Roads, rains, etc

Updated on: 21 June,2011 08:43 AM IST |
Dilip Cherian |

While Mumbaikars are already getting the full taste of the monsoon: shoddy, potholed roads and being stuck in endless traffic jams, Dilli too is preparing to do its annual pothole count

Roads, rains, etc

u00a0It's become an annual ritual - the authorities confidently proclaim that they have repaired all roads and cleaned the drains in preparation for the monsoon, only to be let down by the very first showers.

After repeatedly facing flak for poorly maintained roads, this year the municipal authorities have announced a new plan. Unfortunately, it will be implemented only after the rainy season.

The MCD has decided to outsource the building and maintenance of all new roads in the capital to private contractors. Of course, all this planning is for future roads. As for the ones that already exist, no one has any solution, it seems.

Ganga clean-up
Staying with the water motif, remember we also have a dying river and a dead swami.

The $1 billion loan from World Bank to clean up the Ganga may have come too late for the fasting swami Nigamanand in Haridwar who died protesting illegal quarrying in the river. But his tragic end and Baba Ramdev's antics did draw Dilli's attention away to the Himalayan foothills and the problems of our holiest and unfortunately also the most polluted river.

Illegal sand mining, which claimed Nigamanand's life, is not the only concern. The river's poor health, despite spending hundreds of crores, is now being seen by the public as yet another example of greed and corruption
rampant in the country.

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