The city is going through a plethora of improvements – here a pedestrian plaza, there a pothole free road and a park under a flyover someplace else. Added to this is the spate of announcements – flyovers and name change of streets being the most visible among them. All of this is an indication that the electoral code of conduct will kick in soon. If you want anything done by the authorities, now is your opportunity. You may at worst get an assurance of action and at best you may find action taken. The problem is, that all of these activities, these massive and miniscule civic projects, are only keeping in mind visibility. There are no long term and sustainable solutions in sight for the city’s perennial problems.
Take for instance the issue of erratic drains and rising road levels. We are yet to find a lasting solution to these twin menaces that have left countless residential localities subject to flooding. The city is crying out for an area-by-area study of this issue and a lasting solution that demands political will and a massive financial outlay. Once this is done there need be no further piecemeal fixes but then, that may not be an ideal answer given the way politics works in our country.
We next come to the traffic problem. Our city administration has only one answer – widen roads, sacrifice sidewalks and build flyovers. All this panders only to the transit and therefore vehicle population. What happens to local residents? Why should they accept a less-than-ideal quality of life to allow cars and two-wheelers to get faster to their destination? Are the people in these areas of lesser importance? With the CMRL rapidly forging ahead and much work being done with other means of public transport, the city authorities need to focus on getting commuters to use public transport to a greater degree and therefore free up road space. Simply widening roads and constructing flyovers is hardly a sustainable solution.
Let us now consider the rampant permits being given to construct high-rise just about anywhere. Time and again the Government itself is the culprit, for it has announced mega building projects in core congested areas that are already crying out for open space. Kuralagam is a classic example, as is the construction of Central Plaza on which work has already begun. We then hear of Island Grounds being eyed. What do we then have left? And couple this with repeated failures by the authorities to rein in rogue builders who construct on just about any space, including lakes. Does it require judicial intervention each time? If so, why not simply adopt a policy that all real estate projects will need High Court clearance?
If we take up traffic discipline next, how do we impose it on the everyday road user when politicians and government servants are the biggest violators? Does our police have the wherewithal to fine these rogue vehicles that go around with the arrogance of being above the law? Lastly, there is city beautification, which is always only cosmetic and never structural. To what purpose a war on posters when the party in power is the greatest violator? To what end pedestrian plazas if the neighbourhood must bear the brunt of a haphazard car parking? To what conclusion do we come on garbage handling if segregation at source cannot be implemented and mere collection of refuse, to be dumped elsewhere, is continued forever? And finally, how does rainwater harvesting help if most of the larger projects do not implement it?
A party that is elected needs to ponder over the long term, if it intends to continue in power in the long run.