Advantage lawmakers

Finally, the courts have taken cognisance of the fact that Delhi has become a magnet for those who will subvert the town-planning system just to live here

By Omesh Saigal

I remember that a colleague, who had retired from service in Punjab, desired to settle down in Delhi but found that it was expensive if you wanted to do it legally. It was dirt cheap, however, if you opted for illegality—that is, if you lived in one of the so-called unauthorised colonies or in a farm area. Sainik Farms was, at that time, available for less than Rs 2,000 per square yard,
as opposed to about 25 times as much in nearby colonies such as Saket and Greater Kailash.

When warned about the risks, my colleague quickly reeled out a list of VIPs who had set up residence in these areas. “If there were any risk, would these people have ever done this?” It is this attitude that has led to the mushrooming of unauthorised constructions in the capital. And it is such people who are now behind the hue and cry against court orders that have decreed the stoppage of such illegal uses and constructions. What has surprised these people is not just that orders have been passed, but also the singleminded determination with which they are being pursued.

The people in Delhi have long been living in the comfort of a soft government, interested more in votebank politics than in good governance. In such a situation, the ‘inspector raj’ flourishes, with visible consequences: more unauthorised shops and houses than those that are lawful. Now that the law has taken matters into its own hands, it is natural for the unlawful users to howl and cry ‘foul’, and for politicians of all hues to rush to find ways and means of somehow subverting the court orders.

All this might make sense to some of these people, but do they realise the implications of all this for those of us who want to see our capital as a city of which we can be truly proud? Before we rush in with legislations and notifications that will make such acts legal, let us ponder the implications.

We have seen how the capital has been growing in the past, at more than 5 per cent per annum in terms of population. This has ensured that already more than one and a quarter crore people crowd into the metropolis—which had just 900,000 according to the 1951 census—and with probably water supply and power for less than three quarters this number. Already, the roads are congested, the sewers and drains choked, and the air polluted. What will happen when the population exceeds two crore in the next two decades?

To stop the ingress of people, the National Capital Region Plan was enacted in the mid-1980s. The plan was to create sub-cities and satellite towns where this population could be deflected. This plan was a non-starter—it was cheaper to settle in Delhi than in any of the satellite towns. Not were just houses cheaper, but it was easier to set up an industry or a shop here than even in neighbouring Sonepat or Faridabad. All one needed to do was to buy a piece of land here, no matter if was in the green zone or a public park or even owned by the government, and set up shop or factory or your house. No hassles, rules or regulations: the inspector raj and nexus of corrupt politicians and pliant bureaucrats made it simple and inexpensive.

It was not so simple in the satellite towns; there, facilities were set up with capital borrowed at heavy cost and there was no way that these could be provided at the capital’s going cost. It was natural, therefore, for the capital to be flooded with immigrants when the satellite towns remained deserted.

The first implication of this huge unplanned in-migration was the unanticipated pressure on services, especially power, water, sewerage and garbage disposal. Since most of this migration was in East Delhi and parts of South Delhi, the pressure on services was even more here. Since power
and water was not available for unauthorised buildings, various ways were found to steal it.
It is not just the services that broke down; the entire Master Plan was subverted. While Delhi Development Authority markets were empty, shops came up in their hundreds in residential areas, green areas and roadsides.

Once unlawful activities are tolerated, they soon supplant the law—they become the law itself. This was the state of affairs in the Delhi till the apex court decided that enough was enough. Shops and factories provide livelihood to many people but, unfortunately, not all these people can afford to live in the posh residences in Delhi. Then where do these people go? Naturally, they set up their jhuggis in the nearest place they can find. These jhuggi clusters soon become slums in the midst of otherwise tony residential colonies.

These slums have people, but nothing else: no water, sewerage, power, roads, sometimes no lavatories. They are not just eyesores: they have become centres where power and water thieves flourish, along with the more dangerous anti-social elements. Most people who live here are out of their villages for the first time: it is impossible for the police to maintain a record of them. This is the main reason not just for social and other crimes, but also for the fact that there is nothing that the police can do to check their nefarious activities.

The high toleration level for such illegal constructions has led to a system where the lawbreaker has the edge over the law-enforcer, and is better off. That this state of affairs is the result of a corrupt, criminal nexus between the politician and the bureaucrat is clear, but what is not is the fact that this would not have been possible without an equally corrupt judicial system at the lower functionary level. Whether Delhi has to become a world-class city or not, this state of affairs cannot be tolerated.

Although it has been late in coming, judicial intervention at any time is welcome if it aims at destroying this nexus. There is no doubt that the corrupt coterie will now come up with measures to thwart all that the judiciary is trying to do, but it is the duty of the honest citizens to expose their game and for the judiciary to keep on its straight track and continue with its campaign. I wish to heaven that, for the sake of Delhi, they succeed.