During his victory speech on February 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi covered a large number of issues pertaining to Delhi. The elections to Delhi State Assembly had become a prestige issue of sorts and Delhi needed a change to make a world class capital. PM Modi said that the people of Delhi would not tolerate corruption and lies in politics and they want governance, not theatrics. The sentiments of PM have special significance for the future of Delhi.
So, the people of Delhi are looking for effective and responsive governance. Obviously, the people are justifiably impatient and would like to see quick improvement everywhere. That may be challenging and thus the new government in Delhi would have to set clear priorities. The Double Engine government has some distinct advantages for the new dispensation. In addition, the neighbouring states of National Capital Region (NCR) are all ruled by the BJP, viz UP, Haryana and Rajasthan. Uttarakhand has been with the BJP for a long time and the people who hail from this state have sizeable presence in the capital city. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is under AAP rule but they too are expected to fall in line after change of power structure.
The first priority of the new government should be supply of safe and clean drinking water. With expansion of the city and increase in population, water supply remains a huge challenge in Delhi. The filtration plants are of old vintage and many of them are non-functional. With onset of summers from the month of March, the new government may have to take some emergent steps. Tanker mafia is still active in many parts of Delhi and the new government may have to take harsh measures to control them. The new government may have to hire professionals for the water management in Delhi. Having ensured decent supply of water, the new government should look at permanent solution to the water crisis in Delhi.
The next priority should be transportation by buses. Delhi needs a huge fleet of electric or CNG buses to reduce the load on the traffic. While metro has improved connectivity, it is largely being used by the working middle class. The masses still have to commute by buses. The working class from the low-income group need cheap and efficient transportation. The new government would do well to improve the transport fleet, both in the immediate and long term. Good traffic management on the roads would also ensure smooth flow of vehicles and save valuable time of the commuters.
Third important step would be immediate repair and maintenance of roads, particularly in the interiors of Delhi. Fortunately, Delhi still has a well-developed network of roads but many of these have seen years of neglect. The coming months before the Monsoons are considered ideal for road construction and road repairs. The new technology ensures quick repair of roads and thus would not cause much inconvenience to the public. But there should be thorough check of the quality of work. In my opinion, better roads in Delhi would provide great amount of relief to the public.
Fourth important step should be garbage and sewage problems which can be fixed quickly. A long-term solution would take time and it should be planned as part of world class capital city infrastructure. Well before the rains, sewage and drainage issues have to be addressed. Here the role of MCD becomes critical. Leaving aside political differences, all the stakeholders should work in tandem to provide the basic facilities to the citizens. A clean and green Delhi is feasible with focus on Swachh Delhi campaign and public participation.
I am sure that Prime Minister Modi would address all the issues to make Delhi a world class city. As he mentioned in his address, some of pending problems like cleaning of Yamuna may take a long time. But as the focus of PM Modi is on quality governance, the people would notice the change and improvement immediately. Some of the above issues and recommendations have been highlighted just to set the stage for long term reforms and improvements.
Like a mature government, the new government should be open minded. There are some positives of the previous government and the new government should improve them to be genuinely effective. The new government could do the value addition where necessary. The good projects of any previous government should not be closed down or discarded just because of their origin or political opposition. Yes, the new government should focus on visible improvement on ground and not theatrics.
PM Modi has guaranteed ‘Puri Dilli ka Vikas’ and the new government in Delhi would have to get cracking to fulfil the promises. The new government may have to involve a large number of NGOs, professional bodies and seek public participation to bring about the change. The revenue earned by Delhi is still substantive to invest in immediate and mid-term projects. With political tempers having come down, long term challenges like pollution too would be addressed appropriately.
Delhi has the potential to be a model of governance for other states to emulate. The next five years in Delhi are going to be critical as to how a world class capital city and NCR takes shape. PM Modi called Delhi ‘Mini India’ and thus it should reflect only the best of India everywhere. I can already sense that happy days are here again in Delhi.
