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| One of the bad roads of Bhopal |
Though
I am not given to give away good wishes to a politician on his birthday yet I
think I need to convey to Alok Sharma, Mayor of Bhopal, my heartiest greetings
wishing him numerous returns of this
day. At the same time I would want to remind him of his promise to convert the
decrepit Ridge Road into a “dinner plate” which the residents of the
neighbourhood could dine off. Three years have gone by when this promise was
made but the road has not been touched by his minions. It has become much worse
– a bone breaker, even a car wrecker.
One
knows that politicians are very good at making promises which generally are on
the wild side. They have a mouth which they like to shoot. This they do more so
while campaigning for elections but doing this after being elected and not
honouring the promises made verges on incompetence, insincerity, in fact,
dishonesty and amounts to taking the constituents for a long, long ride.
Having
visited the Road post-elections he had himself seen its condition and perhaps
that was the reason for his spontaneous reaction to give the residents a decent
road. But, having all the wherewithal and all the official paraphernalia, not
honouring for around three years what had come out of his mouth spontaneously would
seem to be duplicitous.
Bhopal
roads are so bad that its pot holes have been named after the “netas”. Its
inner roads are even worse - notorious for their rotten condition. Obviously
all the politicians of the local body are like the Mayor. The press has been
highlighting the condition of the roads on which accidents are routine which,
on many occasions, are fatal. But the municipality and its elected
representatives are impervious to all the criticisms and seldom respond to
people’s needs. Nothing affects the councillors – no criticism or condemnation.
They are busy in pocketing their pickings and build up their own assets. There
are a number of “rags-to-riches” stories circulating in the town.
Getting elected
as a councillor is a kind of initiation into electoral politics, the future of
which is paved with gold. No wonder majority of those who contest state
elections are billionaires and prospective multi-billionaires. For them people
and their needs hardly matter, who could as well go and eat grass. It is their
assets that need tending. After all, that is what gives them power and
influence.
A
bright young man of the neighbourhood had told me a few weeks ago that the work
for the Road had been approved and would be taken up after the monsoons. Even
the tendering process had been completed. But it is now two month since the monsoon
was officially stated to have withdrawn but there is no sign of the Ridge Road
being worked on. There is no tell-tale sign of a parked diesel roller along
with the mixers and ballast and other material. Perhaps the money for the work
has been diverted to areas where the work will be politically more beneficial
or productive. One really does not know, the municipality is very circumspect
in communicating with the people.
The
Mayor had once said that his ambition was to make Bhopal a Smart, a Digital and
a Global city. That is all very well; but one feels that he should first try
and make it a Happy City where people are happy and contented with the
municipal services that they get. If he cannot give a good and decent road to
the citizens one wonders whether he would really be able to give them a Smart,
Digital and Global City.
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