DWARKA-LOCAL AUTHORITIES & RESIDENTS-Need for Introspection?!

Vijay K. Saluja
Ex Chief Engineer[civil], 
New Delhi Municipal Council



Have you ever given a thought, as to what makes our colonies dirty? Why, there is lot of rubbish around the various Society flats & open spaces? Why various green spaces provided in various sectors are ill maintained- at times, no greenery or just patch of earth, play equipments –broken, non-operational?

Why a road which is repaired after a long time, is again dug up for laying another utility? How much inconvenience it causes to the public? Loss of exchequer, environmental pollution, traffic jams are some of the many side effects of these mindless ill co-ordinated jobs.
Have a look at another commonly seen, scenario.

Big crowd collected around a person[bleeding at many places], who has been hit by a vehicle, driven recklessly, and then the crowd thinning away, each one thanking Almighty, that the person involved was not one of their near & dear one! The bleeding man [or woman] kept on lying at or near the accident site for considerable time,, as many wonder, that their reporting the incident might, not bring them some hassles/harassment.

But, just ask yourself, honestly a question. Why all this is happening, day in day out, in our colonies, markets, cities?.

Why not much is being done to arrest the situation? Why day in day out, despite media `s reporting about snatching incidents & harassment to girls/women, there is no tangible improvement in the situation?

Infact, there is further deterioration in the state of affairs. Authorities lament about the lack of resources, multiplicity of authority & lack of co-ordination, politics, apathy of the citizens etc etc. There are excuses galore-you name it & and it is there.

But my humble query to the concerned authorities, RWAs, elected representatives & the general public is-Are we doing enough to correct the situation or just discussing & passing on the blame.

To the authorities, I will like to submit, that as problems of cities will keep on occuring every minute-cities being dynamic entities, the need is to think of innovative or out of box sustained solutions to the various problems.

To my mind, citizen is a big resource for the authorities to complement & supplement their efforts in managing the cities./colonies.

What is needed is the positive attitude & the will power of the officials/local representatives/police, to mobilize citizenry in a proper way.

Running a local body is not like working in a normal government office or secretariat. Here, what is expected of its employees is a different work culture, empathy with the citizen`s difficulties & eagerness to solve the same within a given time frame. If there is no electricity or water or the storm water/ sewage line is choked, then the file dealing with it needs to be cleared quickly on hourly basis & not like any ony other ordinary file, which at times remain unattended for days together! Decision making has to be quick.

All this needs induction of right people with proper education , motivation, commitment, regular, `on the job` skill upgradation of the personnels, in the local bodies/development authorities/ neighbourhood police.They also must have the ability to forge close links with the community & actively seek their co operation in supplementing their efforts.Unless, this is done, I do not see any ray of hope in much improvement of the state of our cities, colonies & DWARKA.

Luckily, I learn there is Dwarka Forum-a group of dedicated Dwarkaites whose heart beat for Dwarka. I also, understand, there are many other well-meaning civil-society groups, too in this sprawling sub-city. The urgent need is to create SYNERGY.

To my mind,this should be the priority job for the new Govts both Delhi & the Central.
The local authorities of Delhi & various cities, need to forge strong lins with its enthusiastic members , who can easily & willingly supplement, the efforts of the authorities..
Just think about it-the new Delhi Govt..