The open spaces policy is now at the centre of a similar battle, with the draft being sent back to the Improvements Committee after activists expressed unhappiness over the prospect of certain grounds being open for adoption by private parties. Their fears are not unfounded, because in the past, we have seen private organisations adopt parks and then restrict public entry there, eating into the few open spaces left.

The protest against the Metro car shed being built at the forested Aarey Colony was also a long and painstaking battle. Citizens who joined the Save Aarey movement thought they had won after the chief minister ordered a committee to look for alternative sites. And although the committee did recommend another site at Kanjurmarg, the state did not manage to acquire that plot, so once again, the burden has fallen on Aarey, where a smaller depot may be built to reduce the ecological damage.

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Leaders should remember they were elected to serve us; they must learn to read and respect the public mandate. As we begin the new year, here’s hoping the authorities will now begin to give our voice strength, not drown it.