Living in National Capital Part 3: Delhi sees water crisis, Government fails to deliver

Every year summer brings the most difficult times for people in Delhi, especially those living in the slums and various villages of Delhi. Scarcity of water has been a political issue for a long time in Delhi. Kejriwal came to power with the promise of ensuring 700 liters of free water everyday for a family in Delhi. But it seems the government has failed to deliver on its promises.

Two days back hundreds of people from Sangam Vihar area in South Delhi protested outside the Delhi Jal Board office in Greater Kailash. Many women joined the protests. Because of the protest, there was almost a kilometer long jam on BRT road. BJP councilor from Sangam Vihar area Kalpana Jha also joined in to protest against Delhi Jal Board and Delhi government. BRT is one of the most important roads in Delhi, and a jam on it can disrupt life in city to a great extent.

In another instance, there have been reports of fights in several areas of Delhi for water. One such instance took place in DDA flats of Malviya Nagar, a middle class settlement in the city. People in the area have not received their water connection for the past one month due to failure of tube well in the locality. When the people went to meet the local MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj of Aam Admi Party, there erupted a fight between supporters of Bharadwaj and the protesters. People of the RWA have registered a FIR in the Malviya Nagar police station as well, accusing Bharadwaj of misbehaving with the women who went to protest and demanding proper action.

Water crisis in not new to Delhi. Political parties have been making it a big issue and winning elections promising to supply water to each and every corner of the city. The entire politics of AAP and Kejriwal had grown out on issues relating to water and electricity in Delhi. The erstwhile Congress government failed the people miserably. AAP took advantage of the situation and came to power. But there is hardly any difference in the lives of the people. Summers have shown true colour of politics, and people are protesting everywhere to make sure they get their share of water.

There is a huge discrimination in water supply in Delhi. The urban settlement of the city gets uninterrupted water supply, whereas people in the slums and suburbs struggle to get water. Kejriwal promised that every family- including those living in slums- will get water. But people in the slum are still to see this becoming reality. The temperature has already gone up in the city. Monsoon is still distant. With temperature rising up to 45 degree Celsius, many cases of heatstroke have been reported in the hospitals. The situation in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana is an alarm for all of us. More than 1,100 people have died due to heat waves. This is a genocide, and governments have not given it the proper attention.

It is the true test of the leader. Kejriwal needs to answer the problems in the most efficient manner, before the issue becomes unmanageable.

This article was first published on LokMarg on May 30, 2015

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IRKED WITH GOVT, ACID ATTACK FIGHTERS ON HUNGER STRIKE FROM DEC 12

The Acid Attack fighters and survivors will be sitting on hunger strike at Jantar Mantar from December 12, to make sure that the issue of Acid Attacks on women in India gets the attention it deserves. The winter session of the parliament is in progress, and despite the survivors meeting the Home Minister from the erstwhile UPA government, nothing concrete has been done at a policy level. The central and state governments are still to follow the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of India. Acids are easily available in loose bottles across the nation. The hunger strike is the simple non-violent way of reminding the Indian state about the forgotten promises. Acid Attack fighters Rupa, Ritu, Lakshmi and others will be initiating the hunger strike.

We believe it or not, Acid Attacks have become an integral part of the society we all are part of. As I write this article, I receive breaking news on my mobile that a young woman in Sri Nagar has been attacked by acid. We all have been reading about these attacks, and how the situation has only aggravated in absence of concrete policy by the center or the various state governments. The problem is deep rooted in the society. But it needs to be addressed by the policymakers at the earliest.

At a time when we silently witness the inaction of the government, the fighters have been doing things which need our attention. Stop Acid Attacks movement has started a model café in Agra called Sheroes Hangout, which is managed by women who have survived Acid Attacks and are fighting to make sure that it becomes a bigger issue. Ashish Shukla, convener of the Chhanv Foundation (which is behind the Stop Acid Attacks movement) says, “The demands are very simple. We are asking the Indian state to implement the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of the nation. The acids are easily available. There is no policy which makes sure the survivors receive a reasonable treatment at a good hospital, though the Supreme Court guidelines talk about all these. There are no plans by the government for the rehabilitation of the survivors. There needs to be burn centers at the district level. All of these need immediate attention.”

Even after repeated appeal by people from various segment of society, the situation remains worse. The Acid Attacks are driven on the machismo of the society. The issue needs intervention and attention at various levels. Let us hope we have a national policy which makes sure acids are not available easily, as well as there are proper rehabilitation policy for the acid attack survivors in the nation.

This article was first published on LokMarg on December 11, 2014

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UBER CAB RAPE CASE: TYPICAL KNEE-JERK APPROACH BY INDIAN STATE

The recent Uber Taxi rape case has raised eyebrows of the people at the helm of affairs in India. There is no blinking to the fact that Uber has had a rather controversial past in various countries. What comes as a shock is honorable Home Minister’s statement in the parliament where he said that he has asked states to ban all web based cab services! This is a typical knee jerk reaction of the Indian political class to any situation which gets highlighted in the mainstream media.

Yashna Shree, a Mumbai based journalist says, “By that logic buses should have been banned back in December 2012.” This comes as a logical remark from a young citizen of this country. We are not advocating Uber’s case here. But what is important for our politicians to realize is that it is not technology which needs to be blamed. It is the system which needs an urgent attention.

Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick while offering his condolences to the victim and offering his support to Indian government, said something very important. He said that clear background checks are currently absent in India’s commercial transportation licensing programs. This, does help Uber to shift onus on the Indian system (which is not flawless!), but cannot be a reason for Uber to expect any leniency from the law. At the same time, this must also be a time for us to critically revisit our own system in a city like Delhi which has been known for heinous incidents relating to women safety.

The small state of Delhi has recently seen a major political party lose election because women safety was made a big issue by other political parties. Aam Aadmi Party, which claims to champion the cause of women safety in Delhi has also been criticized on incident where one of its ministers in erstwhile government, Somnath Bharti, raided a house in Khidki Extension area, without taking the police in full confidence. Zeeshan Khan, a social activist from Delhi says, “Irrespective of political parties in power situation relating to women safety will be compromised. Even Aam Admi Party in their most recent radio campaign says that they will put CCTV camera on every street of Delhi, so that criminals are put behind the bars. This means there will be incidents for sure! Nobody is really interested in making sure that Delhi becomes a crime free zone.”

To say that banning cab providers is the ultimate solution will not be the right way forward. If there are no organized cab providers then Delhi will have to be dependent on unorganized cabs, who do not have proper rate chart, lack accountability,and we will never be sure if the cab drivers are verified or not. In case of Uber cab incident, at least we have an organization which needs to be questioned and make sure that not only the rapist Shiv Kumar Yadav is made accountable, but an organization as well.

There is no problem with web based cab services. What is important is that Delhi police, and other states, make sure that they have proper GPS in the cab, there is a safety button installed, and most importantly there is a proper accountability by the cab suppliers. In absence of the organized cab services, we will be left with the same drivers and same cabs- without any security measures.

An ideal situation will be when we all use bicycles to commute, but it is too much to expect from a commercial city like Delhi. Till then let out lawmakers and law protectors make sure that we have the safest cab experience.

This article was first published on LokMarg on December 10, 2014

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