Fencing off citizens’ convenience

Every Sunday and public holiday, large crowds converge all over the tourist sites of Mumbai, the most popular of them being the Gateway of India. It is heartening to see families, coming from distant parts of the city, milling about, gazing at not just the Gateway, but also the Taj Mahal Hotel, taking photographs and occasionally hopping on to a ferry for a ride in the sea.

Of late though, this experience has become less pleasant than it used to be. The Gateway itself has been out of bound for years, chained off to prevent people from walking in. Some months ago, a large portion of the open space on the south side was cordoned off by the ugly metal barriers that the police specialises in. And entry to the rest of the open area is through narrow, makeshift doorways where everyone is checked. Now, if reports are to be believed, the government has decided to go further and install a five foot high, black, collapsible iron fence all around the Gateway, allowing entry only through a small entrance at one point.

Apparently, this idea was in the works for a while and was awaiting sanction from the Mumbai Heritage Committee, which was given a few days ago (and it has not offered an explanation for its decision.) A tender has been floated for the project, costing Rs 35 lakhs and once that is approved, work on the fence will begin.

The reason advanced by the government – and presumably this has been driven by the police – is that there is a “threat perception” to the monument. We live in uncertain times and there is no denying that maintaining a high level of security is important, but surely the Gateway is not the only potential target in the city. Let’s say, heaven forbid, tomorrow there is a threat perception about Marine Drive, where thousands of people converge on a daily basis. Are we going to fence it? The same question can be asked about the Sea Link, Juhu beach and for that matter, scores of other crowded locations. Surely, limiting access to all these cannot be the solution.

Secondly, the citizen’s convenience should be the primary consideration in any policy. Left to itself, the police would want citizens to stay at home--it would make their life so much simpler. But we all have to run our lives; we go to work, we play and we have our leisure activities. The police is there to protect us, but not by thinking of us as the problem. Building a fence around the Gateway, that pride and symbol of the city, shows a mindset in which the citizen’s needs are of no consequence; the notion of ‘security’, which can be used and abused, is paramount.

As it is many public buildings, which should welcome people, are shut off, for one reason or the other. Try going to the library of the Fort campus of the University— the guard at the door won’t let you. I have heard of people being asked to move when they were taking a photograph of the building.

This government is security obsessed. Just last week it published a draft of a new proposed Bill which, if passed, will turn Maharashtra into a police state. Under it, the police was given wide powers to arrest people; gatherings of more than 100 people without police permission were banned. After much hue and cry, the draft was withdrawn, but unless the citizens are vigilant, it will be reintroduced.

For us Mumbaikars, who have to suffer long commutes to get to our matchbox sized apartments, the enclosing of the Gateway represents yet another attempt to take over open spaces. Gardens and parks are being taken over by politicians or by public bodies in the name of creating infrastructure. Mumbai’s children have less and less spaces to play in. Why make access to the sea shore that much more frustrating and difficult?

Instead of spending 35 lakh rupees on a fence on the perimeter, why not beautify the Gateway and its environs and put more policemen who can keep a discreet watch on the crowds? The world over, even where terror attacks have taken place, policing is low key, visible enough to scare trouble makers but unobtrusive to the citizen who is out to enjoy a pleasant day. The government must rethink this decision and come up with a new plan to guard the monument while allowing citizens to move around freely in and around it.