Delhi Musings: Now, an idea from 'cloud-radar' school to prevent flooding in Delhi!

They say rains rekindle even dried up love. And for those unlucky ones who do not find romance even in rains need to experience the monsoons for if not love they would at least be tempted for a fling.

And that’s because for no rain system brings in as much rains as monsoons. Surprisingly Dilliwalahs saw romance brew even before the pre-monsoon showers. Our man, AK, and the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi finally started to talk.

The LG chaired a meeting which was attended by the CM and his deputy along with some senior officials to take stock of the preparedness of the civic authorities before the onset of monsoon.

It is believed that directions were given to devise long-term and sustainable methods to deal with issues such as water-logging, overflow of drains and pot-holed roads that the city witnesses during and after the rains every year.

For long Dilliwalahs used to swear by that famous quote: ‘If you want to see the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain’ but they seem to have lost patience now. Publications and bloggers have now fixed spots where there is bound to be water-logging after a heavy shower.

Minto Bridge being one such spot and that standard picture of a DTC bus caught in tyre deep water here looks as boring as some of AK’s tweets on corruption.

In a veiled criticism of the government, the LG, it is believed, said that monsoon-related issues have been dealt with in a ‘crisis management mode’ in the past indicating that workable, long-term solutions haven’t been sought till now.

Taking inspiration from the famous input of the supreme leader on fighter jets escaping enemy’s radars under a cloud cover, the LG attempted to offer a solution seeped in scientific logic from a similar school. Apparently, he directed officials to initiate an exercise of creating sink holes of six to eight inches diameter and line these up with perforated pipes.

These sink holes are meant to be dug up along roads, drains and Delhi Jal Board sewer lines that are prone to flooding so that the rain-water is instantly absorbed. The corollary to this hypothesis is far more meritorious. It is expected that this initiative would result in the excess water recharging the ground water at such locations.

Dilliwalahs are wondering if this is such a worthy idea then why rain water harvesting units have been made mandatory in Delhi in plots above a 100 square meters. Why are Resident Welfare Associations, commercial and office complex owners being threatened with heavy penalties for non-compliance of the rain water harvesting diktat?

Is ground water recharge in privately owned plots governed by different scientific principles or is it yet another case on the lines of Einstein discovering gravity?

Poor Dilliwalahs, all they desire to do is to have their pakoras packed from Nauroji Nagar and gobble these up with garam chai during rains. And that’s possible if only they or the food delivery boys could reach the pakora-walas through the water-logged roads during monsoon.

There is disruption taking place not just in science but in economic theory as well. Delhi Government wants to hold shopping festivals and has asked traders and market associations to offer suggestions on how and where such festivals should be conducted.

The AAP government has allocated a budget of Rs 250 crore for the uplifting of wholesale and retail markets in Delhi in line with this thought. Apparently five prominent markets are being ticked for redevelopment.

That’s good going but the issue is with the hypothesis that such festivals, with primary focus on wholesale, will generate five lakh jobs. How can a wholesale-goods festival generate so many jobs in Delhi? One would need either an Amartya Sen or Abhijit Banerjee to figure this one out.

Then there is another glitch. Is it not foolhardy to ignore the over-zealous government in Haryana with its sympathisers at the Centre? Remember how they combined to scuttle Delhi government’s plans of keeping bars and pubs open till 3.00 am to increase revenue?

What will stop them from announcing a Gurgaon Shopping Festival or a Faridabad Wholesale Mela to take the winds out of the sails of AAP government?

Seems Jain, Mann, Goa, and Gujarat are taking a toll on our man AK.

(The writer blogs at stateofdelhi.in. Views are personal)