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(This post was adjudged one among the top 16 posts for the "Delhi - You Suggest" contest.) |
As the capital of a nation that is believed to become the next economic superpower in the coming years, Delhi surely stands up to its promise of being a sprawling metropolitan city and it continues to take giant strides towards becoming a world-class capital city. But at the same time, its impressive rise and formidable achievements in fostering growth and cultural dynamism often get nullified by various issues that ails Delhi today. Even as it is growing at an extraordinary pace, a quaint mix of dispiritedness and yearning is in the air!
Delhi has today earned the reputation of being notoriously unsafe for women. Crimes against women continue unabated despite the slew of preventive measures having been taken. Whether in a public transport or in her personal vehicle or on foot, the fear of being pawed and harassed or even worse, sits quietly within every girl in Delhi today! A lot of women have found it so stressful coping with the harassment they face every other day. But enacting and implementing stricter laws or harsher punishments alone won't make the lanes of Delhi any safer. A lot needs to be done if Delhi intends to shed its tag of being the 'rape capital'! It's not just the policing of the public spaces that needs to be improved further by the administration; the people of the city also need to change their mindset and behaviour towards women. Unless the men in Delhi change their psyche and do some soul-searching about the extent of their complicity with sexism and misogyny, whether knowingly or unknowingly, all measures will prove to be futile.
Delhi had the privilege of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010 because of which its infrastructure and transportation facilities improved significantly. The roads were widened and several flyovers were constructed. But even then, traffic congestion continues to be a menace on most roads as the number of vehicles being added to the roads continue to swell. More lanes could be added to the existing roads to control the traffic flow but that will only provide a temporary relief. With the bulging population, traffic congestion will only get worse in the future. It is also adding to the levels of air pollution in the city. A great way to lessen the carbon emissions on the roads is to reduce the number of personal vehicles on the road. Commuters headed in the same direction can travel together through carpooling. People also need to use the public transit more often. The Delhi Metro in this regard has surely succeeded in providing comfortable enough transport to lure commuters out of their cars!
Water shortage has been a perennial problem in New Delhi. Come the months of summer and a bulk of the Delhiites face severe water supply crunch. Add to that, the long hours of power outages that have become a common feature during the time almost every year. With rapid urbanisation and the resulting concretion, the under ground water table is fast depleting. People should be encouraged for rain water harvesting as a measure to tackle water scarcity. More number of water treatment plants should also be built to ensure clean water supply. Consumers should rationalise their power consumption and so also should be encouraged to install solar panels in their homes as alternative sources of power.
In addition to the above-stated problems, cases of clogged drains and water-logging during the monsoons, lack of cleanliness and hygiene at most of the public spaces in the city, the crime rate in the city, the deteriorating safety conditions on the roads, the erosion of green cover for the concrete jungles are some of the various major problems that plague the city today.
These problems need to be eradicated if Delhi has to become a a global metropolis and a truly world-class city in the real sense of the word, and earn the respect of not only the international community but also of its own citizens.