WHO SHOULD TAKE CARE OF OUR CITIES?

Newspapers frequently report on conferences being held (in our metro cities, the most recent being in Mumbai) to promote urban redevelopment. That there is a need to do so is emphasized repeatedly. I am glad that we have finally felt the need for it! Numerous suggestions are given on what ought to be done. But nobody ever talks of who should do what! When it comes to identifying different roles for city managers, a blame game follows regarding responsibilities and problems. Nobody wants to actually take up the cudgels and perform the task earnestly and urgently.

We have in India two major city development organisations, the Municipality and the Development Authority, and often a separate Planning Board, over and above an entire gamut of agencies like the PWD, the Urban Arts Commission, the Archaeological Survey of India, all of which work independently and create more confusion in the city than plan and provide services. To add to our woes we also have the Water and Sanitation Boards, the Electricity Boards, the Telecom agencies and all the special Commissions and Authorities to promote ad hoc programmes and projects, rarely with any coordination among them. Above all, we have the Government of India’s Ministry of Urban Development to take care of our cities nationally!

Yet, a visit to any Indian city frustrates a common man, to find each of our cities in utter chaos, be it our mega or metro cities or our small towns. Travel to any city and what first meets your eyes is filth along the railway tracks that welcome each visitor. Enter the city and you find roads with potholes, broken pavements encroached by peddlers and petty businesses, cows and stray dogs running amok on the roads, congested and confused landuse, no street lights, no public toilets or sanitation facilities, with the city’s garbage strewn all over and what have you to add to the disgrace! Even the national capital, Delhi, is not spared of such unpleasantness. As for city aesthetics and landscaping, we Indians do not believe in such ideology! We clean our houses and throw the garbage onto the streets. After all it is not our property; and neither is it our duty to keep the city clean. We pay our taxes to the municipality to do so. Then why should the local government not clean up the city for us, irrespective of how much we dirty it! We feel it is our birthright to misuse public places and shift all responsibility to the government for maintenance.

I sometimes wonder as to when will Indians (and I am one of them) learn to take care of the place where they live? We all appreciate cities of developed countries, their order, their cleanliness, their systems and their aesthetics. But why are we not able to move forward beyond conference halls and board room discussions and repair our own cities? What is in our psyche that makes us ignore the upkeep of the city? Where do we go wrong? What is lacking in our character that prevents us from taking care of our cities? Why do we take pride in disobeying rules? Why do we encroach pavements that are meant for pedestrians to walk? Why do we spit on the roads? And why do we use every street corner as a urinal? So, what should we do to bring some sanity into our cities and urban living? Where do we begin? Should we start with sanitation and infrastructure or with housing and area planning?

Such city conditions only go to prove that there is something very fundamentally wrong with our culture. We do not love our habitats, and of course, we have no respect either for our cities or our fellow citizens, for we never ever think of keeping the place clean, leave alone following rules or abiding by regulations. How many of us ever think that an act of mine might trouble another? We are selfish down to the core. As long as an individual is satisfied, why bother about others! Irregular parking of cars in unauthorized places is a live example.

Let us ask ourselves a few questions. Who lives in a city? Why do we live in a city? Who uses the city’s infrastructure? Who earns a livelihood from the city; or does business in a city to earn a profit? Who comes to the city for recreation, studies and medical care? Each one of us who come to the city to gain from it should look after the city. The common expectation is to seek government help. But do individuals not use or enjoy city benefits? If so, how much are we contributing to its upkeep or development? The poor are unable to pay the taxes; the middle income group wants their taxes to be minimal; and the corporate sector wants all infrastructural services free of cost. We do not want to give. We only believe in receiving. As for following regulatory measures, we feel proud to break rules and revel at one-upmanship. We do not want to acknowledge social prudence. We wonder why people cannot mind their own business!

Leave aside personal attitudes that are a function of our surroundings and upbringing. I feel we need to be more professional and introduce systematic and mandatory area development. India is well advanced in framing laws and rules. We already have in place provisions for area planning and development through the 74th amendment of our Constitution. We elect our local government representatives who misuse the powers bestowed on them. We have contemplated adequately on public-private partnerships in practically all our policy documents to emulate the West. We have defined roles of agencies and assigned responsibilities to various actors and players meticulously. Then where have we failed? I think each one of us should search our hearts to find if we have been good to our city and have contributed to our city’s development or upkeep. Let each one of us take a vow to do one good act everyday for our city. Citizens should be the foremost caretakers.

