Delhi is sliding into a cesspool of urban decay. Leave aside the capitals of European nations and the US, even Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and Hanoi are delightful havens compared to Delhi. Both the Union and state governments, which got massive mandates from the city need to act fast.
■ The administration needs to remove all garbage from roads and open areas on a daily basis
■ All roads and sidewalks have to be repaired and all encroachments be removed, making them pedestrian friendly
■ The administration needs to regularly manicure and maintain the public habitat
■ Regular cleanliness and maintenance of the DTC fleet should be ensured
■ The neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana, which are ruled by BJP or its allies, should stop burning Rabi crops.
■ Delhi Police needs to conduct an intensively hourly and daily monitoring to regulate traffic and reduce congestion.
Both the BJP dominated Municipal Corporations are characterised by institutionalised inertia and absence of initiative.
Our city is the single most important qualitative and perhaps quantitative contributor to various constituent parts of India’s GDP, yet we are being pushed around like political football. We need the politicians to take heed and perform; otherwise the electorate will be unforgiving.
(The author runs AIM Television, which produces documentary films)