Milind Deora is dreaming of a world-class Mumbai

Mumbai is definitely on the verge of being one of the best cities in the world. All that we need to do is concentrate on the key issues like governance, transport, infrastructure, housing and water supply. I feel more power should be vested upon the Mayor of the city and BMC to effectively push for growth. Then there are talks whether Mumbai should be a separate state or a Union Territory. Mumbai should always be a part of Maharashtra. The people have gone through a lot and Mumbai’s history is linked directly to that of the state. We can’t divide the two ever because that won’t make Mumbai grow.

The government should quickly act on opening the Navi Mumbai and Mumbai link bridge which will solve the housing problem in Mumbai. The rent or property rates are definitely on the higher side in the city. So Navi Mumbai — that has a lot of land — can be explored to solve the housing problem. When the new bridge becomes operational, a person can travel from Navi Mumbai to South Mumbai in about 25 minutes. That would really help the people as they would look to settle there as 25 minutes travelling is not a big deal.