Vinod Mathew

SUBASH Saha looks barely 18 though he claims to be 24 years old. He has been driving an autorickshaw in Mumbai during night hours for the past six years. Which means he could have started driving either at 12 or 18. In all probability, the truth would be that he started off ferrying passengers on Mumbai streets when 14 or 15.

In and around Mumbai, you just cannot miss these youngsters who ply the autorickshaws only during the night hours. No, these boys do not go to school or college during the day and make a living during the night. Saha sleeps through the daytime so that he can become a cog in the machine that runs Mumbai's nightlife.

Saha, like many others, is from some remote part of Bihar and has made the cut as a `night driver' in an autorickshaw hired out to an older or pucca driver during daytime. He pays Rs 150 as daily rent to the owner and gets to drive the autorickshaw between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

At one level, such double shifts that make room for more people to come into Mumbai can be termed brilliant improvisation — something that goes hand in glove with the ethos of the city. They also add to the burgeoning slums, where almost 60 per cent of the city's population now dwell.

The numbers overwhelmingly prove why the politicians almost always side with slum-dwellers and blink their eyes at unauthorised constructions whenever the issues get tricky. The judiciary-initiated Ulhas Nagar demolitions that the Maharashtra Government dexterously short-circuited by way of an ordinance is a case in point.

Surely, there is no slum-dwellers' interests that the State Government needs to protect in building a flyover across the crowded Pedder Road, a project that has been given the technical feasibility nod by IIT, Mumbai. Yet, it is on hold at an emotional level, with public figures who reside in the area, led by the redoubtable Lata Mangeshkar, raising the pitch in asserting that such a facility would not be in sync with their wishes.

For them, peace of mind can prevail only by maintaining the status quo. And that means tens of thousands of vehicles crawling up and down their way each day en route the business district of South Mumbai.

It is another matter that a similar project has already been successfully executed to ease traffic to and from South Mumbai — the JJ Flyover.

Talking of providing infrastructure support to business districts, Singapore has led the way, levying a congestion charge to dissuade individuals from driving to work in busy areas. The toll thus collected is diverted to strengthening its public transport system. The system has been working wonderfully well.

The London initiative is more recent and can, at best, only be described as a mixed bag. The mayor of London, Mr Ken Livingstone, who introduced congestion charge for those driving into the city on Thames in 2003, is now considering an improved version, including variable and higher rates and also expanding the extent of the `congested' area.

Says Mr Abraham George, currently on holiday in India and whose daily routine involves travelling from Surrey to Central London, where he works for the UK Government: "I have been driving to London for work for the past 17 years. I did not budge when the 25 pound-a-week congestion charge was introduced a couple of years back. But now the Mayor plans to raise it to 40 pounds a week. So, I identified a good bus service that would cost me only eight pounds a week. Once back home, I will be taking the bus daily to work".

Other cities such as New York are considering such a move to decongest their business and financial hubs. Will the Mumbai administration ever think of levying such a charge from those travelling into its business district?

Surely, any such toll could raise significant revenue for improving public transport in the city. And those who insist on driving to the business capital may gladly pay or get their employers to pay on their behalf.

Getting the city cabbies or their passengers to cough up, say, an additional Rs 50 per trip to Nariman Point could, however, be fraught with problems. Such issues do not worry Saha as autorickshaws are, even otherwise, not allowed beyond Bandra. He is off looking for the big ride of the night that will take him into the far-off suburbs and not towards the city.

The closure of the `dance bars' notwithstanding, the city still has a lot of nightlife and revellers collapse into a taxi or an autorickshaw for the long drive home.

And who says there are no more dance bars, quips Saha, before vrooming off to prowl the Mumbai streets once again.

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