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Politicians reap rich harvest at diaspora meet

THE Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), which was held in India's financial and commercial capital for the first time, brought together Non Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin from all over the world.

But the three-day event, held here last week, also brought in political leaders – including chief ministers and state ministers – from different parts of India.

In fact, the chief ministers of many states were among the most excited about the PBD, and were lining up to meet some of the high-flying NRIs and PIOs, who could perhaps be convinced to invest in their respective states.

Many of the overseas Indians did show interest in the presentations made by the chief ministers, but how many of them would finally commit their greenbacks is not known.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was the smartest of the lot, deputing celebrities to woo the visitors. And he naturally managed to attract the maximum number of NRIs.

Yadav stole the show, thanks to help from Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, both of who managed to attract NRI/PIO visitors to the state's presentation.

The UP chief minister was ably supported by his confidante, Amar Singh, who has a way of enticing celebrities and affluent businessmen.

The Big B — whose wife, Jaya, is a Samajwadi Party member of the Rajya Sabha — naturally drew in the crowds for the UP presentation.

And Amar Singh happily explained to the overseas Indians that Bangalore was now passe, and the next big story in Indian IT was unfolding in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh Yadav promised single-window clearance for all NRI proposals, and said he would himself head the committee that would clear the applications.

Two chief ministers, whose states account for among the largest number of NRIs — Punjab and Kerala — were also present at the PBD, wooing the overseas Indians. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh spoke of communicating with NRIs in Canada through radio broadcasts, while Oomen Chandy, the Kerala Chief Minister, wowed Gulf-based NRIs by unveiling plans to launch a budget airline from his state to Gulf cities.

Other states that were represented at the gathering by their chief ministers or ministers included Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhatisgarh, and Karnataka. Maharashtra too had its chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who however, had a tough time convincing the visitors about the need to invest in the state, which is facing a crippling power cut, and whose debts have crossed the rupees one trillion mark.

Water crisis

WITH a major construction boom on in Mumbai, the city is expected to face a huge water crisis in the coming months. Multi-storeyed buildings – some of them as high as 60-storeys – are coming up all over the city and the suburbs.

The Brihanmumbai (Greater Mumbai) Municipal Corporation (BMC) has a capacity to supply 2,900 million litres per day (MLD). A major project is on hand to expand this by another 1,200 MLD. However, about 30 per cent of the capacity is lost due to leakages and theft.

With the city's population suspected to have crossed the 15 million-mark, the per capita availability of water has plummeted in recent years. A few years ago, the BMC was providing about 135 litres of water per day per person, but now with the population having shot up, it is believed to have fallen drastically.

Many of the residents in the extended suburbs have to depend on tanker water, which is delivered to them by road from distant places. Many water suppliers tap borewells in and around the city, and supply the water in tankers. However, they burn diesel and petrol to provide water to residents 50 to 100km away.

The tanker owners constitute a powerful lobby, and efforts to curtail their operations have proved ineffective. The BMC has also been talking of making rainwater harvesting compulsory, but the necessary rules have not been enforced. The civic body had said that developers would not be given no objection certificates, if they did not adhere to rainwater harvesting norms.

Environmentalists bemoan that politicians and bureaucrats are diluting the laws just to satisfy power lobbies, such as the tanker operators, and builders. The way Mumbai is growing, the city is likely to suffer from acute water shortages in a few years, despite a huge expansion in supplies.