Everybody wants to come to Mumbai : Dr Pasricha

Mumbai, Sep 20 (UNI) The growth of Mumbai city from an Island to being the financial capital of the country is not only astonishing, it is remarkable and everybody wants to come to Mumbai city because it is the centre of gravity, says Dr P S Pasricha, Director General of Police, Maharashtra.

''This great city is sinking under its own weight. It has a population of millions of people, out of which six-seven million are living in slums,'' said Dr Pasricha today at NCPA in Mumbai at the launch of the book ''Mumbai Vision 2015: Agenda for Urban Renewal'' edited by R Swaminathan and Jaya Goyal.

According to the book, Mumbai is a city of stark contrasts.

On the one hand, the city pays Rs 58,000 crores as income tax and on the other, it is the city with an estimated 60 per cent of its population languishing in slums and in conditions described by the United Nations as ''inhuman''. It is also a city that harbours ambitions of rubbing shoulders with the best cities of the world.

It is in this context that ''Mumbai Vision 2015: Agenda for Urban Renewal'' has been written. Mumbai is not Shanghai for that matter.

It need not construct and deconstruct itself as a replica of any city. The city has unique problems and more importantly, it has enough people to solve these problems.

The book comprises 23 articles covering economy, transport, energy, environment and education, which examine and suggest ways of finding ''solutions to the problems plaguing the city''. It gives policy makers a road map to understand a complex and growing Mumbai.

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