Delhi’s woes are only worsening; MCD elections will improve nothing

New Delhi: Delhi has been a city of tremendous churning and upheavals all through its 1000-yr-old history. While every new name it has got in its seven incarnations has added something new to enrich its charm and character, its transition from New Delhi to NCR has not been as decorous as some of its earlier avatars. After the economic liberalisation of the early 90s when Indian shores were egregiously opened to foreign markets, it took little time for a peaceful and soberly Delhi led by bureaucratic decorum to transform into a bustling glittery bazaar, overwhelmed by an aggressive claim to economic fiefdom.

With the newfound prosperity and fame, also came haphazard expansion and stomping influx of a diverse mix of people from all parts of the country and beyond into the new land of promise, which not only distorted its character but also trounced its infrastructure and ravaged its social engineering templates. The first casualty was peace and the Shahjahanabadi tehzeeb, some of which still remained as a residual heirloom. The second was its rarefied air (pun intended). Another churning had started but not decidedly for the better. Delhi was no longer a cozy bastion of the babus, with its green avenues, golf courses and languid Mughal Garden strolls. It was now the commoner’s plodding ground.

Three decades later, Delhi sits juxtaposed between a nostalgic past and an uncertain future. Its haphazardly hanging network of electric wires, uncannily reminiscent of its equally haphazard demographic mapping, is as much an anachronism in a city that aspires to be world class, as its sunless houses where 10 people sleep inside a 10x10 dank cubbyhole, each one groping through the dark allays of uncertainty to find a definition for themselves in the city of joyless hope. The transformation of Shahjahanabad into New Delhi catapulted a city of old-world grandeur into a swanky modern political capital of the world. Delhi has still the best of hospitals and colleges and road infrastructure in India, yet Delhi has to fill a lot of its potholes, it has still to add beds and doctors to its hospitals, it has to end manual scavenging, it needs more roads, more trees to soak its sooty air, more houses to accommodate its growing millions. The city needs more security for its women, more cleanliness, more public facilities, liberal space for diverse expression of views. It needs more libraries, more gardens, community halls and recreation outlets. It doesn’t need more skyscrapers or MNC dreams; it needs lesser road jams, sufficient water and electricity, and a caring police.