The departing year was an eventful one. Our special page, Cityscape, captured the bird’s-eye view of various problems plaguing the city. Every week, we focused on a specific issue, its impact on citizens, and the available solutions.
The year began with anti-encroachment drives, highlighting the struggles of helpless people. As spring and summer arrived, Delhi, like the rest of India, was preoccupied with the Lok Sabha elections. The national capital was particularly invested, given that its then-Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was behind bars.
Our city team explored whether his release would impact the general elections in Delhi.
The monsoon season brought relief from the heat but also introduced waterlogging-related issues, resulting in electrocution deaths and exposing the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
The RG Kar incident in Kolkata raised concerns about women’s safety, prompting us to investigate the hurdles women face when stepping out.
In October, the Delhi Police busted major drug syndicates, seizing contraband worth over Rs 7,000 crore. While this was a significant success, it overshadowed the ongoing drug menace in the city. We delved deeper into this issue, examining the factors driving this alarming trend.
Our Cityscapes also focused on other critical issues, including Yamuna pollution, the impasse in MCD, and nursery admissions. These stories provided a comprehensive view of the challenges facing the city and its residents.
1. The K-Factor
With the Lok Sabha polls in full swing, AAP national convener and the erstwhile Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is released on interim bail just weeks before the the national capital went to polls, adding to the election heat. The Supreme Court granting interim bail to the AAP supremo emerged as a crucial moment in the political circumstances leading up to the Lok Sabha elections. It reignited the spirit of AAP workers and forced the BJP to redraw its strategy and push heavyweights into canvassing. ‘The K-Factor’ tried to unpack the impact that Kejriwal’s presence promised on the Delhi Lok Sabha polls.
2. Whose land is it, anyway?
Anti-encroachment drives by multiple urban bodies throughout 2024 took a toll on great many lives. Wakeel Hassan’s drastic change of fate, from celebrated Silkyara-rescue hero to homelessness, illustrates the cruel irony of Delhi’s ‘development’ turmoil. While the CAA is notifed, Hindu refugees from Pakistan living near Majnu Ka Tilla on the Yamuna floodplains are asked to vacate the lands, leaving them to grapple with displacement once again. ‘Whose land is it, anyway?’ documents the challenges of displacement, and ethical dimensions of urban policy.
3. Deadlocked forever?
After months of procedural setbacks, the long-delayed election for the positions of the mayor and deputy mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was set for November 14.
The procedural delays can be traced back to when the L-G cited requirement of inputs from the then jailed Delhi chief minister before appointing a presiding officer for the election. The impasse that emerged in April was finally put to rest in November. ‘Deadlocked Forever’ traces the long list of gridlocks that staggered the civic body from discharging its duties.
4. Decoding Delhi drug puzzle
while the crackdown on the vast drug networks proliferating in the national capital and subsequent seizure of large quantiites of contraband made the headlines in tail-end of the year, garnering much applause for Delhi Police, what went unsaid between the lines was the massive surge in narcotic activities in the city. ‘Decoding Delhi Drug Puzzle’ takes a closer look at the drug menace silently ravaging the city, coroding it from the inside, and examines the factors fuelling this alarming trend. Even as law enforcement agencies have intensified their efforts to curb drug trafficking in the region, drug trade continues to thrive, with smugglers adapting to enforcement efforts and finding new ways to smuggle drugs. 52 new areas in the city have emerged as hotbeds of peddling activities, joining the existing 12 places on the updated list.
5. Doctors in (D)anger
As the RG Kar rape-murder sent shockwaves through the medical fraternity, what followed was a collective gasp from healthcare professionals. This wasn’t just another tragic headline; it was a call to action. Across India, doctors began to mobilise. A large number of resident doctors went on strike, boycotting outpatient departments and elective surgeries. In the aftermath, medicos from all public healthcare institutes joined the strike, followed by private doctors from hospitals and clinics, resulting in a nationwide shutdown of 24 hours. ‘Doctors in (D)anger’ accesses the profound impact on healthcare services that significantly disrupted patient care across major hospitals such as AIIMS, Safdarjung, and Ram Manohar Lohia. With OPDs closed and surgeries postponed, patients, many of whom had traveled long distances for treatment, were left unattended.
6. Lethal urban Crisis
Delhi is becoming increasingly perilous, with relentless challenges of extreme heat, devastating fires, the monsoon-induced chaos and the cold winter grip. Amid this turmoil, political leaders continue to engage in blame games while citizens suffer. Tragically, even essential services and safety measures fail, exemplified by electrocutions and waterlogging deaths. This grim situation demands urgent action and accountability to prevent further loss of life and restore safety in the capital. The city is failing its residents at every juncture, with people suffering while apathy continues to prevail. ‘Lethal Urban Crisis’, standing against the backdrop of the tragic Vivek Vihar nursing home fire that claimed six newborns and the Old Rajinder Nagar drowning deaths explores the pitfalls of relentless urbanisation while civic security grows exceedingly distant.
7. Battle for berths in cradle
Gone are the days when parents were only worried about their wards getting into a good institute. There is a new worry in town — nursery admissions. With 1.25 lakh seats in nursery classes up for grabs in around 1,741 private schools in the national capital, ‘Battle for Berths in Cradle’ explores the various criteria imposed by schools and the surge of anxiety wreaking havoc on parents as they fill out at least 20-25 admission forms while scouring the city to secure admission for their children right at the start; after all, who would want their child to lag behind.
8. A flood of inaction
Promises by government and civic agencies to prevent waterlogging in the city fell flat on Day 1 of Monsoon when rains descended in a barrage, 228 mm battering the city in a span of few hours. The reponse on part of the authorities has always been ‘disaster management’ rather than prevention; as the city raced against the clock to plug the leaks in its flood-control plan before another ‘extreme’ downpour stunned city life. ‘A Flood of Inaction’ explores the city’s preparedness to curb the civic disorder in the face of extreme weather, jarring memories of the 2023 Delhi deluge.
9. A river groans under neglect
Successive governments have spent thousands of crores on cleaning the Yamuna; yet the river’s condition continues to deteriorate. While toxic foam shrouds the river, rampant encroachment mars the sensitive ecology of the floodplains; construction waste of bridges remains scattered over the riverbeds. Rubble, concrete, solid waste and every detritus of the urban metropolis finds its way to the Yamuna, a river turning into a stagnant pool of sludge. ‘A River Groans Under Neglect’ tries to analyse why a clean Yamuna remains a distant dream.
