I was walking past by my college to attend a lunch invite' by a friend of mine. The stretch from my PG to the nearest market is some 3-4 kms. Pardon me if I am wrong in the distance thing, but the point isn’t that. I am clarifying so that distance issue doesn’t nullify the main point like Dhoni’s post World Cup press conference where IPL post parties took the centre stage. The point here I am stressing is that it is quite a sight to see the whole of Delhi being dug out. There probably isn’t a single centimeter of area that is not being beautified/ constructed, or for that matter renovated. I am fortunate to have a metro station just about 100 meters from my PG. it’s a newly constructed one and I was shocked to see that the newly laid pedestrian walkway is replaced by almost similar looking bricks or asbestos (or whatever!). it took me a while to differentiate between the two, and with the Delhi climate where the rain Gods treat us with step motherly affection they all after a few hours look the same.
Coming back to my route- the roads are still the same for the matter at least in the university vicinity. They provide a relief as I can pre-judge the potholes, bumps and everything that makes way for a rider's backache while travelling in a rickshaw. Rest each and everything around the roads are in the construction mode. In a recent newspaper article it was reported that when an RTI was filed by an NGO about the expenditure of the coming common wealth games it was found to have exceeded by a whopping 1700% . I wonder is it that necessary for the commonwealth games that the whole of Delhi is getting a makeover. What exactly is the necessity to dig your hands into every possible thing around. I mean what is the point of digging out the footpath built only a year ago. Come to my hometown, we still have the footpaths built may be some 50 years ago. What if they are gradually beginning to extinct with time, we are managing well with the roads or by jumping over them.
With the bus fares, metro fares, CNG prices ,room rents ,household commodities etc hiked and new kinds of taxes being levied upon I wonder are the games for common wealth ? As of now they are drawing the common wrath of people.
The honorable chief minister mrs.shiela dixit with her third term in the office might be doing a good job no doubt. But she is ultimately behaving as a I am an woman- first attitude. Just like us women before the arrival of some guests clean up every nook and corner of the house and keep doing the same thing until we reach something that is perfect in our eyes.
Take for example the last national games. Assam hosted by far the best national games in the history of India. Awesome stadiums, super games village, overall an enthralling experience that had all the national news papers devoting enough time space to Assam for almost a whole month. Our honorable CM is a man,so we had build only things that are necessary-the stadiums , the games village etc. Our airport is still the same, so is the railway stations , the roads are keeping up the trend of deteriorating ,not to mention the rain caused floods in the midst of the city since that is a passé’ after Mumbai and London too submerged into artificial floods. But still we have new malls coming up every two-three months, multiplexes opening up and not to forget the overbridges .
Coming back to Delhi now. I appreciate all the hard work the govt. is doing to project Delhi or for that matter India as ‘new India’ but they must have realized that the work has started quite late. As it’s said -too much to do too little time. It can only be assumed that after CWG either a chunk of people will develop asthma or some real lung disease. I may be the first sufferer though I have survived swine flu successfully but may soon die of asphyxiation if I keep travelling though the dusty lanes of the ‘hell-hi’.(ala Delhi)
A parting thought- India has hosted the Asian games in 1982,which unfortunately was way ahead of the time i was born,so till now barring the cricket world cup this is the first big sporting event Delhi is hosting.Well and good. But I wonder if a commonwealth games draws so much of govt. investment which obviously is the general tax payer's investment from all over the country, then what will happen if India wins the bid for Olympics!
(P.S. Just pouring in my frustration. I still love Delhi and want the CWC to be a huge success. )
