PPF_housing1_13_A1vertical_TOI_16thApril1950
GREATER BOMBAY INAUGURATION
Image Caption: The Governor of Bombay, Raja Maharaj Singh cutting a tape across the Mahim Causeway to signify the inauguration of Greater Bombay on Saturday.
COLOURFUL CEREMONY AT MAHIM CAUSEWAY
Governor Promises Aid For Suburban Development
With a gleaming pair of silver scissors, the Governor of Bombay, Raja Maharaj Singh, cut a tricolour tape at Mahim
Causeway, Bombay, on Saturday morning, formally to inaugurate Greater Bombay - a city comprising 92 square miles and a population of nearly four millions.
Raja Maharaj Singh, accompanied
by Mr. S. K. Patil, now the Mayor
of Greater Bombay, and the Minister
for Local Self-Government, Mr. G.
D. Vartak, then walked across a
massive archway erected on the
fringe of the old city limits to
signify the merger of the suburbs,
with the State metropolis.
Greater Bombay was already the
premier city in India, the Governor
declared, and was destined to be the
premier city in Asia. The inauguration of Greater Bombay was indeed
a historic occasion - an occasion
which came only once in a life time.
TAX ON SUBURBANITES
Suburbanites. who packed the
Bandra Municipal Council Hall a
little while later, cheered Raja
Maharaj Singh as he assured them
that their taxes would not be enhanced for the next 12 months,
though subsequently, the level of
taxation would become uniform
throughout Greater Bombay.
The Governor also announced that
the Government of Bombay would
give "liberal financia] aid," thanks
to Mr. Vartak, to the Greater. Bombay Municipal Corporation for the
specific purpose of developing the
Suburban zone. The grant would
amount initially to Rs. one crore, in
addition to all the grants that were
at present being given to the suburban municipalities and other local
bodies.
Eighteen new Councillors representing the suburban local bodies
will take their seats in the Greater
Bombay Corporation, side by side
with the existing 117 members, on
May 5.
SMALL LOCAL BODIES
Raja Maharaj Singh said that the
rapid growth of the City of Bombay
and the absence of space for expansion and for the clearance of
slums in the city proper, and the
growing demand of the suburbs for
a better water supply, fire-fighting
machinery and other amenities enjoyed by the city dwellers, had made
the unification of Bombay with the
suburbs imperative and inevitable.
The existence of a number of small
local bodies in the suburbs hitherto
had militated against their proper
development.
It was expected that drainage,
improvement of roads and lighting
and generally the levelling up of
the standard of civic amenities in
the suburban region to that obtaining in the city would cost Rs. five crores.
MUTUAL INTERESTS
The Local Self-Government Minister, Mr. G. D. Vartak, declared
that the creation of Greater Bombay
was the outcome of the realisation
that the interests of the city and
the suburbs were inter-dependent
and bound together. On the one
hand, it would not have been possible for the suburban local bodies
to provide civic amenities on an
adequate scale. On the other hand,
the Bombay Municipal Corporation
would have had to face great problems if it had no means of relieving
the congestion in the city and checking the haphazard development in
the suburbs.
Thus, the "merger" was both in
the interests of the city as well as
the suburbs. The suburbs would
lose a little, but would gain much.
It was perhaps too early now to
say whether the creation of Greater
Bombay was right or wrong; time
alone was the great judge of all
things. But he felt sure that its
verdict would be in favour of the
present step.
Mr. S. K. Patil said: "I am happy that at long last our dreams
have been realised." A move for
the creation of Greater Bombay had
been afoot since 1922, but it had
to wait till the year 1950 to fructify. If the creation of Greater Bombay had been delayed any longer,
"the difficulties facing us would
have been very great."
VILLAGE RESIDENTS' STATUS
Though the Greater Bombay Act
came into force on April 1, certain
administrative difficulties, particularly in regard to the absorption of
the 42 villages, had compelled the
postponement of the inauguration
of Greater Bombay till now, From
today, the residents of the villages -
where civilisation had not yet penetrated for good or for bad - were on
the same footing as the residents
of Hornby Road or Mahatma Gandhi Road.
Mr. Patil declared that every promise given to the suburbanites
would be unfailingly fulfilled. The
people of the suburbs and the villages should never entertain any
misgivings that the advantages
which they hitherto enjoyed would
be taken away under any circumstances. On the other hand, the advantages obtaininig in the city
would be added on to them.
Today, Greater Bombay, in every
respect, had become a premier city,
and it must be the endeavour of all
to see that within their lifetime it
was made the greatest city in the
East. A sum of nearly Rs. five
crores would be spent within the
next few years towards achieving
that end.
NEEDS SATISFIED BY MERGER
Dr. P. A. Dias, President of the
Bandra Municipality, extending a
cordial welcome to Raja Maharaj
Singh, Mr. Vartak and the representatives of Bombay City, said
that the amalgamation or merger
or sub-merger of the suburbs, as it
might be called, augured well for
the future, The humbler parts of
the suburbs were crying for development and their needs could be satisfied-only by the merger.
The occasion was a unique one in
the history not only of the Bandra
Municipality but of all the other
local self-governing institutions that
were today an integral part of the
Greater Bombay Corporation, Dr.
Dias said. The humility and grace
with which the Governor carried
power and the warmth of heart of
Mr. Vartak were indeed solid assurances to the rate-payers of the suburbs that their interests would be
well protected.
Mr. Desai proposed a vote of
thanks.
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