[Urbanstudy] Growing but dying

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-growing-but-dying-2001873


Growing but dying
Monday, 14 July 2014 - 8:22am IST Updated: Sunday, 13 July 2014 - 7:22pm
IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

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   DNA <http://www.dnaindia.com/authors/dna>


Predictions that Delhi will continue to grow and become the world’s most
populous city call for an energetic policy response. Sadly, this has been
missing

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If ever a wake-up call was needed this is it, though it came in the avatar
of a record. A UN report categorising Delhi as the world’s second most
populous city after Tokyo with 25 million inhabitants merits a reality
check. While Tokyo’s population of 38 million will decline by a million by
2030, Delhi’s will shoot up further to 36 million. What does this signify
for Delhi? For over two millennia, and perhaps longer, this city nestled
between the River Yamuna and the Aravalli Range, has been the cradle, nerve
centre and the capital of several cultures and empires. But as the modern
Indian State’s capital and the unprecedented centralisation of power that
ensued, Delhi’s landscapes, demographics, ecosystems, infrastructure and
resources have encountered a migration and urbanisation juggernaut that
everyone saw coming but failed to harness.

The Delhi Development Act was enacted in 1955, the Delhi Development
Authority(DDA) was instituted in 1957, and the first Delhi Master Plan
conceptualised in 1962 with Ford Foundation assistance, to ensure planned
development. A development paradigm driven entirely by public agencies was
undertaken, but as with most state-driven enterprise, the planning,
construction activities and the enforcement of norms was outpaced by human
need and greed. Today, Delhi is saddled with sprawling unauthorised
colonies, cramped slums, and sporadic pockets of urban sanity that the
city’s lucky few have benefitted from. The statistics tell it better.

Only 65 per cent of Delhi’s daily requirement of 1,200 million gallons can
be supplied by the Delhi Jal Board. Eighty per cent of Delhi’s power comes
from the central pool with most pockets going without power for hours daily
in peak summer. Against the WHO norm of five hospital beds per 1000
population, Delhi has just 2.55 beds to offer. Though the much-feted Delhi
metro ferries 25 lakh people daily, 45 lakh people still rely on bus
transport, but the city has just 7,000 buses against a  requirement of
11,000. Where 1,500 vehicles should ply, the average hourly vehicular load
on a single lane of Delhi’s roads varies between 5,000 and 10,000. Three of
four existing landfills can not handle any more waste; Delhi’s air carries
the highest particulate matter among world cities; and its schools and
colleges are woefully inadequate to absorb undergraduate and nursery
students.

The DDA, Delhi’s housing and land agency, has failed miserably in its
housing and planning ambit. Its latest 2021 Delhi Master Plan is running
behind schedule but recognises the challenges and offers solutions for
redevelopment of colonies, land pooling, a mass rapid transit system that
discourages using vehicles, reuse and treatment of sewage water, and
affordable housing. All these present opportunities for the private sector
to enter and serve public interest while earning profits. But the policies
are still hanging fire and no political authority has shown the daring and
the imagination to cross the Rubicon. The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party reaping
an electoral bounty by raising the city’s infrastructure woes in the 2013
polls could be a reflection of popular ire. From proposing 100 new smart
cities, the Centre has clarified that it wishes to make existing cities
“smart”. But a measly budgetary allocation of Rs7,060 crore has been
earmarked. Whatever be the government’s fiscal constraints, Delhi, Mumbai
and other Indian cities need immediate attention. Narendra Modi’s appeal
stemmed from the “can do” persona he projected. The cities and the villages
are watching.
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