The length and breadth of Delhi’s 1,483 square km land mass is a contrasting picture of life in India’s most powerful metropolis. From Caviar class south Dilliwalas and power houses of Lutyens’ zone, to Yamuna Pushta shanties and the hookah-on-charpoy rural lifestyle of outer Delhi, the rich and poor divide is one of the widest in the national capital. Needless to say, the aspirations and demands of the denizens differ to a large extent.
While the two-car owning households of Greater Kailash find fault with the Bus Rapid Transit System that slows down vehicle speeds, the people travelling on buses on a daily basis dismiss the rant as elitist. The Sunday Standard sums up different expectations of different people in different areas of India’s capital city-state.
Central Delhi and New Delhi
Issues: Drainage and water-logging
The district is home to heavyweight like Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, MLA from New Delhi; Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami, MLA from Rajender Nagar; Health Minister Ashok Kumar Walia, MLA from Laxmi Nagar; BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Harshvardhan, MLA from Krishna Nagar.
A significant part of the New Delhi district falls under the New Delhi Municipal Council, an area that largely houses government offices and government servants. Compared to the civic amenities in the rest of Delhi, the well-planned areas of New Delhi are better placed. But the slums falling within these areas have problems of water supply.
The constituencies of Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Sadar Bazaar, Karol Bagh and Matia Mahal face the perennial problems of traffic congestion and parking. Encroachment is another major problem in these trader-dominated localities. While Rajender Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Laxmi Nagar have the problems of age-old drainage network which leaks and overflows leading to unhealthy environment, especially during rains. Goswami has, however, promised to address the problem of overflowing drains in Rajender Nagar.
Traffic congestion and lack of parking space inconvenience traders of Karol Bagh who claim that people are choosing not to visit the area which means loss of business for them. Similar problems dog Jangpura too. Promises, however, need to be converted into work.
South and South West Delhi
Issues: Water crisis, traffic congestions
The common talk in civic body offices is that South Delhi may be one of the most posh areas of Delhi, but its residents cry for water each summer season. A large number of areas in South Delhi, including Mehrauli and Malviya Nagar, and large parts of Dwarka, under South West, face acute water shortage and are at the mercy of the tanker lobby. Traffic congestion is another major issue across South Delhi with news of people getting stuck for hours on road during peak hours being common knowledge. Chief Minister Dikshit has promised to build double-decker roads to ease this problem. Sangam Vihar in South Delhi is Asia’s largest unauthorised colony, built on ridge land; it has been facing the problems of civic amenities like water supply and drainage.
East and North East Delhi
Issues: Parking (East Delhi), drainage and housing (North East)
The district is represented by Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar and BJP MLA Sahab Singh Chauhan from Ghonda.
The East and North East Delhi comprise 20 constituencies with an estimated population of 20 lakh, a significant portion of which lives in unauthorised colonies. Housing has emerged as a major poll plank in the constituencies of North East Delhi like Seemapuri, Babarpur and Ghonda—these areas have a large number of slums. Both the Congress and the BJP have promised to provide free houses nearby for slum-dwellers. Dikshit said, “People residing in slums would be given houses in the same area.” BJP Delhi unit chief Vijay Goel too has promised the same thing but has criticised the Congress that it was unable to provide houses for poor even after promising to do so before 2008 Assembly polls.
Trader-dominated localities of Gandhi Nagar face the problems of traffic congestion, parking as well as badly maintained drainage and water supply.
North and North West Delhi
Issues: Bad roads, no development work, water crisis
The area comprises a large part of rural and outer parts of Delhi. Problems in the areas like Burari, Narela, Bawana and Mundka revolve around basic services such as good roads and frequency of bus transport. Sultanpur Majra and surrounding areas are dotted by slums and hence the ‘near free housing’ promise by the BJP and Congress comes into play. Areas like Rohini and Model Town have parking issues which have emerged as a key problem here. North Delhi has a large number of unauthorised colonies and hence good roads, water supply and drainage have emerged as poll promises in these areas. BJP has announced that it would undertake extensive development work in these colonies while the Congress claims to have already started doing work in this direction.
West Delhi
Issues: Choked sewers in residential areas, roads and drains in industrial areas
The densely populated West Delhi is a hub of small business units involved in textile, electrical goods and handlooms etc. Despite having a significant trader population, industrial areas are neglected with the lack of basic infrastructures like street lights, roads and drains which get flooded every monsoon. The issue of overflowing and choked sewers is so acute in residential areas that many candidates have promised to completely relay the sewer network if voted to power.
People from far-flung areas like Najafgarh, Matiala and Mundka battle the problems of connectivity and roads on a daily basis. They have been demanding metro service up to Najafgarh and development work on roads on war-footing.