Large Scale Migrations to Mumbai

My father himself is migrated from MadhyaPradesh to Mumbai, Maharashtra 55 years back. And he progressed here in Mumbai. He put a lot of efforts to make us (his daughters) progress. So, this is a sensitive issue for me. Because human being will naturally gravitate towards where he sees signs of his progress. Hence almost 8 to 10 years back, there was a debate to develop small villages or to develop existing cities as smart cities. For some reason, people preferred "smart cities" over "developed villages". So migrating to smart cities is a natural and obvious option to unemployment and poverty in villages. Migration also depends upon how a person perceives his "progress". Some perceive progress through "academic means". Some perceive progress through "financial means". Some perceive progress through "artistic means". When it comes to migrating to Mumbai, migration is mainly to achieve "financial means". My father is also not an exception. He and his family were in extreme financial crunch back in MadhyaPradesh. Today I can not imagine, if my father was not allowed entry in Mumbai, how he and his family would have survived. How our life would have shaped? So, my opinion in this matter is, first we should develop the villages in India and then restrict the entries to Mumbai to certain extent. I am sure, it will take tens of years. But if we keep the goal, we can achieve it. Once villages are developed, we can allow entries to cities by merit or skills in future. People who want to build the farms or want to be close to the beaches can find their places in India. Ideally, we should identify, what each city is famous for. We should rank it. For example, multiple cities should be famous for cultivating education, arts, sports, nature, industry. And they should be diversified across India. At present, Mumbai is famous for almost every aspect above. If we specialize Mumbai say "only for education", and migrate the other aspects somewhere else or develop a higher ranking "sports", "arts", "industry" somewhere else, the "cream of Mumbai" in that particular area will migrate to that place. And once the "cream" migrates, the other people will also migrate following them. In my experience, currently "Cream of Mumbai" either migrate abroad or they prefer to live in Mumbai itself. So we cannot expect the rest of the population to migrate. Indian weather across the country is a major hurdle in migrating across anywhere else in India. And apart from weather, the other basic necessities like Water, Electricity, Mobile network, Roads/Railways, Healthcare and Education plays a major role in migration. When it comes to weather, we can target developing the entire coastal area of India. Develop it by still preserving the coastal area's natural beauty. The temperature in the coastal area is more or less similar to Mumbai. So weather problem is sorted out. Coastal area is also not going to face "Water crisis", because it rains heavily there. The remaining facilities like "electricity", "networking (mobile, buses, railway)" , "healthcare" and "education" need to be provided for large populations to migrate here.

The Rising Slums Issue:

Build a complete city/village and grow with the city/village to get a permanent place in the city/village. The work of building a city/village will keep going for 10 to 15 years or so. Meanwhile the migrated skilled people will find stability doing the work (like painting, flooring/tiling, plumbing, electric wiring, gardening, glass-work for windows, grills for windows and doors etc.). Their wife and children too can find stability with them. Their efforts and money to go back and forth to their hometown to meet their wife and children, will be saved. And they can enjoy with their family in the newly built city/village. They will be able to educate their children in a stable environment for 10 to 15 years. They will build their rapport in the newly developed city/village. Since the city/village is coming up newly, the cost of living is low and affordable. With the same money, they get better household, better living standards. The current problem of people living in slums, is due to not finding any other large scale/long term project elsewhere. I, being a Mumbai resident for quite sometime, used to think why there are no more facilities built up elsewhere? Especially when I visited the large "Konkan" area of India, I explicitly thought, why this entire area being so beautiful, yet so under-developed? Why the target is to develop "Mumbai only" ? However congested it is ... Over a period of time, I am following Indian thinking. And the problem I think is "Indians started loving 'glamour' more than simplicity and genuine beauty" ... "Glamour" is the reason why people follow "Bollywood stars" more than "scientists" in India... "Glamour" is the reason why people prefer "cities" over "villages" ... I think it is the combination of "uneducation+media+impatience", which plays a role over here. Why impatience? Because, people do not have patience to develop a new facility these days. Any new venture takes some time to come into shape. People need to ask for what they want and keep patience until it is developed. The demand for new facilities should come from "people" and should be fulfilled by "people" ... When my father was deployed in Vashi for his job, it was an underdeveloped area. He kept patience for 55 years. And now Vashi is the area most sought after for living. So, it may require tens of years to build a city or a village. But it is a "prize worth waiting for"

NOTE: No weather and water problem near Himalay too