Opinion Tavleen Singh writes: Look down as we fly to the moon

If planned urbanization does not become a priority our dear Bharat Mata will look like a vast slum.

tavleen singh writes on the delhi floods and chandrayaan-3 launch

If they have spread their filth into the already filthy waters of the Yamuna, then we can be sure that when the water recedes there will be a health emergency to contend with. (Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Tavleen Singh

July 16, 2023 03:38 PM IST First published on: Jul 16, 2023 at 07:15 AM IST

Last week was defined by surrealism. On the afternoon that we launched Chandrayaan-3 on its journey to the moon, Delhi was drowning. The day before the Yamuna river had burst its banks and its waters poured into the city of Delhi. The river’s waters reached the walls of the Red Fort, drowning the memorials of dead leaders en route. Major roads became canals of dirty water that washed into electricity and water utilities, forcing millions of Delhi’s citizens to do without clean water and electricity. And, as usual, when the men responsible for governing the city finally appeared to ‘survey’ the damage, they blamed each other.

As I watched the launch of Chandrayaan-3, the question that troubled me was why if we can dream of an Indian flag being planted someday on the moon can we not dream of building beautiful, planned cities. If ancient Indians could build proper drainage systems in Mohenjodaro more than 5,000 years ago, why do we seem so incapable of building proper drainage in our modern cities? Why do we seem incapable of desilting the Yamuna so that what happened last week should never happen again?

Reckless urbanization that has proved catastrophic not just in Delhi but in hill towns in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh did not happen overnight but over decades. But somehow nobody noticed that it must stop. Personally, I am tired of hearing words like ‘nature’s fury’ and ‘climate change’ because they are used as a shield for criminal misgovernance and lousy policies. At the municipal level, governance in most Indian towns and cities is so myopic, corrupt, and careless that the men responsible should be tried publicly and punished. But this will never happen because there are layers of bad officials in charge and they are protected by layers of bad politicians.

The two cities that I know well are Delhi and Mumbai and whenever I have run into municipal officials, I have marveled at how they get away with misdeeds that are glaringly obvious. The officials I have met have nearly always been more interested in lining their pockets than in the welfare of citizens, in planned urbanization or cleaning rivers and drains. I cannot count the number of times I have heard about a Yamuna Action Plan or how many times I have watched it quietly put on a backburner.

In fairness, it must be said that it is not just officials (elected and unelected) who are to blame. Environmental activism by so-called environmental experts must share some blame because they nearly always choose to highlight issues that will get them headlines and pay little or no attention to serious but less sexy issues like unclogging drains and managing urban waste. As I watched the waters of the Yamuna pour through Delhi’s streets, I found myself worrying about what may have happened to those mountains of garbage on the edge of the old part of the city.

If they have spread their filth into the already filthy waters of the Yamuna, then we can be sure that when the water recedes there will be a health emergency to contend with. Will Arvind Kejriwal find time to deal with it or will he simply launch another massive advertising campaign promoting himself as Delhi’s saviour? In fairness to him, I need to add a caveat here. He may be the Chief Minister of Delhi but there is such a complexity of officialdom on top of him that he is often squashed under its weight. As India’s capital it is right that the central government take charge of serious matters like policing and urban planning but then the central government must also take the blame for what happened last week.

Explained | Delhi’s relationship with Yamuna river and how it evolved over time

The truth is that nobody will. On TV channels devoted to promoting Narendra Modi, there were few pictures of Delhi drowning and many more of the Prime Minister being honoured in Paris with the ‘Bharat Ratna of France’. In passing it was mentioned that the Prime Minister was keeping a close watch on events at home and was in touch with the Home Minister. News channels that spend less time on Modi Bhakti and more on reporting the news did some stellar reporting. Reporters stood in waist deep water to bring us images of desperate people being rescued in boats and of old monuments and temples sinking slowly in muddy water.

Sadly, when the waters recede all will be forgotten and forgiven. And the only time we in the media will discuss the dangers of unplanned urbanization is when Delhi drowns again. I have often wondered why political columnists like your ever humble columnist forget that the most important reason to cover politics is to ensure that the men we elect to govern the country are doing their job. And, yet governance is the one thing we neglect to write about.

Meanwhile, as we pray and dream that Chandrayaan-3 has a successful journey to the moon can we also spend some time on working out why if we have scientists who can take us to the moon, do we not have a few scientists who can help us get rid of urban waste and urban planners who can rescue our cities. In the next five years more than half of our citizens will be living in cities and towns. If planned urbanization does not become a priority our dear Bharat Mata will look like a vast slum.