mainly due to lack of standardised data and the humongous efforts involved. Hence, Praja made its first MLA report card in 2011.”

Changes in rank

Mangesh Sangle, who got the first rank in the 2011 report card dropped to 20th in 2013 because of low attendance and a new charge sheet, then recovered to the 6th position due to improved attendance and consistency in his other parameters. Sardar Tara Singh’s rank has gone down from 3rd in 2011 to 15th in 2012 due to a new charge sheet, then recovered to 10th in 2013 due to increase in overall perception and quality of questions and is now down to 24th due to drop in attendance, questions asked and overall perception.

On the other hand Yogesh Sagar has remained in the top four in all years and number one for the last three years due to his consistent scores in all parameters. Similarly, his party colleague, Prakash Maheta, has remained in the bottom five in all the years. Bala Nandgaonkar who has asked 4933 questions i.e. 12 per cent of all the questions asked by Mumbai MLAs, has had above average ranks but has never been in the top three as asking questions is just one aspect of the gradation system but there are many more parameters on which this system grades performance.

Mhaske shared that 50 per cent MLAs not only have criminal cases registered against them, but some of them are also charge-sheeted and some also have new criminal cases.

In the survey, respondents were asked to comment on whether they will vote for their current MLA and the score was matched with whether they find them to be corrupt. The findings revealed that 68 per cent people who voted positively for their MLA thought they were less corrupt; while 53 per cent people who voted against their MLA felt they were corrupt.

(Featured image courtesy dnaindia.com)

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Is Mumbai the TB capital of the world?

Curable diseases like TB, malaria, dengue, diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid continue to kill several Mumbaikars. So who’s got the solution?
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s the season for illnesses, most of them waterborne. While Mumbai laments the lack of good roads and a bigger lack of cleanliness every monsoon, here’s a report that quantifies the grim state of affairs in the richest city in India, when it comes to prevention and treatment of curable diseases.

As per a white paper released by Praja Foundation, 7,650 Mumbaikars died in the year 2013-2014 due to diseases like tuberculosis, diarrhoea, cholera, malaria, dengue and typhoid. Additionally, tuberculosis alone has claimed 46,606 lives during the last six years in Mumbai.

This high number accounts for 8.55 per cent of all Mumbaikars’ deaths during these six years.

The report says, “Over the last six years, 7,768 people have died from TB every year on an average. TB, if detected early and if the prescribed treatment is taken, is curable. Such a high mortality rate clearly shows that a lot needs to be done and on a war footing if we want to create a healthy Mumbai, else Mumbai may well become the TB capital of the world.”

The report further states that only 34 per cent Mumbaikars use Government and civic hospitals and dispensaries for treatment of the above diseases, while the remaining 66 per cent use private hospitals and charitable trust-run clinics. On an average, Mumbai households spent about 7.9 per cent of their total income on hospital or medical costs in 2014.

Read the entire report on www.praja.org under the section ‘White Papers’.

(Picture courtesy www.hindujagroup.com. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Mumbai population expected to hit 1.48 crore by 2021?

A recently released white paper by the Praja Foundation also predicts that Mumbai’s population will touch 1.55 crore by year 2041.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s a city that continues to grow at a staggering pace, and it also continues to draw people from all over the country. However, how long can Mumbai sustain this pace of population growth?

A recent white paper on the state of Mumbai’s population growth released by Praja Foundation pegs the city’s projected growth at a staggering 1.48 crore in year 2021 and 1.55 crore by year 2021. Going by this rate of population growth, the paper estimates that Mumbai “requires at least 11.1 lakh affordable housing units to be constructed.” The Report recommends that to meet this growth, Mumbai must increase affordable housing, regulate standards for SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority), prioritise and actively promote public transport over private transport, and increase pedestrian-friendly zones, among other measures.

Already densely populated city

Overpopulation in MumbaiPraja Foundation and UDRI (Urban Design Research Institute) have also come out with a handbook – ‘Planning for Mumbai – The Development Plan (DP) for Greater Mumbai 2013-2034’. The handbook mentions the population densities of major metropolitan cities in the world thus: Singapore: 83 persons/ha; New York city: 106 persons/ha; Hong Kong: 64 persons/ha and Mumbai: 270 persons/ha.

When it comes to the availability of open space per person, Mumbai currently affords less than 1.24 square metres per person.

What needs to be done

The report suggests a few ways and means to combat the burgeoning population growth by offsetting it with the availability of open spaces, opportunities to use available open space, preserving the fast-depleting natural resources, etc. It states, “Public spaces such as notified open spaces, water edges, paths, urban squares and plazas shall be sacrosanct and not built upon. Mangroves must be retained in their natural habitats. [There is a need to] protect and enhance all reserved spaces, as well as completely freeze all reservations in the current DP.”

(Pictures courtesy knowledge.allianz.com, jackcollier7.com)

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