CAPITAL LOSS: DELHI HAS BECOME A DYING CITY

In the mid-eighties, Rajiv Gandhi created a storm by calling Calcutta a dying city. He was, of course, spot on but proud Bengalis took great umbrage at this. Now, it is time to call out our national capital, Delhi as exactly that — a dying city.

Even as wealthy citizens of the national capital region (NCR) shrink further away from this uninhabitable mess, behind gated condominiums, face masks, generator sets and water tankers, Delhi is collapsing — in every way possible.

The most recent flashpoint is the felling of 17,000 trees which the Delhi High court has stayed, for now. This is significant as air quality is no longer a ‘winter’ problem for the city. Last month, Delhi recorded days of the worst air quality it has ever had; prompting Britain’s The Guardian newspaper to publish a report pointGurugram ing out that half of Delhi’s schoolchildren had stunted lung development and would never completely recover. Delhi is no place to bring up a child.

It is worse for the elderly. As winter fades every year, alarm bells start ringing as the city prepares for the onslaught of mosquito borne diseases. This is no longer a monsoon issue either. From April to December, a swarm of deadly ailments such as Dengue, Chikangunya and Malaria reach epidemic proportions, which the city’s medical infrastructure simply cannot handle. Sights of lines of tents outside big hospitals to house the afflicted are quite common. They call it the mosquito industry.

Well, nor is the national capital any place for women. A recent gender vulnerability index constructed by Plan India, ranks Delhi as the third worst place for women’s safety in the country, after Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Any woman who has to use the city’s public transport is aware of this ugly fact.

The city’s infrastructure is collapsing. This summer, there were repeated power cuts in many parts as Delhi was crippled by acute coal shortage. Very soon, even Delhi will become a

NEWS OF THE WEEK

JULY 14: Unusually heavy rains have taken a heavy toll, caused large-scale damage to standing crops and disrupted road and rail traffic. At least 35 lives were lost in floods and house-collapses were reported from Calicut in Kerala and Sikar in Rajasthan