Delhi is big and dangerous – it begins from where and ends where only government records can tell. For a Metro-driven resident, the boundaries are determined by the number of trains one changes to reach one’s destination. And what if Metro is closed? Life comes to a virtual standstill. Something of the sort we saw in mid-July when the Yamuna was in spate and ‘G20 wallahs’ told us to remain indoors for a couple of days.
Hardly had 2023 begun when the city was rocked by the brutal death of a woman who was first knocked down by a car and then dragged. She suffered multiple fractures. The police’s role was questioned when the case was under investigation.
On the political front, the city began the year with Manish Sisodia, then Deputy CM, being sent behind bars in the now scrapped liquor excise policy. As the political temperature rose, a virtual fight began between L-G VK Saxena and the city government over who actually rules the city.
In May, the Supreme Court clarified that the L-G does not have sweeping executive powers over the city, and that the Centre should be mindful of the unique “asymmetric federal model” of governance adopted for Delhi.
Days later, the Centre promulgated an ordinance stating that it was the L-G who had the final say on transfers and postings of Delhi bureaucrats, and not the Delhi government. The Union government has established the National Capital Service Authority through an ordinance to make recommendations to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor regarding matters concerning transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters.
As politics overwhelmed the residents, came the floods with the government blaming the BJP-ruled Haryana government for haphazardly releasing a massive quantity of water from the Hathnikund Barrage. The Naval personnel had to be called in to open five jammed gates of the ITO barrage for speedy drainage of water. Hardly had the flood water problem been resolved than the toxic air hanging over the city took over the mindspace.
On the crime as well as on environmental fronts, one thing becomes clear: a Dilliwala is happier sitting at home than wasting one’s time in chock-a-bloc traffic under an ashen sky. Living in Delhi has come to such a pass that people have increasingly buying oxygen concentrators for their homes. All measures to contain pollution have ended up in failure because a) authorities go in circles to fix the bad air problem; b) there is no stopping the haphazard constructions and the burning of plastic in the open; and c) we are miles away from going fully electric. In a nutshell, we are hardly conscious about environmental degradation. That’s precisely the reason that the capital city’s ambient air remains largely “very poor” throughout the year. And that’s why Delhi is unmanageably big and dangerous.
