Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana and Bharatpur in Rajasthan will now be a part of the National Capital Region. Rajesh Kumar, Aditi Gupta and Mahender Singh Manral visit these places to see how it’s going to make a difference
Almost 125 km from Delhi, Bhiwani appears a different world altogether. Roads are broken, buildings dilapidated, and autorickshaws and buses well past their expiry dates. Ask anyone here about the distance of Mahendragarh, one of the three towns along with Bhiwani and Bharatpur to have been included in the National Capital Region (NCR) recently, and the answer will be in hours and not kilometres. “Two to three hours,” most people would say, reminding us of Amitava Kumar’s latest book,
A Matter of Rats.“No one tells you the distance between two places in kilometres,” writes Kumar about Bihar, “instead, because everything depends on the condition of the roads, distance is always discussed in terms of time.” One encounters large hoardings of international brands like levi’s, Reebok, Nike and Adidas, yet Bhiwani remains a picture of utter neglect. Even basic facilities like water and healthcare aren’t available too easily.
And when they are available, their quality remains suspect. Ajay, a tea-stall owner, has a story to tell. “They (authorities) dig roads and damage water pipelines. Because of this, drinking water often gets contaminated with sewer water,” says he. Water is contaminated to the extent that one can see worms floating at times. “The smell of water is so putrid that it almost appears like urine. Sewer water is what we get here,” complains a resident.
The state of healthcare isn’t healthy either. In a district with a population of more than 15 lakh, there is just a single government hospital. A visit to Bansi lal Government Hospital, located in the heart of Bhiwani, is enough to comprehend the sorry state of affairs. There’s 65-year-old Bhateri, who has got her pregnant daughter admitted here. She is lying unattended for three days now. “My daughter is in a critical condition. They say there is no gynecologist to treat her,” says she. Sitting on the opposite side is a 60-year-old man with a stoical face. “My wife has suffered a cardiac arrest, but this hospital does not have a single cardiologist. I am unemployed and, thus, cannot afford a private hospital,” says he, bursting into tears.
Unemployment is deeply embedded in Bhiwani. According to a government report, the non-working population in the district is nearly 80 per cent, despite 60 per cent literacy. Many comparatively literate young men are forced to go unemployed. Some others do jobs which they think aren’t worth their qualifications. Twenty-five-year-old Jai Prakash, an autorickshaw driver, is one of them. “I am a graduate in Arts but couldn’t leave Bhiwani due to financial reasons. This district doesn’t have employment opportunities, and that’s why I drive an auto everyday for my livelihood,” says Prakash with an air of melancholy.
Bhiwani is only the beginning. Take a 70-km-long bumpy ride from here, and you reach Mahendragarh, the other district of Haryana which is now a part of the NCR, which already has 16 districts from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan (there’s also a proposal to include Jind and Karnal into the NCR).
Broken roads with big potholes greet visitors as they enter Mahendragarh. like Bhiwani, this district is plagued with the malaise of unemployment. According to the Primary Census Abstract 2011, the working population in Mahendragarh is less than 30 per cent out of its total population of nine lakh. A large part of this small working population is engaged in agriculture, which is their ancestral occupation. In the current scenario, however, the land is becoming increasingly uncultivable. The lack of proper agricultural tools and non-availability of irrigation facilities, along with poor power supply, make the crops suffer and farmers are left with nothing but downright deprivation.
“Farming is not fetching us anything. We have heard about better irrigation facilities but we can’t have them,” grumbles a farmer. The rest of the working population earns its livelihood through street vending, driving autorickshaws and owning tea-stalls. These ‘self-employed’ people are single bread-earners in their big families, struggling relentlessly in providing basic facilities to their near-and-dear ones.
The 45-year-old Rajesh, head of the family and a hawker who quenches thirst of passersby with a glass of water for 50 paise, shares his agony. “I completed my schooling but couldn’t get a job better than this.I don’t earn more than Rs 500 a month. I am unable to provide basic needs to my wife and four-year-old child,” says he.
Mahendragarh fares worse than Bhiwani as far as water, roads and schools are concerned. Even senior district officials complain about lack of infrastructure in Mahendragarh, which was named one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640) a few years ago. “Here all roads are broken which obstruct everyday commutation. The first thing that needs to be repaired is the roads. The Government must release money for that,” says Jagdish Chander, deputy manager, Harijan Kalyan Nigam.
Bharatpur, in Rajasthan, around 180 km from Delhi, has a different story to tell. Unlike Bhiwani and Mahendragarh, it has never been a nondescript destination, celebrated as it is for its bird sanctuary— Keoladeo National Park. The place, however, is slowly losing its lustre; so much so that it is now on the verge of losing its World Heritage Site tag, which was bestowed by UNESCO way back in 1985.
