Reclaim the streets. Are you completely nuts?

It is only if you live under a stone or in South Mumbai would you not know about this ridiculous new campaign `Reclaim the Streets’. You can read a glowing self congratulatory report here.

I am totally disgusted, angry and cannot for the life of me understand the logic of this campaign.

For all under the stone dwellers and ignoramus South Mumbai kars, this is a new initiative that has been started by “NGOs, think tanks, citizens' associations and cycling groups” The campaign is sponsored by the Times of India. This ensures inordinate publicity. The campaign runs till 31^st May 2015.

What happens is that the stretch of Linking Road heading South is closed for traffic from the HP Petrol Pump at the start of Turner Road all the way up to Santa Cruz. This happens every Sunday morning from 7 am to 11 am. This is the street that is `reclaimed’. On this portion you have thousands, yes thousands of Bandraites and sundry other people who had got into their cars bright and early on a Sunday morning and turned our entire area into one big parking lot. All these people with their wives and children had come to this stretch of road to cycle, skate, walk or simply hang out and ‘be seen’. There are thankfully no food stalls of any kind. It was just idle folks with idle children thronging the streets looking pleased with themselves.

As you can imagine, traffic is horrendous. Only one half of this main road is operational. No right turns are allowed leading to huge jams. So on one side you have masses of families and kids and louts and layabouts strolling or cycling or skating on the road and on the other side you have a traffic jam and the resultant carbon monoxide helping gas these layabouts to death. Wonderful idea.

WHO THE FUCKS TOLD YOU THAT STREETS SHOULD BE RECLAIMED FROM CARS? EVER SINCE THERE WERE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES, STREETS ARE FOR TRANSPORT YOU STUPID DUMB NGO DICKHEADS. HAVE YOU GOT THIS YOU NUMBNUTS AT THE TIMES OF INDIA???

If you really wanted to reclaim things reclaim the parks overrun by debris, pimps and drug pushers. Reclaim foot paths overrun by hawkers and debris and thrash. Reclaim the beaches from the louts and trash. Reclaim the promenades. These are all designed specifically for the purpose of recreation and pedestrians. This is where all the walkers and cyclists and skaters should be. Every day. Not just on Sundays.

I really cannot understand what is happening.