A traffic signal helps people cross a busy junction. A park bench offers a place to sit. A playground gives children somewhere to play. And a selfie point is meant for residents and tourists to pose for photos. But in Mumbai, these amenities come with an additional feature — a politician's name, or an inauguration ceremony to mark their arrival.
The latest example comes from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Maharashtra's Minister of Cultural Affairs, Ashish Shelar, who took to X to announce the bhoomipujan for installing a traffic signal at the junction of Saraswati Road and Tagore Road in Ward 97 of his Vandre West Assembly constituency. Shelar said corporator and Market and Garden Committee chairman Hetal Gala, ward president Sachin Mandlik, party workers and residents were present.
What makes it all the more baffling is the "scale of the project" itself. How much space does a traffic signal occupy, after all? It is a basic piece of road infrastructure, not a sprawling public garden or a landmark building. And how often does one hear of a bhoomipujan being announced for a traffic signal?
There is nothing unusual about an elected representative pushing for better traffic management in their constituency. But the announcement raises the question whether such basic amenities really need to be turned into occasions, complete with announcements, ceremonies and a name tag on them?
Mumbai has seen this impulse extend well beyond traffic signals.
Even public toilets have had their share of inauguration ceremonies. In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray inaugurated an eco-friendly public toilet at Marine Drive in 2018, while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) formally launched a mobile vacuum toilet at Girgaon Chowpatty in 2021. The toilet launch was attended by D Ward Committee chairperson Meenal Patel, local corporator Anuradha Potdar, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijay Balamwar, D Ward Assistant Commissioner Prashant Gaikwad and activist Indrani Malkani.
But at least these facilities occupy more space than a traffic signal.
In the JVPD Scheme, Juhu, a selfie point bearing the words "I Love Mumbai" was conceptualised by local MLA and now Maharashtra President of the BJP Ameet Satam. How do we know it? When the structure was installed, it carried his name in block letters too.
The same urge to leave a personal mark was more explicit in Mulund suburb. In 2022, BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha's name appeared on two selfie points at Sardar Pratapsingh Udyan in Mulund West and Morya Lake in Mulund East. The installations departed from the "I Love Mulund" theme for which approval had been granted. After complaints, the BMC removed Kotecha's name from one installation, only for it to reappear within a week.
The issue is not limited to selfie points.
In 2010, a dispute erupted over a proposed name for a garden in Mulund's Yogi Hills. Local residents wanted it named after the 26/11 martyrs, while MLA Sardar Tara Singh secured BMC approval for a proposal to name it after his father, Sardar Pratap Singh, Mumbai Mirror reported.
Of course, elected representatives deserve credit for getting long-pending civic works moving. Publicising such work can also help voters assess their representatives. But there is a difference between documenting a public project and turning the project itself into a billboard for political identity.
That distinction matters particularly in Mumbai, where residents routinely complain about broken footpaths, traffic congestion, traffic snarls, inadequate open spaces and other everyday civic problems. A traffic signal should be judged by whether it improves safety and traffic flow, not by whose constituency it falls in or whose name accompanies its inauguration.
Mumbai's roads, parks and playgrounds could do with fewer reminders of who claims credit for them.
- Ends