Queen's remark swings Gujral into cleaning Delhi
'Dirty Delhi' will, in a short while, be as clean as it ever can.
The phrase in quotes, dear readers, is a royal one -- it
fell from the lips of
none other than Queen Elizabeth II. And look what it's doing to
New Delhi!
Hardly has 48 hours passed since the queen uttered
those magical words than
Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral swung Lieutenant Governor
Tejendra Khanna and Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma into
fierce action.
For starters, the duo made surprise visits to the
New Delhi area (including the
railway station) and met senior New Delhi Municipal
Council, Delhi Development Authority and Delhi
government officials.
The resultant orders include clearing the umpteen
jhuggis (shanties) in and around the city. From now, no public rallies or demonstrations will be allowed in the Jantar Mantar area. And the obscenely dirty railway station surrounding would be spruced up on a war footing.
The space vacated by the jhuggis would, according to
a Raj Niwas statement, be redeveloped by the NDMC.
Thanks to the proliferation of rallies
and demonstrations in the Jantar Mantar area, a virtual slum
had mushroomed around it, with participants pitching tents at the
drop of the hat and living happily ever after. All this, the authorities have decided, will
stop now.
The Lt Governor suggested
assigning the municipal corporation to clean up the railway station. A redevelopment plan for the shopping area, he told attentive officials, need to be framed immediately. Measures should also be taken to widen the access to the station
from the Paharganj side.
As for the Ajmeri gate side, that too has to be spruced. Noting the insanitary conditions thereabout, the Lt Governor directed
the authorities to
clean it up immediately.
"Cleaning operations should be monitored regularly," he instructed.
Directions have already been issued to repair roads. Foot-paths, pavements and service lanes will be properly repaired and maintained, and the collection and disposal of garbage ensured, the press release said.
Gujral, sources say, had called Khanna, Verma, Delhi Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan and senior civic officers and expressed his utter 'disgust' at the
state of the capital. The queen, he said, even during her brief
sojourn in the city, had noted the insanitary conditions -- weren't they ashamed?
Verma's defence to the queen's observation
was that the Centre was not
releasing funds for
various schemes.
''Castles," he reportedly told
Gujral, "cannot be built in the air or on
empty pockets."
UNI
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