Tabela Hatao

Tabelas dirty the city, claims the Shiv Sena. "People in the city suffer every monsoon when most tabelas — located near nullahs or rivers — dump their rubbish arbitrarily, without any thought to the consequences.”

According to the Mid Day, the Sena has started a drive against the tabelas and want them to be shifted outside the city.

The Sena's claim may be true but the drive also raises a few questions:

1. The Shiv Sena is the ruling party in the BMC. Has the party found an easy scapegoat to cover up BMC's poor handling of the flooding after the cloudburst of July 26?
2. The tabelas have been a part of the city for many years. Why has the Sena suddenly become aware of their "nuisance?"
3. Is the Sena looking to create a diversion after the numerous internal struggles that it has been plagued with in the recent past?
4. Why is the Sena targeting only the tabelas? Most of the tabelas are owned by north Indians. Is the Sena looking for easy targets to restart its campaign against the "outsiders" who have made Mumbai their home?
5. What about the numerous industries that dump their waste into the Mithi river?
6. What about the complexes that have been built close to the nullahs and the rivers, and are responsible for the dwindling number of mangroves. Or are these okay because a number of the Sena's top leaders belong to the builder's lobby?