We’re a global city, but are we civil?

We’re a global city, but are we civil?
H S BALRAM


Guess what authorities in Beijing are doing these days? Teaching ‘civility’ to citizens to portray a better image of the city during the Olympics next year. Volunteers have been going round the city educating people against boorish behaviour in public — littering, spitting, nose-picking, urinating, needless honking, jumping signals, overtaking, etc. They are being told to smile, stand in orderly queues, and generally be more polite. Policemen are being asked to be more efficient, more courteous and better dressed. A drive has also been launched against confusing public signs and goofy English translations. Touts, who routinely harangue foreigners, are being warned.
Shouldn’t Bangalore take a leaf out of Beijing’s book? Though the city has emerged as a global hub, we as citizens lack civic sense. While the construction of flyovers, underpasses, elevated roads, Metro Rail, an international airport, and state-of-the-art buildings is keeping pace with the fastgrowing metropolis, our behaviour in public is anything but graceful.
What else can explain the following?
We may keep our houses clean but do not hesitate to throw rubbish on to the streets. Our reasoning: It is the job of the government to clear it!
We use the city as an open lavatory. We spit and urinate unabashedly in public.
We derive sadistic pleasure honking during driving, at traffic signals and during traffic jams, though it doesn’t in any way help in smooth movement of traffic. Rather, it adds to sound pollution.
We start driving even before digital timers at traffic junctions complete the countdown, or before the traffic signal turns green. When a policeman is not around, we jump the signal. We frown upon those who follow rules. And, we fly into a rage at the slightest provocation.
When traffic stops at railway crossings and traffic intersections, we drive our vehicles on to the other side of the road, making it difficult for oncoming traffic to move. We also do not mind driving on footpaths during traffic jams, inconveniencing pedestrians.
We do not follow lane discipline. Rather, we engage in racing on roads. Whether we are on bicycles or twowheelers, or in autorickshaws, cars, buses and trucks, we behave as if we are on Formula 1 tracks.
We refuse to use skywalks and prefer to walk through the traffic endangering ours and other’s lives.
These are just a few of our bad habits. We must change if Bangalore has to truly become a global city. Like in Beijing, the government, police, NGOs, citizens’ groups, student community and the media must launch campaigns to help us become civic conscious. Sometimes, stern measures do help in maintaining civic discipline. In Singapore, nobody dare violate traffic rules as the fines imposed are heavy. In Delhi, when someone spits or throws rubbish inside a Metro Rail station, he/she has to clean it, apart from paying a heavy fine.
While it is, no doubt, the job of the government to provide adequate civic amenities and good infrastructure, citizens are duty-bound to observe rules and maintain civic discipline. Only then, Bangalore will become a great city to live in.