What if Tukaram Mundhe ran Mumbai? Mumbaikars share their wish list

Saturday Masti What IfWhat if firebrand bureaucrat Tukaram Mundhe were handed charge of Mumbairsquos civic issues sports and the Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA education culture the Censor Board mdash or even music and performances What would Mumbaikars expect from him Cleaner streets Discipline on the playground A shakeup in schools and colleges A stricter cultural watchdogTukaram Munde File picAshish RajeWe asked a few prominent Mumbaikars in jest what they would want FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe to take charge of mdash and what they would expect him to change Herersquos what they came up withShabana Azmi ActorldquoKhaana is a very big thing on a film set The workers get the most oily and chilly food The HODs mangao from Swiggy the stars eat two spoons of lowfat dahi with five makhanas and black coffee for which a special food van accompanies the star the daily charges of which are 10 times more expensive than what the workers eat Tukaram Mundhe should issue an order that there should be no disparity of food on the film set Tongue firmly in cheekrdquoCyrus Broacha ComedianldquoIf Mundhe were given the power to take over something like traffic control Irsquod ask him to tackle VIP convoys Once I counted 27 cars in a convoy while little children and old women had to wait to cross the roads in South Bombay Nowadays they even have an ambulance tagging along at the end They must be expecting the worst Itrsquos one thing if top officials such as the PM or CM need these but for every political official to have one seems like a bad idea People these days also have a lot of problems with stray dogs As a dog lover I think one thing Mundhe can do is get these dogs trained as security dogs Then ministers can selfdrive and these security dogs can go with them for protection Wersquore one of the only countries that continue to treat ministers like emperors travelling with their convoys of elephants Why canrsquot they take public transport like the rest of usrdquoSandeep Patil Former India cricketerldquoIf you are asking me to indulge in some fantasy Irsquod like Tukaram Mundhe to have a role in improving our roads across the state Look at how bad the roads are Even our flyovers are filled with potholes and bumps that are particularly dangerous for bikers This road apathy crops up often when I drive to my getaway in LavasardquoRohit Dandawate Global Parents Teachers AssociationldquoIf a leader were to change the education landscape drastically wersquod ask them to reduce stress on students and focus on activities that let children have fun while learning We can also ask him to look at private schools that donrsquot follow playground regulations and donrsquot give children enough space to play What do we think is going to happen to their healthrdquoMervyn Fernandis Hockey OlympianldquoIf someone like Mundhe were to suddenly emerge in the sports world as an administrator or head of a prominent sporting body I would like him to look into agefudging at the grassroots level I strongly believe that agefudging at the U16 and U18 levels whether through greedy coaches fake paperwork or any other method is one of the biggest banes of Indian sport Many young talented players suffer and miss out on deserving opportunities because someone much older has taken their placerdquoBrinda Miller Curator director Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and artistldquoCleanliness is most important While SoBo is fairly clean I notice these problems across the suburbs I would also wish that Mr Mundhe looks into the need for more forests similar to Central Park or Hyde Park Trees lining our avenues and streets are the art we truly need The city needs more museums We only have two major institutionsrdquoDr Abhishek Satam Zoo biologist Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and ZooldquoMumbai is a unique urban ecosystem yet there are some delinquents who put our natural heritage at risk every passing day I would like to see any new urban infrastructure project that wishes to take space in Mumbai undergo strict scrutiny and a full ecological assessment Additionally itrsquos time we made biodiversitysensitive planning nonnegotiable Butterflies birds reptiles and countless lesserknown species form an interconnected habitat unplanned development cannot be allowed to come in the way of itrdquoShantam Pandit Theatre practitionerldquoI would suggest three important things for the betterment of theatre transparency in the flow of money a proper database and audit system and more space for shows with justified ticket pricing If there is transparency artistes can understand why payments are delayed A proper database and audit could also help identify fraudulent theatre groups and acting schoolsrdquoMandeep Singh Makkar Citizen activist Chandivali Citizens Welfare AssociationldquoIf we had Mundhelike leaders we would need to focus on how the Development Plan DP is implemented Public land is encroached roads keep being narrowed and we need to focus on a pedestrianfirst policy Roads especially are an urgent need with ambulances and fire brigades requiring clear access to all localitiesrdquoDhaval Shah Citizen activist Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens AssociationldquoThere will be a lot to do if a leader like that takes over city matters Good roads clean water and garbage dumping mdash these are all issues while citizens lack even the most basic facilities One should also look at the bridges department in Mumbai which simply plays lsquotareekh pe tareekhrsquo with citizens Every month we have a new deadline for infrastructure projects and nobody sticks to their wordrdquoInterviews by Upala KBR Aditi Alurkar Clayton Murzello Ashwin Ferro Tanisha Banerjee Shriram Iyengar and Devashish KambleThis is a work of fun with a spin on the cleanup man of the moment Tukaram Mundhe and is not a news report