Opinion - News Analysis

Overstretched

Power cuts, water shortages, a creaking transport system. An inseparable part of life for Delhiites.

The homeless have little choice.

THE EVER-INCREASING influx of migrants — both domestic and foreigners — coupled with unplanned growth is telling on Delhi's infrastructure and civic amenities. With the city's population touching 1.40 crores at the beginning of this year, the scenario looks bleak.

Constant power cuts, acute shortage of water coupled with an alarming fall in the water table, a creaking transport system, a shrinking green cover. Then there is the problem of availability of land leading to an acute shortage of housing.

The Delhi Development Authority is struggling to meet the rising demand for dwelling units of various categories. Against the requirement of 18 lakh to 20 lakh dwelling units till 2001, the DDA had provided only around two lakh units till date. And, Delhi continues to grow at a faster rate than anticipated in the master plan. The mushrooming of jhuggi-jhonpri clusters and unauthorised colonies too has affected civic services. For instance, the requirement of water for the 14 million people is around 700 MGD (million gallons a day) against which the Delhi Jal Board is able to supply only 600 MGD. Similarly, about 600 MGD of sewage is generated daily in the city as against the installed carrying capacity of 384 MGD. At present, 55 per cent of the population is covered under an organised conventional sewerage system and about 15 per cent under an on-site sanitation system. But, 30 per cent of the population in the city remains without proper access to sanitation facilities.

The situation in the city hospitals is no better. As against the national norm of 5 beds per 1,000 people, Delhi has 2.2. The basic facilities in the hospitals are a shambles and it is common to witness two to three patients occupying a single bed.

As for solid waste, a large part of it is not collected for treatment and disposal. This despite the fact that the waste generation per capita in Delhi is one of the highest in India. The existing landfill sites are shrinking and it has become extremely difficult to locate new areas to dump garbage.

Delhi is predominantly dependent on road transport with the Railways catering to only about 1 per cent of the local traffic. The Ring Rail network is grossly under-used. Buses account for only 1.2 per cent of the total vehicles on the road but cater to about 60 per cent of the total demand, while personal vehicles account for 30 per cent. The slow moving vehicles, mostly cycles and cycle rickshaws, have maintained a constant rise in numbers. It is estimated that around 3 lakh rickshaws ply on Delhi roads.

The power sector too has failed to keep pace and internal generation has remained stagnant over the past two decades. It stood at around 300 MW in the 1980s and is only around 600 MW at present.

The per capita consumption and annual demand for power has been increasing by more than 10 per cent per annum. On the other hand, transmission and distribution losses have sharply risen from 22 per cent in 1991-92 to around 52 per cent in 2001-02.

In fact, misuse of power and thefts by jhuggi-jhonpri clusters, unauthorised colonies, industries and commercial establishments is among highest in Delhi.

Sujay Mehdudia

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• A show of anger
• Teeming millions, tottering city
• Everyman's El Dorado
• Overstretched

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