The mayor was on a TV Channel yesterday valiantly defending himself & his department in the ensuing blame game. The fact of the matter is that he cannot be blamed because we have put up with his irresponsible acts without a murmur for so long that he and his ilk now think they are GOD.
We have permitted him all his inefficiencies & idiosyncrasies - like giving away pavements to hawkers and forcing people to walk on the carriageway. Our politicians and bureaucrats have elevated themselves to an unreal position and it is now the people who serve them.
The road in front of Writers building is one-way only for us , all official cars drop their masters and go the wrong way. In the evenings these police & other officers need their relaxation so they head for watering holes like CC&FC where again their cars are parked in front of the stretch near the Chief Justice's residence with driver and bodyguard in attendance. The overtime being paid comes from the taxpayer. Police vehicles given to senior officers have tinted glasses which are not legally permitted but then the gods need their privacy.
A lot of facts about the burnt out floors at Stephen Court are now emerging but this will change nothing as the same horror story has been replicated across Kolkata many many times over. The tenants and buyers too are to blame for purchasing or renting properties that are fire traps and then permitting landlords or others to prevent access to parts of the building. However, in fairness to tenants it should be pointed out that it requires a lot of courage to take on the politician-builder-criminal nexus that is behind the infringement of all the building laws in West Bengal.
So what can change things - Mamata? Very unlikely.
We ourselves have to change things. We need to start by correcting things that are within our control - like the building we live in.
