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Like the proverbial darkness under the lamp, the national capital Delhi has many black spots which come to light only when there is a tragedy. In-fact, apart from the Lutyens’ Delhi, which spreads over nearly 42 square kilometres, the rest of the city has been established in violation of several civic rules, necessary to building a smart city. It’s a pity that despite such rampant illegal activities, the concerned authorities have remained silent for years. As a result, once known as a planned city, Delhi has become unfit for living. The city’s pollution level, extreme weather conditions and violations of safety norms are all claiming precious lives with unfailing regularity.
Merely a month ago, deaths were reported from the city due to extreme heat wave-like conditions. In a tragic twist, the rain following the prolonged heat wave failed to provide relief to the citizens as the onset of monsoon has claimed the lives of three IAS-aspirants, who drowned when the basement in which they were studying suddenly got submerged. Videos of the tragic incident show that the students were desperately trying to come out of the basement but couldn’t do so as no help was available. To many the incident may appear to be a rare occurrence, but those familiar with Delhi’s history are constantly worried about facing such tragedies.
It may sound strange that even in the 21st century buildings are constructed in many parts of the city without approval of construction plans by local municipal authorities. It’s ironic that while banks never sanction home loans for such unauthorised constructions, the municipal bodies rarely take action against violators. Until a few years ago, properties in Delhi changed hands without proper registration. After a lackadaisical attitude for many years, the government has finally made registration mandatory for acquiring property. But, it still remains a silent spectator for violations of building rules. The recent tragedy could well have been averted if the authorities had strictly implemented building safety rules. The collusion between builders and municipal officials is quite evident from the fact that even after 72 hours of the tragic incident, not a single municipal official was punished for dereliction of duties.
The action taken by the authorities following the tragic incident, which includes the closing of 13 more coaching institutions in the national capital, is too little a consolation. The need of the hour is to relocate all erring private coaching institutes to nearby educational institutions with proper safety norms until the buildings of the coaching centres are rebuilt in accordance with safety standards. Similarly, safety of hostels and paying guest accommodations providing temporary shelter to students should be under constant vigil of the authorities. Overall, the development of buildings should only be allowed if all safety protocols are followed and regular inspections must be conducted to enforce upkeep of safety standards. To ensure that such dangerous incidents of negligence are not repeated, those responsible should be dealt with firmly to prevent Delhi from turning into a ‘death trap’.