Listen to citizens before dreams turn to dust

VIEWPOINT
Listen to citizens before dreams turn to dust
The Times of India


If the honeymoon period of the new regime in the state is not to end in acrimonious dispute or even divorce within a few months, unrealistic vows will have to give way to less wide-eyed responses to the problems confronting the state. What is urgently required is honest appraisal and definitive action on many fronts.
On the infrastructure front, Bangaloreans have seen and heard it all over the past several years: promises galore, deadlines upon shifting deadlines, visions of vast sums of money coming in for many projects and repeated announcements about action on various civic works — all invariably due to begin or end “soon”.

In fact, the new government would be doing the increasingly despondent, confused and cynical citizens of this burgeoning metropolis an invaluable service if it would, first, release a status report on different aspects of urban infrastructure, providing details of projects currently under way as well as those in the pipeline, along with up-to-date information about the funding and timeliness for each. If the government does not voluntarily and speedily provide such proof of its serious intent, citizens do have the option of nudging it in that direction with the help of their newly won right to information.

Whether the various agenda task forces of the past are revived or new avatars created in the form of development committees, the fact is that not much is going to be achieved without thorough analyses of what is wrong on various fronts. And neither is possible without taking citizens into confidence.

The Public-Private Participation (PPP) mantra can be intoned ad nauseam but it is unlikely to yield results unless the actual public is informed and involved. The present form of PPP — restricted to high-level interaction between the state and private sectors — is no substitute for people’s participation backed up by the Right to Information Act, and the neglected 74th Amendment to the Constitution (on urban local bodies).

Another term that needs to be clarified is “stakeholders”. As one Koramangala resident pointed out, government departments and civic agencies, often described as stakeholders, are service providers. We, the people, are the stakeholders — with an interest in and concern about the development of the nation. If proof were needed of the imperative of people’s participation, take the case of this road project. The restoration of 80 Feet Peripheral Road in Koramangala under the World Bank-supported project aiming to rehabilitate 40 arterial roads. This road was rendered navigable after nearly two years during which it had been virtually unusable.

The recent history of the road can serve as a case study of the lack of coordination among civic bodies. It was first dug up by BWSSB, which took long to get sewage pipes laid. The reason? BWSSB claimed BDA did not give it permission to cut through certain sections of the road within its jurisdiction and not that of BMP. Then the road was left to resemble the surface of the moon for several months.

The project finally got off the ground with the signing of contracts in October 2005. Work on the most difficult section, which has to be completely reconstructed, began on December 7. Problems cropped up almost immediately, with water pipes and electricity and telecom cables damaged in the process of digging. Some alert residents took the initiative to convene a meeting of various bodies — BMP, BWSSB, Bescom, BSNL, private telecom companies and the contractor relaying the road — to encourage coordination among them. They also worked with the local police to plan alternative routes for traffic.

Despite these efforts, work stopped within a few days and several weeks of inaction followed, ostensibly because the soil had to be sent for testing (this road is vulnerable since it runs along an erstwhile tank bed). When work finally resumed, progress was slow and erratic. Some residents called another meeting of officials and contractors to discuss ways to overcome the stumbling blocks that were delaying the work.

Those in charge of the project at the local level undertook to provide a detailed schedule of work that would not only enable residents and shop owners on either side of the road to plan coping strategies but also help them monitor progress. A report on the meeting and its outcomes was disseminated via the e-group set up 17 months ago to facilitate communication among the concerned residents.

There is no guarantee that a tripartite effort like this will work, especially since it is unofficial and dependent on the goodwill of all the parties. However, under present circumstances, intercession that involves citizens may be the only way to ensure that the apparently impossible dreams spun by the new regime actually translate into reality on the ground. In any case, it is clear that at least one of the Ps in PPP must represent the public, the genuine stakeholders.