I lived the first 35 years of my life in Delhi. It's
only in the last few years that work (mostly) has taken me outside, to Gurgaon
in NCR. I remember the time when I used to drive on a mobike on the long and wide roads of Delhi. Admittedly, I don't get to do that very
often these days and, when I drive/am driven, it's mostly confined to South Delhi where my workplace and most
of my relatives are.
So it was quite a disappointment when, on a recent trip back from out of town, our taxi took us through the once enchanting Delhi roads to meet... a roadblock at every step. Literally. All this beautification and metro-isation and road-widening and flyover-ing is alright, but my heart weeps when I see what all this has reduced the famed Delhi roads to. More than the minor irritation of having to take a detour, it is the disfiguration of and encroachment on the famed vistas and roundabouts and (in some cases) green spaces, even if temporary, that is disheartening.
Most of this is being done in the name of Commonwealth Games 2010. There is a minor question of whether all these big projects, started almost at the last minute possible, will reach their fruition before the commencement of the Games. The big ones like the airport and most of the Metro, yes, but what about all the flyovers? All the road beautification and widening? And firstly, was all this absolutely essential? So much essential as to put the bulk of Delhites through an extended period of hellish living, more so in the rainy season?
I'd give an example of the strange timing of certain works. There was a stretch of tree lined road along a row of farmhouses which connects National Hightway 8 (Gurgaon expressway) to the old Delhi-Gurgaon road at a place in South West Delhi called 'Kapas Hera'. The sewer line work on this stretch was taken up only a few months back, blocking the whole road and leading to detours. But more importantly, the work has been over for more than a month (well before the rainy season) but nobody bothered to resurface the road. With the result that the road has now been converted to a mini-canal!
Not only that, the sewer work was then extended across the traffic square towards Najafgarh, and this extentsion was started within the last month, coinciding with the rainy season - talk about timing! Now one half of this road was dug up and the sewer line put in. And what happened next was quite predictable. With the first rains, the layer of earth put on top of the sewer line just caved in at places one fine day. Only a couple of days back (after the rains returned with full fury), you could see a 3-wheeler goods carrier lying in one portion of the caved in road/earth at a queer angle. And I hope this doesn't happen to a truck or a bus some day.
So my question to all the concerned Govt. & other agencies, as a Delhite (which I consider myself to be, even if I only have an office & not a home in Delhi but in NCR), is: When will you give me back my Delhi?
So it was quite a disappointment when, on a recent trip back from out of town, our taxi took us through the once enchanting Delhi roads to meet... a roadblock at every step. Literally. All this beautification and metro-isation and road-widening and flyover-ing is alright, but my heart weeps when I see what all this has reduced the famed Delhi roads to. More than the minor irritation of having to take a detour, it is the disfiguration of and encroachment on the famed vistas and roundabouts and (in some cases) green spaces, even if temporary, that is disheartening.
Most of this is being done in the name of Commonwealth Games 2010. There is a minor question of whether all these big projects, started almost at the last minute possible, will reach their fruition before the commencement of the Games. The big ones like the airport and most of the Metro, yes, but what about all the flyovers? All the road beautification and widening? And firstly, was all this absolutely essential? So much essential as to put the bulk of Delhites through an extended period of hellish living, more so in the rainy season?
I'd give an example of the strange timing of certain works. There was a stretch of tree lined road along a row of farmhouses which connects National Hightway 8 (Gurgaon expressway) to the old Delhi-Gurgaon road at a place in South West Delhi called 'Kapas Hera'. The sewer line work on this stretch was taken up only a few months back, blocking the whole road and leading to detours. But more importantly, the work has been over for more than a month (well before the rainy season) but nobody bothered to resurface the road. With the result that the road has now been converted to a mini-canal!
Not only that, the sewer work was then extended across the traffic square towards Najafgarh, and this extentsion was started within the last month, coinciding with the rainy season - talk about timing! Now one half of this road was dug up and the sewer line put in. And what happened next was quite predictable. With the first rains, the layer of earth put on top of the sewer line just caved in at places one fine day. Only a couple of days back (after the rains returned with full fury), you could see a 3-wheeler goods carrier lying in one portion of the caved in road/earth at a queer angle. And I hope this doesn't happen to a truck or a bus some day.
So my question to all the concerned Govt. & other agencies, as a Delhite (which I consider myself to be, even if I only have an office & not a home in Delhi but in NCR), is: When will you give me back my Delhi?
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