The demolition of the 112-year old road over bridge (ROB) at Sion in Mumbai has been postponed once again. The precarious condition of the bridge had prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to begin pulling down the bridge in January this year. Now, the crucial work can start only after 20 May, the day of polling in Mumbai.
Could this eventuality be avoided?
The police department and the BMC were ready to go ahead but the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) announced for the coming Lok Sabha election has caused the postponement. Like all other roads in Mumbai, the Sion ROB is used by lakhs of motorists daily. It is an important link that connects areas like Sion, Dharavi, Dadar, Chunabhatti and BKC with eastern suburbs and roads like Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, the Eastern Express Highway and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road. Demolition of this ROB will enable the railways to carry out their line expansion work but inconvenience numerous road users. The condition of the old bridge, however, has been causing concern and hence it demolition is planned. The stoppage due to MCC, thus raises many questions. If the original demolition plan were to be implemented, the work would have been over just before the monsoon’s arrival. But that January deadline was first extended to February and finally to 28 March. The job will be over in six months and another 18 months will be needed for its reconstruction. Which means, for two years from the date of demolition, there will be no road available. Undoubtedly, this will result in untold misery to the general public as precious time and fuel will be just wasted due to the detours involved in that situation. Meanwhile, people will continue to use the ROB till at least 20 May. What is the guarantee that nothing untoward will happen in case there is any damage to the bridge? It needs to be noted that the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) had raised grave concerns about the bridge as it found it to be unsafe due to its deteriorating overall condition.
Sensing the urgency, the demolition and reconstruction plans were prepared. But the MCC announced by the Election Commission (EC) is cited as the reason for withholding the plans. The moot question is : who will pay for the delay?
Consider another instance in the light of this decision. On Thursday, the EC asked the government to stop delivering WhatsApps messages about ‘Viksit Bharat’, sending it a notice after opposition parties complained that the letter containing the message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated rules. Citing the MCC, the opposition leaders had slammed the government for violating the it and appealed to the ECI for action against the ruling party.
The MCC is a set of norms evolved with consultations with different political parties over the years. Conceding the need for free and fair elections, most parties consented to observe the MCC in letter and spirit. The EC ensures that it is followed by both, the parties and their candidates. One aspect of the MCC is that official machinery is not misused by the ruling party to impact the election results. The fiat against Viksit Bharat is the latest example of this provision and its implementation.
The MCC is enforced from the date of announcement of an election and remains in operation till the process of election is completed. By and large, it is a couple of days after the verdict is announced.
The MCC is not enforceable by law. However, certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Representation of the People Act. The EC had argued against making the MCC legally binding. Its stand was that elections must be completed within a relatively short time (as far as possible within 45 days). As judicial proceedings may take longer, it is not feasible to make it enforceable by law. On the other hand, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended making the MCC legally binding. In a report, the Committee observed that most provisions of the MCC are already enforceable through corresponding provisions in other statutes, listed above. It recommended that the MCC be made a part of the Representation of the People Act, instead to give it teeth.
Coming to the Sion imbroglio, the EC has rejected arguments that the MCC brings governance to a halt during polls. It has reiterated that it only bars governments from announcing new projects and schemes during the period. The EC explained to the Law Commission that as and when government departments approach it with ‘references’ to clear proposals and schemes during poll time, it takes a fast decision understanding the urgency involved.
The urgency issue and other problems concerning the MCC were elaborately discussed at a meeting between the EC and the Commission some years ago when they met to discuss the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The EC was of the view that the MCC did not bring governance to a halt. It said the MCC only bars announcement and launch of new schemes and projects so that voters are not unduly influenced by the ruling party. It also told the law panel that “it works with alacrity” when government departments seek its permission to go ahead with certain decisions during model code period. It said several ‘references’ are received by it and it tries to dispose most on them in a time-bound manner.
As the EC’s stand regarding the MCC is clear, it is now the duty of the BMC to explain if it had made any attempts to persuade the Commission to allow it to begin the demolition work. If it did not approach the EC, the BMC must give out the reasons for not doing it so. Especially when several roads all over Mumbai have been dug up for repairs and traffic jams have become the order of the day. Sadly, no elected representative nor any media person has found it imperative to question the BMC for this serious lapse.
Rather than leaving lakhs of people to fend for themselves, the BMC and the Maharashtra government can even now make efforts to provide the much-need relief to Mumbaikars and discharge their sacred duty.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
