FUTURE CITY: VISIONS AND BEYOND

FUTURE CITY SERIES: PART 3

CHANGES IN TRANSPORT SYSTEM: THE CASE OF DELHI

I USED TO RUN ON DELHI'S ROADS..... 

BY

RUBY PRASAD

I am an old Delhi Transport Corporation Bus. I used to run on Delhi roads. I was the main public transport operator of Delhi. I used to operate on many routes including Mudrika (ring road service) and Bahri Mudrika (outer ring road Service). Until 1948 I was running as a local bus in Delhi and then Govt. of India, Ministry of Transport took over the local bus services of Delhi in May 1948 in the name of Delhi Transport Service when they found that the services offered by Gwalior and Northern India Transport Company Ltd., the then licensee, were inadequate. The Delhi Road Transport Authority was constituted under the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950. This Authority became undertaking of Municipal Corporation of Delhi by an Act of Parliament in April, 1958. 

Anyways the point is that I have witnessed Delhi growing from a city of a developing nation into a world class city. All this has not occurred over night, development of Delhi has been a long process. In the process a lot of sacrifices have been made into making Delhi a livable place. I can proudly say that I was one of the many old buses who were sacrificed in order to beautify this city. I heard they say that I was getting older and was creating a lot of pollution which was harmful for the city and its people and was becoming a hindrance in the path of making Delhi as one of the greenest city in the world.

Fig. Old DTC bus.

I miss those days when I used to do my rounds on Delhi roads. I witnessed changes that were not only infrastructural but also cultural. With time, I saw changes in people's attitude and identity. Delhi's architecture in the post independence period exhibits a kind of multiple imagery that in addition to being conflicting, is equally intriguing. There is constant search for identity. What was once considered to be a Babu city (administrative capital) of the British underwent a serious change in its cultural value systems with the establishment of refugees in areas like Karol Bagh and Lajpat Nagar. The people gave Delhi a new image; that is of a Business Center. Industrial and other such developments took place and a kind of corporate imagery was created in areas like the periphery of Connaught Place and district centers like Nehru Place and Janakpuri which came up as a result of consecutive Delhi Master Plans.

The 60's saw the coming up of RK Puram and Greater Kailash to tackle the issue of housing. In the late 80's Group Housing phenomena stepped in, in areas such as Rohini. All this development was not without it’s share of pitfalls. There was an unanticipated development in the form of unauthorized colonies. The over densification of Delhi resulted in development of Suburbs like Noida and DLF. The rich started moving out from the centre to the periphery. Also with time and globalization there was a change in the attitudes of the common man. For the public, the work centres were no longer considered to be areas for recreational gatherings, as was thought by the planners. Areas like Priya complex and shopping plazas, the result of pop culture, were the areas of common interest now. With the coming of the internet there was such a great deal of exchange happening between far off places that there was very little left of what can be termed as local. The demand was to go: Global.

The concept of a mass rapid transit for New Delhi first emerged from a traffic and travel characteristic study which was carried out in the city in 1969. Over the next several years, many official committees by a variety of government departments were commissioned to examine issues related to technology, route alignment, and governmental jurisdiction. In 1984, the Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system, which would consist of constructing three underground mass rapid transit corridors to augment the city's existing suburban railway and road transport networks.

Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. Delhi Metro is the world's 13th largest metro system in terms of length. It is India's first modern public transportation system which has revolutionized travel by providing a fast, reliable, safe, and comfortable means of transport.

Fig. Delhi Metro.

So far I was happy with the development and was proud of the fact that I am a part of Shining Delhi. Progress was on its normal pace when there came what I like to call as Revolution which swept the city by its feet. This was the Common Wealth Games 2010 which were going to be held in Delhi. Development became fast paced, many flyovers were constructed, roads became smooth, many foot-over bridges came up, stadiums were constructed and renovated. This was the time when I enjoyed my ride more than ever. Usually it would have taken years to do such kind of development but thanks to the games that Delhi was beautified in a short span of time. It is during this period only when Indira Gandhi International airport was given a new shape which turned it into a world class airport.

But every good thing comes with a price and poor people of Delhi  had to pay this price. The site of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi was a terrain where the processes of dispossession and displacement could be explored through the most spectacular performances of urban development. Here, beautification projects were seen as mechanism to homogenize the spectacle with the city, initiating large-scale evictions, razing homeless shelters and policing streets, infrastructure and ‘private’ property weeks before the opening of the games. Evictions and displacements, in Delhi, were more an incremental and policy specific condition where different sites of “informality” were treated with different policies not always under the pretext of the games. Stories from Delhi thus cover this nature of informal planning propagated through mechanisms of ‘Privatization’.

Fig. Opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games, 2010, Delhi. 

This was the time when the government decided that I was running out of my life span and they phased me out completely from this glorious city and I was replaced by a swanky new rang of buses which were environment friendly and were more comfortable than what I used to be.

                     

Fig. The low- floor Red Line bus which is Air Conditioned.

Fig. The low -floor Green Line bus.

That is how my story was written off of the Delhi roads. I miss my journey. I miss the road and I miss the people who traveled with me on a regular basis. I developed a kind of bonding with this city and its people. I wish I could see the future of this city as well but since I will not be alive till 2050, there are architects who have developed models of how Delhi will look 50 years from now. A bus like me can at least be happy by seeing these models and picturing Delhi and placing myself somewhere in the futuristic city of Delhi.

Delhi 2050

The 'Urban Harvest' model explores how a residential colony in Mayur Vihar can be completely decentralized. To harness solar energy, the infrastructure is covered with a membrane of titanium dioxide which can also harvest rainwater. Vertical farms have been installed on this micro-model which use hydroponics to reduce water intake by 1/20th of its current demand. The future societies living in this imaginary model would comprise farmers who live and work there. The live-and-work paradigm is also in force in the Life Street model which is trying to make Khirki Village a safe and friendly neighborhood by making it a space where people reside and work and there is activity on streets even at night. Another project, Aap Ki Sadak, has involved residents of Malviya Nagar, Khirki Extension and Sheikh Sarai in developing a consensus plan for improvement of public transport.

Fig. A Futuristic Vision for Delhi.

It seems Delhi is going to have a great future. I am happy that I had the honour to be part of this amazing city and serve its people and have my name carved my in the glorious history of this city. 




Author's Bio- Note:

Ruby Prasad is currently pursuing her Post Graduation in Geography from Department of Geography, Delhi school of Economics, University of Delhi.