Smart People and Un-Smart City

[How unscrupulous denizens and passive and toothless government agencies are slowly killing our urban habitations. And how just pumping money into developing infrastructure alone is not going to help the cities without addressing the core issue of enforcement of civic laws]

Barely had the dust of the location of the IIM issue settled, last week, we woke up to the fresh controversy concerning the selection of SMART Cities in Odisha. As if we had fewer controversies on our table, Cuttack observed a spontaneous (sic) bandh and not to be left behind, Sambalpur and Berhampur showed their usual displeasure of being prevented from taking benefit of the largesse that is expected under the scheme - all voicing their anger over the unfair selection process and many other routine allegations.

To the uninitiated, it looked as if the central government had promised to change the city overnight by waving its magic wand. And as alleged, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela perhaps have walked away with the only two coupons the centre had given them, without considering worthier claimants. Was there any basis for such an allegation or it was just a local political issue? It left many confused.

Researching the scheme and what it promises, one would find that there is nothing magical that the scheme promises. Under this scheme, a few model cities would be developed across India as lighthouses for other cities to emulate. In the past, many such urban reconstruction missions have been initiated and implemented. This time it’s just that a few cities are going to get an additional few hundred crores every year for five years for specific initiatives. The guideline of the scheme enumerates the objectives and a few interventions. Whereas most of the interventions are suggestive in nature, the actual designing of the initiatives has been left to the urban local bodies, thus the people, in general, to decide what is good for them. That brings us to the core of the issue of looking at the history and role of people and government in making our urban habitations unliveable even after a massive infrastructure push in the last few years.

Let’s, for the time being, ignore all other factors that have contributed to forming the urban mess we live in. When we face the word ‘encroachment’ the picture of a boundary annexing land illegally, a structure built, a temporary cabin established and shanties and squalor put up, generally come to our mind. Let us again not discuss such encroachments which are a result of urban migration and lack of economic opportunities in our villages. So ingrained is this typical image of encroachment in people’s minds that someone who hasn’t done the above looks like a saint.

Below are a few examples that our smart denizens adopt to prevent being implicated under the prevailing provisions of law addressing encroachment but still manage to keep them under their de facto control by preventing others from using it.

Running a Commercial Establishment or a shop in a building meant for residential use.

Unauthorized cordoning off of the front area of a building in the name of the plantation. Planting trees without gaps or huge trees is inappropriate for avenues.

Building platforms around trees and planting Gods under them.

Erecting signboards by the side of the road

Building raised platforms in front of plots above the road level and building ramps or steps to plots on public land

Leaving high mounds of clay or building debris and abandoned vehicles on the road.

PHED building manholes and inspection chambers well above the road level.

Electricity utilities building space-consuming distribution transformer structures adjoining roads instead of using pole-mounted structures.

Practically, anyone who indirectly or directly prevents the government or general people from using the road and space adjoining it for commutation or such purposes amounts to encroachment. The above cases demonstrate how the enlightened citizens of our cities wilfully annex land abutting their houses for exclusive usage. One such occurrence on a road is enough to affect the general flow of traffic in the whole stretch. Here the administration takes an ostrich approach towards such events encouraging the number of such events to increase.

Proper buildings, un-encroached roads, vendors and squatters free roadside, and adherence to traffic rules and parking are a few of the predictors of the general attitude of the citizens towards their fellow citizens and the efficiency of the law-implementing authorities. Research shows that the more disciplined the city, the more liveable it is.

So, there is more smartness in being disciplined and enforcing discipline than waiting for the magician’s magic wand to turn our cities into a piece of heaven. Instead of blaming the centre and waiting for them to solve our self-created owes, or fighting amongst ourselves, shall we start the initiative of the good citizenry from our side first?