Real danger awaits
Indian metros –why?
What is common to
Chennai floods, population growth in Delhi, Mumbai floods and Bangalore traffic
jams?
Starting from Chennai floods devastation to yearly flooding
of Mumbai and its overcrowded trains to exponentially increasing population of
Delhi to perennially traffic jammed roads of Bangalore all are merely the
symptoms on surface of a grave disease and a deep rooted malady which has not
been addressed by Indian Governments seriously till 2014.
After NDA came to power in 2014 May they tried to address
this issue but as usual nexus of some opposition parties long with vested
interest NGOs and the ignorant and indifferent media anchor room judges
contributed to stall this progressive step.
I was born in a village with a very fertile land so
naturally agriculture was the primary as well as predominant activity and
source of livelihood.
But I did not have good schools, obviously no college nor industry
nor proper roads.
Like the human body requires various parts any geographical
region also requires various activities and facilities to live.
So when I wanted my son to get educated I was forced to sell
the agricultural land and migrate to suburb to work in some urban
activity.
However as we could not afford cost of living in metros we
chose to reside some thirty KMS away from metro city traveled everyday to
work. Travelling took 4 hours of our daily life.
Fortunately my children got educated they have obtained
vehicle loans and are travelling everyday in their private individual vehicles
two wheeler and four wheeler but spend almost the same amount of time everyday
in travel.
We are not an isolated case leading this type of life style
there are thousands like us who have migrated and lead a similar life and
contributing to the growth of automobile industries, fuel industries and adding
to pollution, back pain and pulmonary disorders.
When I thought of the vicious circle of this economic model
where one’s problem enriches others’ business and went to visit the poor
farmers in my village working hard and continue to be at the mercy of
middlemen.
I felt that I must bring my leftover poor villagers also to
this new found lifestyle of relative comforts with all its daily struggle in
urban and suburban areas but I was astonished to find many NGOs making business
out of poverty eradication programs and therefore had given these villagers a
false sense of perennial hope masking eternal want and dependence on doles with
controlled doting out of freebies.
Then I felt why we cannot have at least a bit of everything
in every place.
It is in short, if described devoid of jargons of specialist economists and
management gurus, known as balanced overall economic development of all areas
with at least basic infrastructure like roods, good schools, hospitals,
industries etc so that we can avoid huge migration of everyone to the metro for
a decent living.
This requires implementation of Land Acquisition Act but
then political parties and NGOs who make a living by making people remain poor
so that they can continue to peddle slogans of victimhood and ensure these poor
people flock around them won’t allow India to develop everywhere with
infrastructure.
It does not require a rocket scientist to identify the deep
disease and also the obvious remedy.
Now that Land Acquisition Act is blocked by all vested
interest status quo addicts the government can indirectly give lot of exemption
and also extend tax benefits to those who start good schools, hospitals and
industry in non urban and suburban areas, then reintroduce bills to bring in
infrastructure development in villages.
No comments:
Post a Comment