I was travelling through ‘CBD Belapur’ yesterday and suddenly remembered that CBD stood for ‘Central Business District’. The place is a realistic reconstruction of how Daulatabad would have looked after Tughlaq deserted it to return to Delhi. There are broad roads with no traffic, flyovers where no congestion could possibly be expected, and infrastructure with no buildings.
These brand new ruins are of the new downtown – the ‘New Bombay’ that was supposed to take pressure off Bombay’s Central Business district. But no offices have moved there. These Bombayites must actually love congestion and crowds no?
Actually, the planners made the fundamental mistake a software product maker can make – not having a migration plan, in this case, literally.
When offices shift, employees cannot move all at once and find new homes right? They have to be able to commute from their original homes (Yes -New Bombay has excellent residential facilities – even then) In Bombay, this means a train link. Unfortunately that is not available.
So the ‘Central Business District’ is deserted. Vashi has essentially developed as a residential locality, with more people commuting to Bombay everyday. This is how the best laid plans of men mice and governments go wrong.
The best laid roads of governments however, are doing pretty ok. The lovely Bombay-Pune expressway is an example of how things can go right – sometimes.