[sustran] Re: CAR BUSTERS BULLETIN #30

[kisan mehta]

Dear Ian,

We would be most happy to meet you as well as
help you in every way to understand the ground
conditions.  We like to take funding agency 
officials or researchers on a walking tour in addition 
to talking.  Realities are different from what one 
reads in documents and drawings.  We have not 
studied your attached draft yet.  

We are, in response to your 2 Jan email we are 
separately sending our paper in the UN Workshop.  

World Bank is being requested by our authorities 
to revive the dropped loan proposal for the Mumbai 
Urban Transport Project (MUTP), being discussed 
for 10 years now.  We have tried to present the 
exact position to the Bank officials visiting from 
time to time yet official submissions came out to
be so damaging to the people. We have addressed 
a letter to the Bank President telling (as a last ditch 
effort) as to how the loan would support motorisation  
and affect air quality. It is a longish presentation 
(as he needs to be fully informed). We can forward 
to you if you do not get bored.   

The MUTP, if at all implemented, would seal the
Mumbai's future say for next fifteen years during 
it would become the world's second largest 
megalopolis. No resource would be left to mitigate 
hardship that is bound to flow from the MUTP. 
You will agree that it is essential to show (however 
unsavoury that may be) correct position. Citizens 
do not expect Project Managers (civil servants) to 
put real ground conditions and do not want to lose 
the opportunity to improve government liquidity  
Funding agencies are anxious to extend loans 
as any banker would do. The Bank proudly 
decIared that India has outstripped China as the 
Bank's largest borrower. India's external debt recently 
exceeded $ 100 billion and this literally means that 
every Indian however hungry or illclad he may be 
carries a debt burden of $ 100, amount higher than 
the annual income of about 40% of Indians.  
Best wishes.

Kisan Mehta and Priya Salvi       
     
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dr I S McCrae <imccrae at trl.co.uk>
To: <kisansbc at vsnl.com>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 12:31 AM
Subject: re: [sustran] Re: CAR BUSTERS BULLETIN #30