Water diversion to nearby farmlands is taking a huge toll on the park and its inhabitants, consisting of more than 350 bird species. The sanctuary needs adequate quantity of water, especially in July, August and September when birds lay eggs. “We have recently sanctioned Rs 15 lakh for the project to arrange water in the park area. With the decision to include Bharatpur into the NCR, we are hoping that the Union Government will also allocate more funds for the district, which will certainly help in the growth of infrastructure and, of course, the sanctuary,” says Niraj Kumar Pawan, District Collector of Bharatpur. He reiterates the need to make several eco-friendly huts for tourists and birdwatchers, in addition to sanctioning the fencing of the park. “As no major industry is left in the region, tourism is significant for Bharatpur’s economy. If tourism gets a boost, it will help the entire population here in getting a decent source of income,” adds he.
Pawan also reveals the district administration’s ambitious plan to perk up tourism. The district is well-connected with Delhi through road and rail links, yet it lacks basic medical facilities and educational institutions. “It even does not have a single film theatre,” says Pawan. “After becoming a part of the NCR, the district administration has decided to open a new theatre in Bharatpur. We also plan to redevelop the lohagarh fort. One of the lesser known places, the Deeg fort also needs a proper promotional strategy to attract people. Majority of tourists leave the district after visiting the bird sanctuary. The city has potential. We need to showcase its history, culture and heritage,” adds the District Collector.
Bharatpur is surrounded by Gurgaon district of Haryana in the north, Mathura and Agra districts of Uttar Pradesh in the east, Dholpur and Karauli in the south, and Alwar in the west, all in Rajasthan. Ironically, while Alwar, Mathura, Karauli and Gurgaon have all emerged as major industrial and realty centres, Bharatpur lags far behind. In recent years, even the number of wildlife enthusiasts has declined considerably. Several tourist cottages and hotels dotting the highway passing through the district are facing existential threats. “Tourists will come in large numbers if the Government provides them better roads and infrastructure,” says Tikam Singh Bhont, owner of a prominent hotel in Bharatpur.
Realtors in Bharatpur believe that the NCR tag will be a turning point for the district. “We used to receive calls from industrialists in Delhi and Mumbai and they would appear interested in investing in Bharatpur. But, they would retract at the last moment. We believe that after becoming a part of the NCR, our city will also develop like Noida or Gurgaon,” says Abhayvir Solanki, who has been running a real estate business in Bharatpur for the past 10 years.
Even people in Mahendragarh feel that the NCR tag will improve their lifestyle. “We get water once in three days and that too sometimes mixed with sewer water. Also, we have to deal with frequent power cuts everyday. Things should improve now that we are joining the NCR,” says an employee of the Block Administration office, Mahendragarh Court.
Real estate is likely to be the most bullish sector. “Current property rate in Mahendragarh is Rs 20,000 per sq ft. With the inclusion in the NCR, the rates are likely to increase by at least 30 per cent,” informs Vijay Singh Yadav, a Mahendragarh-based advocate. But not everything is gung ho. Gulshan, a Bhiwani-based property broker, believes that the move is just a political gimmick. “For at least 10 years nothing is going to happen. The cities will remain wretched as they have been. It’s an election strategy to draw maximum votes,” says he.
Whatever be the truth, the fact remains that even Delhi stands to gain from this move. Experts believe that the expansion would help in the dispersal of economic activities and reduce pressure on the Capital’s health, educational and economic infrastructure. The expansion of the NCR will ensure more options for those looking for cheap residential properties. These areas have more scope for affordable housing. The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) data shows that there has been steep decline in migration from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to Delhi from 70.68 per cent in 1971-81 to 57.09 per cent in 2001. The inclusion of three districts is expected to reduce this migration further.
Rakesh Kumar, a real estate agent in Bhiwani, expresses hope that with their formal integration with the NCR, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Bharatpur can expect better infrastructure, improved connectivity with Delhi and other regions, and more development.
Government officials say inclusion of these districts in the NCR means more funds for infrastructure such as public transport, healthcare, education, etc. This will also bring boom in real estate. With better connectivity and infrastructure, people will start moving to these new cities. However, except for Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon, the dispersal being talked about has largely remained a mirage. It is no secret that the plan to shift Central Government offices to the NCR has failed miserably. It’s not these offices but corporate organisations that have shifted base to Gurgaon and Noida. Except for bordering areas of Delhi, there is no development in Jhajjar, Rewari, Baghpat, Hapur, Mewat and Palwal areas. To make matters worse, NCRPB’s regional plan that calls for integrated transport, power, water and housing systems remains only on paper, thus hampering allround development of these areas. For instance, while the Delhi Development Authority provides housing in the Capital, in other areas the job is mostly left to private developers, resulting in skewed development.
The NCR concept has, so far, not really paid off. Haphazard development has meant that while some areas like Gurgaon, which incidentally has the third highest per capita income in the country after Chandigarh and Mumbai, have developed fast, others have fallen way behind. One hopes that the three new additions don’t fall in the second category. Odds, however, are not in their favour, as they fare poorly on the development index. Whether this happens or not, one thing is certain: Soon the people of these three districts will learn to answer distance in kilometres, rather than in hours.