Vijay K. Saluja
I am a citizen of India & a resident of Delhi for the last more than 50 years. Over this time, Delhi, a contained city with peaceful & congenial environs, has grown into a megapolis, bursting with an ever-growing population that keeps coming to this city from all corners of India. Many of the people who are now permanent inhabitants of the capital of India came for work; some, of course, came for education, business, medical treatment, entertainment and tourism, and also discovered that the City offered a better quality of life. So, what started as a trickle in the sixties, turned into torrents by the nineties.
This has resulted in the mushrooming of ‘jhuggi’ clusters, especially near the construction sites; there are now slums, unauthorized colonies & squatters’-spots all over Delhi. Besides impacting the authorized or approved colonies of the City, this migration has also affected the urban villages. It has resulted in phenomenal pressure on the existing basic services, of water, drainage, sewerage, garbage management & various civic and social infrastructures. The City started expanding in an almost unplanned manner in all directions.
The elected representatives & the authorities in power have not done enough to take stock of, & act decisively on, the multiple problems. Most of them only took ‘band-aid’ measures. The result of that apathy is there for all to see.
But having said all this, I felt that things would change now – especially after Sunday the 8th Dec 2013, which I thought was an Awakened Sunday. I was sure that the newly chosen representatives would bring the much-needed succour. But, what is happening? The established old parties are now after the new party-AAP[though one is giving them issue-based support from outside] picking holes in their various acts-some of these could have been avoided by AAP,.But,my feeling is ,they[the old parties] should give them some time to establish & put their plans into action. & then take a call after some time.So what,if the party who got more seats is in the opposition.They can still guide them by being big-hearted, if the interest of the citizens & city is uppermost in their minds.
Why play games with the electorate Public Sab Jaanti Hai. All of us, understand.
Why don`t they?!
