It was the night of deluge. It had never rained as much as it did on Wednesday for a long long time. Residents of the city remembered a similar happening sometime in mid-April in the early 1980s when the fury of the nature played havoc. Hundreds of cars had been left stranded that night and as a reporter with the Times of India and on the night shift, I had not only witnessed the horror but also had to report on it. More than 40 years down the line, it seems, nothing has changed in terms of preparedness. The civic authorities and the Administration were as unprepared as they were then. The only difference now was that despite having more facilities and resources at their command, the functionaries were thoroughly exposed. Their tall claims fell on the side as traffic snarls and water logging in the entire NCR region, forced those who were outside to face the wrath of the nature with virtually no working infra-structure. It has always been a great mystery why the infra-structure remains sub-standard despite thousands of crores pumped in improving it annually.
There is always the frozen frame of a bus submerged in water under the Minto Bridge which gets published in newspapers year after year. The Lutyens zone which was far better than other places is equally bad and there is virtually flooding at every roundabout. This time, the rains brought life to a halt around the new Parliament building as well as areas in the vicinity with reports of roof leaking and water-logging pouring in.
Apart from the heavy losses incurred in many areas, the desperation of civic authorities had its own story to tell. While new buildings have come up, adding to the pressure, the NDMC, was evidently unable to upgrade the corresponding infra-structure leading to complete chaos. The outskirts were no different. Water had accumulated on major roads and vehicles were stranded all over. The stretch between Rajokri and Kapeshera for instance, has a road filled with potholes for several years now. For some odd reasons, the concerned agency has not been able to rectify the faults. The airport was hit and many flights had to be diverted. Gurugram and NOIDA were no better and the lack of a proper drainage system was once again exposed. The CAG which goes through the spending of these agencies, must find out where has the money gone, and hold officials responsible.
More than 20 deaths have been reported in the NCR and there has to be some accountability. A few days earlier, there was flooding in the basement of a coaching centre, leading to the death of three UPSC aspirants. The police added to the problem by arresting the driver of a SUV, who had no connection with the tragedy. Fortunately, the courts have granted him bail. All these point to a complete breakdown, and those in charge, obviously do not seem to understand the issues, so to expect them to solve the problem is something which is too much to ask.
The blame game has commenced with the BJP holding the AAP responsible. The Congress has jumped into the fray as well and is trying to make its relevance felt. Overall, politics has further contributed to the misery of the people who need respite. The Lt.Governor who is the overall Boss, has to ensure that those who report to him must give him satisfactory answers. His brief should be to go beyond blaming the elected government but to ascertain how did things come to such a pass. Or everything was good on paper but the collapse denotes the real picture and not deception as presented by the bureaucracy. The Centre must understand that Delhi and the NCR have a peculiar kind of issues and only those who have served there in the past can help in identifying them.
Therefore, while bringing in functionaries from other states, every effort should be made to find whether they are equipped to deal with the situation. In their overenthusiasm to please their political masters, bureaucrats and officials, overlook a number of things and the outcome is for everyone to see. The traffic police should be involved in ensuring that roads do not get affected. The dividers on many thoroughfares contribute in accumulation of water since there is no drainage.
The construction of roads also is erratic and the slope on the sides is in the wrong direction. Lessons should be taken from the original Lutyens zone planning. Trees were planted many metres away from all roads which were single carriage ways. Even after they were expanded and made double carriage, the trees were not in the way but continued to serve their purpose. There were storm water drains on either side which the NDMC closed and replaced them with pipes which did not have the capacity to carry as much water which was getting accumulated, thus leading to flooding. Problems in Delhi and the NCR and other cities as well, should be looked into by experts and not bureaucrats who haven no accountability. Solutions have to be found.
Blaming political parties or the weather in this modern age is not the answer and not a step towards the future to make India into a super power. The difference between developed nations and the developing ones is very huge. Efficient functionaries can only bridge this gap.
