15 Saal, 15 Sawaal

The point raised by Shri Narendra Modi in his speech that Delhi CM remains busy in only cutting ribbons is quite valid. There are a whole lot of projects (appended below) where ribbons were cut and lot of hype was created but hardly any progress was made. Several projects in health, transport and almost in every sector were inaugurated during Congress rule but either scrapped halfway or they continue to drag till now.

Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit should go back and check the facts before making any statement.

Key Points: Ribbons cut, promises made, people duped !

1.  Super-specialty hospital at Dwarka- In November 2007 Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit promised a 750-bed super specialty hospital for Dwarka. The largest sub-city of Asia with a population of over 5 lakh people is yet to get a government hospital.

2. 12 New Hospitals- Delhi government had promised building 12 new hospitals with total bed strength of 2,900 but none of them is complete. The construction of hospitals in Dwarka (750 beds), Vikaspuri (200 beds), Madipur (200 beds), Jawlapuri (200 beds), Ambedkar Nagar (200 beds) is already much delayed.

3. 7 BRT Corridors- The present BRT between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand is not a BRT but a mess. International experts say that Delhi’s BRT lacks several important features — a closed BRT system with centralised management, fare collection before boarding the bus and integration with other modes of transport. While they questioned Delhi’s BRT, they praised BRT in Ahmedabad. Nevertheless, the Delhi government promised 7 BRTs while it has failed to manage even one.

4. Signature bridge- It was supposed to be completed before commonwealth games. - The deadline for this bridge has already been extended from December 2013 to June 2014 and then December 2014.The estimated cost of the bridge was revised six times leading to huge escalation of cost. The CAG questioned cost escalation by Rs 672 crore from Rs 459 cr to Rs 1131 crore.  The CAG also found irregularities in construction of the Signature Bridge at Wazirabad questioning import of pre-fabricated steel frames from China.

5.  Rajiv Ratna Housing Scheme - The Delhi government promised to make 60,000 houses for poor, but only about 14,500 houses have been constructed. No flat was allotted to poor. In its election manifesto, the Congress had promised 10 lakh dwellings for JJ clusters/slum dwellers!!

6.  Transport- The Congress government announced several transport projects, such as digitization of transport records (2002), modernization of DTC (2009) or GPS in auto-rickshaws (2010) but all are jammed in the pile of paper. All the projects are moving at snail’s pace.

7. Water- The Delhi government had promised to make Delhi self-reliant in water by 2010, still in 2013, the CAG says that half of Delhi does not get water from the Delhi Jal Board.

8. Resettlement of slum dwellers- 22 slums/Jhuggi bastis were destroyed to raise the commonwealth village for the corruption ridden CWG, 2010. A mere 20% of the population was relocated in Bawana, which is a deserted field with no public utility services in the periphery of Delhi. Rest 80% of the population of the 22 slums was left to fend for themselves in the streets.

9. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board- Delhi govt. promised to relocate 5500 JJ households of 33 clusters by January 2012. Only 262 relocated till now.

10. Yamuna cleaning- More than Rs. 2400 crore has been spend by Delhi Jal Board and yet the Delhi govt.’s promise of a clean Yamuna is a distant dream. Instead, 22-km stretch of Yamuna in Delhi has become more polluted. 

11. Munak canal- Despite spending Rs. 400 crore on Munak Canal in Haryana, the Delhi govt. has failed to get even a drop of water for the people of Delhi from the canal.

12. Power cuts - Areas badly affected by power cuts during 2013 summer: Vikaspuri, Punjabi Bagh, Najafgarh, Paschim Vihar, Dwarka, Matiala, Bindapur and adjoining areas, Green Park, Gulmohar Park, Anand Lok, Alaknanda, East of Kailash, Kailash Colony, Nehru Place, Masjid Moth, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar and adjoining areas, Rohini, Shalimar Bagh, Pitampura, Mangolpuri, Wazirpur, Krishna Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Shahdra, Seelampur, Dilshad Garden, Laxmi Nagar, Pandav Nagar and adjoining areas. So, practically the entire Delhi faced power cuts for hours this year itself.

13. Power cuts for industries- In May this year, Assocham lamented power cuts saying unscheduled power cuts in Delhi forced thousands of industrial units to curtail production by about 25 percent for April-May. It suspected loss of industrial production to exceed 40-45 per cent in June and July. The power cuts have affected Micro-, small- and medium enterprises (MSME) the worst in Delhi. Wazirpur Industrial area, Okhla Industrial area and industrial areas along GT Karnal Road were among the worst affected due to unscheduled and frequent power cuts.

14.  Crime against women- There has been an increase of 240% in rape cases, 495% in molestation cases and 700% in the cases of eve-teasing this year in Delhi. According to NCRB data, Delhi witnessed the highest incidence of crime against women in 2012 with 14.2% of the total crime in all the cities having above 10 lakh population. Delhi city has accounted for 19.34% of rape cases, 23.1% of kidnapping & abduction cases, 14.6% of dowry deaths and 10.9% of assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty cases. Of all the rape cases recorded in the 53 million plus cities of India, every fifth rape takes place in Delhi.

15. Crime against children- Delhi has also become the capital of missing girls and children. According to Delhi Police records, close to 3,450 children who went missing in Delhi in the last three years are yet to be traced. Girls account for 55 percent of the missing children.