As for the planning and the administrative agencies, each operates for themselves. We are unable to coordinate. All have their priorities and are insensitive to wasting time and resources in duplicating activities. A PWD or the municipality paves a road, which is dug up the very next day to lay sewerage pipes or telecom cables and then left in an unkempt condition for the municipality to repair. The road continues to be a public hazard for months together or sometimes even for years! Again, when streets are swept, the garbage is collected by another agency or division that takes their own time to lift it. By then the garbage is scattered by the wind all over again. I sometimes wonder as to who created our systems? Or perhaps, who spoilt our systems that were in place once upon a time! It sounds like a fairytale today! Are we a pack of illogical citizens with no common sense at all? I am refraining from talking of intelligence. That is confined only to our conference halls and board rooms! We are happy with our malls and supermarkets. We think that is development; not building systems that work. I thought development brings about refinement; sympathy for others; consideration for fellow citizens. Does that hold good for Indians? Everyone feels s/he should get priority in enjoying all the privileges found in a city.

But there was a time when we did things together as a community, joined hands for a common cause, gave succor to the needy and followed rules and regulations. Where have all our virtues gone? There are times when one feels that though underdevelopment gave us a fear psychosis to obey, it at least nurtured the sincerity to follow rules. Today with a sense of independence and confidence we do not care for others. As long as individual needs are satisfied, we are happy. Competition has made us very insensitive to our surroundings. In an effort to survive, we are prepared to knowingly harm others. We want quality time only for ourselves, disregarding how our activities would impact on others. Some are careless, some are defiant, some do not want to interfere and some are frustrated and disinterested. That is our present state of human and social quality. So, do we blame each other or start thinking afresh? Do we take upon ourselves the responsibility to look after our cities or treat them as somebody else’s property? In that case, what right do we have to take from the city the services we enjoy?

I think we need to have urban managers along with our city/urban planners to strategically operationalise implementation. Needless to say legislations might have to be modified or changed to suit the context. Regulators will have to be more ethical and not succumb to political pressures. The strength to do so should come from strict administration. Most of all, the urge to improve the city should come from the common man. Unless we have a sense of ownership (and we all realize that) we will not reach our goals. If each one of us is sincere, we are bound to succeed. But the question is how do we do so?

An effort has to be made to put in place a system that would have adequate flexibility to include modifications with population expansion. We need to take up area development practices step by step and not dig up the entire city at one go and thereby create confusion. We need to decide on the FAR zone-wise (which I think we already have) and stick to the building by-laws. We need to weed out encroachment and corruption for which a lot of cooperation, coordination and courage are required. We need a one window solution for permissions and guidelines to speed up city development activities. Above all, we need community participation, at any cost. This should be made mandatory and fool proof for every residential and commercial area. There are different ways of doing so. Habit formation and awareness will have to be part of the implementation and management processes. We need some social mentors to make things happen. Public-private and community partnerships should be introduced urgently.

All these require discipline and an attitudinal change. If not done willingly it has to be forced on citizens. If we are fined for breaking traffic rules, why are we not penalized for spitting on the roads? I think community organisations will have to become operative to impart such knowledge to people. This has to be done at all income and education levels. Our real problems are not as much of lack of services, as of indiscipline. However, all arrangements will have to be made befitting the culture of the place. The ideology behind any urban renewal process is to do a need assessment of the community, or the users, before estimating to provide and plan.

So far the corporate sector has paid little attention to city development. If citizens, who pay their taxes, can contribute to city improvement (I suggest all citizens to be alert), why cannot the corporate sector take up city development as part of their obligation to the city that houses them and their employees who draw services from the city? Once an industry or a firm is set up, a city provides housing, education, healthcare, recreation, etc. to all its employees. Should the corporate sector then not assist in real estate development for their employees? I would suggest industrial areas or SEZs to be promoting housing complexes for their employees along with adequate social facilities. Townships built by large industries (especially in newly planned cities) are not uncommon in India. Many public sector industries and large business houses (Tata’s, SAIL, BPCL, etc.) have already done so. If immediate requirements of employees are taken care by the employers, the government can look after the interstitial areas by providing and maintaining the connecting infrastructure. What is required is an immense amount of dedication to do so. Why not we give a try at public-private-community partnerships and make our cities better! What is ultimately required is a strong will to attain success; and this will emanate only if we love our cities and towns.

However, ad hocism will have to be eliminated. A careful, meticulous implementation strategy will have to be formulated to make city management efficient. The area development process should be adopted to avoid confusion. This is possible when wardwise development is promoted by the elected councilors. Above all, there is need to train city managers to do their tasks sincerely. Upgrading city infrastructure should be a continuous process with efficient monitoring. This has to be done by one and all and not just the assigned agencies of the city government. Conferences and seminars will then be replaced by action research, planning and management.