Delhi floods expose petty political blame-games, administrative lacuna

The recent flood havoc and the destruction it caused in the national capital have highlighted several inadequacies of governance and the ineptitude of the political masters. The inadequacies do not just impact civic amenities but also the economy, given that functional administrative machinery is the sine qua non of economic development and investment. Pictures of Delhi roads and houses filled with water across all media were a slap on India’s bid for superpower status. It’s not that developed nations don’t have floods, but our story is quite pathetic, when it comes to preparedness and relief and rehabilitation measures. While people were suffering, the Arvind Kejriwal government and the Central authorities were doing a Nero busy as they were trying to score brownie points. The bone of contention causing troubles for Delhi residents was the release of huge amounts of water from Hathnikund Barrage, which in under the control of the Haryana government. Around 4 pm on July 9, the water level stood at 111,060 cusecs, way above the ‘flood situation’ mark of one lakh cusecs. By 11 am on July 11, 359,769 cusecs were released from the barrage, which was ridiculed by Kejriwal. Ironically, the second barrage in Delhi, near ITO, is also managed by the Haryana government because of historical reasons. This further escalated the war of words between Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP.

As usual, the real issues were drowned in the deluge of allegations and counter-allegations. One such was pointed out by a senior official at the Central Water Commission (CWC). “We noticed that the water released from the Hathnikund Barrage took less time to reach Delhi compared to previous years. The main reason could be encroachment and siltation. Earlier, the water would have had more space to flow. Now, it passes through a constricted cross-section,” he pointed out. Encroachment is something no politician wants to talk about, for it is entrenched in the system. Mushrooming of unauthorized colonies and encroachment are destroying our cities. But politicians, including the ones who claim to be the agents of change, have made peace with the in-built malaise. In fact, they benefit from the malaise, by way of getting electoral support for ‘regularizing’ illegal localities. Officials, cops, builders, people who live there, et al benefit. Or so they think, for these areas also suffer from problems like floods. Then there are the issues arising out of living in colonies, where basic facilities like water supply, sewerage, and waste disposal are grossly inadequate. Politicians always look for scapegoats when a crisis erupts. For instance AAP leader Aatishi claimed that as Delhi normally doesn’t experience such heavy rains in quick succession, the local authorities should not be blamed for any blunders!

The crux of the matter is that Indian politicians are primarily, if not solely, interested in winning elections. Important issues like administrative reforms and greater focus on administration are never on their radar. This must change because there can’t be economic development without functional administration.