A Few, Harsh Reality Bites

IN America or Europe, the city is typically occupied by the young while the older generation with children who are growing up opts for larger spaces in the suburbs. Later, the same people, after being through with familial responsibilities, return to the city. Not so in Bombay. Given the city's geography, no one who works in the city and has a reasonable accommodation cares to move out. That's also because Bombay suburbia is yet to develop as an independent entity—it's still an extension of the city.

Old Bombay residents feel that those in charge of the city have heartlessly let the city grow wild and unfettered for vested, personal interests. Ditto what is happening in the suburbs. If the city and the suburbs put on brightly-painted smiles, it only covers up a lot left to be desired. "You don't get a half-acre plot or comfortable bungalow in a trade-off for living further away from the city," explains Rahul Mehrotra, architect. Living in the suburbs didn't really work out cheaper as some people found out. Commuting is a major expense. And essential items tend to be as expensive as the city, sometimes more so.

Even if the suburbs are well-connected to the city by rail and buses, the increasing traffic volume needs more relief. Suburban trains already carry upto 4,000 passengers each during peak hours against their capacity of 2,600. More than 3,500 BEST buses ply on 431 routes transporting 45 lakh people everyday.

Maybe one way out would be to develop the waterways to connect the city to the suburbs, a concept which has been ignored. Few hovercraft ply from the city to New Bombay and the north-western suburbs. But expensive tickets (a one-way ticket from Bombay to New Bombay costs Rs 125) and limited frequency have reduced it to a once-in-a-blue-moon trip.

Says V.K.N Nayar, editor of Vashi Times and a resident of Vashi: "Each of New Bombay's 22 nodes could do with further development but I am happy that Vashi is among the most developed ones, housing almost everything needed for its residents living on its 355 hectares." If steps are not taken in the right direction—better planning—the suburbs will continue to grow in the image of the city. Already, Greater Bombay (the city, suburbs and extended suburbs) supports over 10 million people. Just how long before the bubble bursts?

WRITE STUFF: There is such a lot of buying power in the suburbs that the city dailies have all launched area-specific supplements to tap the advertising potential. Carol Andrade of 'The Times of India' says readers here want more than the macro picture provided by the mainstream newspapers.

PARKS ARE FLYING: No hope of getting into snooty Bombay Gym? Not to worry. There is Club Aquaria in Borivli. And Club House in Vashi. And Green Court in Mira Road. Jyoti Ganguly of Aquaria says facilities are so good even downtown Mumbaikars come over on the weekends.

ROLL MODELS: When suburban Mumbaikars had to watch a movie, they had to go all the way to town. So Shravan and Rajesh Shroff decided to start cineplexes in the suburbs. First Cinemax opened in Goregaon and then Cinestar in Kandivli, both with state-of-the-art sound and projection that has city-slickers all envious.