#dnaEdit: Growing but dying

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.