At a time when the global community is doing its bit towards sustainable urbanisation, India should play a proactive role and discontinue poor urban planning
The relentless menace of dengue, chikungunya and malaria is a sordid tale of how poor politics, bad governance, lack of urban planning and civic sense is making the national capital look ugly. The people are clueless and helpless. It was perceived that malaria is a by-product of filth and also a thing of the past, but it has come back to sting us hard. Alongwith dengue and chikungunya, it has disrupted India's capital which incidentally boasts of swanky malls, world-class Metro and finest infrastructure.
Till date, malaria has claimed five lives and this should be a cause of worry for all because according to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, the disease has made a comeback after four years. Till Monday, Delhi recorded 2,625 cases of chikungunya and 1,378 cases of dengue. Experts say that the actual numbers is much higher. We have seen this saga repeat every year. We have seen adequate noises being created around this, including a slew of measures by the Government. However, in a few weeks, people will get busy with festivities and we will slip back into complacency, only to be haunted by the outbreak once again next year.
The outbreak of vector-borne diseases raises serious questions over the method and approach of the Aam Aadmi Party Government in Delhi. One of the primary reasons this new party — built on a cocktail of hype, soaring aspirations of change-seeking Delhiites, and apathy of mainstream political parties — got a mandate was because it promised to metamorphose governance. It ignited a rare hope to a new generation of change-obsessed people who were willing to sacrifice anything to see a new paradigm of governance. A crisis like this, which does not come uninformed, was a great occasion for the Party to prove it is different. But it seems, the AAP Government is as poor as its predecessors in tackling this menace.
Needless to say, it is also a by-product of poor politics. The Delhi Government has been at a perennial war with the Union Government, where the former has blatantly buried dignity and exhibited inane appetite to disrupt and deform political discourse. It has displayed an inexplicable immaturity in hurling disrespect on the office of the Prime Minister. That the party is more keen on grabbing power elsewhere than focus on delivery in its birth state, is proven by the Chief Minister's fierce campaign in Punjab, and hopeful eyes on Goa.
The yearly outbreak of dengue and chikungunya also exposes how poor urban planning can take a toll. Delhi is certainly among the finest cities in the country and has world-class facilities. However, it crumbles miserably in certain circumstances such as — water logging and outbreak of vector borne diseases — which are both annual miseries for Delhiites. Is it because all agencies involved in providing us a solution are stuck in a time-warp than adapting to the environmental and demographic changes around themIJ
I wish to ask the very talented set of urban planners at the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) about their thoughts on this outbreak, and whether they have a role or not in recommending measures to the Government. Incidentally, the Master Plan 2021 prepared by the DDA does not mention any such strategy on containing non-communicable diseases. While I am not an expert on urban matters, I am inclined to think that urban planning bodies must play a more proactive and holistic role in looking at problems like these. Globally, there are talks of sustainable urbanisation and why there is a need for robust linkages between urban planning and public health.
A report, ‘The City We Need 2.0’, which is an outcome of deliberations across the globe on urban planning, spells out 10 principles of a new urban paradigm and points to a fallacy in our system. According to the report, “One of the key challenges is poor planning, often using outdated and rigid planning approaches, that are surpassed by reality leading to urban sprawl, congestion, pollution and the wasteful use of land, water and energy exacerbating climate change.” Wonder if the DDA and Delhi Government's department of urban development would want to revisit their approaches, especially in wake of the replay of such outbreaks as well as the fact that many global communities are waking up to this need in their bid to contribute to the UN's New Urban Agenda on Sustainable Urbanisation. All this will remain in the realm of ideas, however, if the citizens were to remain apathetic towards the urgent need to keep our environment clean and healthy.