The article, “A question of responsibility” (October 2), explains exactly why we have not been able to fix our cities. India is a nation of a billion-plus people, but has just a few cities that are bursting at the seams. Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad are a case in point. The so-called IT boom has created most of this mess. All these cities are fast crossing breaking point as we have been able to neither keep pace with sustainable infrastructural development nor create employment in lesser important cities, which means people will keep migrating to the big cities seeking employment.
‘De-stressing’ our cities, which means developing larger areas around the existing ones, must be thought of. However, the long-term plan would be to create employment opportunities in Tier-III cities.
Yet another aspect that needs consideration is traffic management. Improving urban transportation systems, having dedicated bus lanes, imposing very stringent emission norms and ensuring that there are fewer personal vehicles on our roads by levying more taxes are steps necessary to get more people to use public transport.
Innovative urbanisation is bound to improve the standard of living and urban administration. The moot point is, who will implement it?
Rahul Nair H.,
Thiruvananthapuram
The stampede is a stark reminder of the growth of our cities in an unorganised way. The saturation point of our mega cities has already been crossed in terms of population levels; there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the cities. The reason for the huge levels of migration from our towns to the mega cities is clear — the lack of employment opportunities, sluggish economic growth and inadequate infrastructure. Instead of consolidating economic activities in just a few big cities, there is an urgent need to focus on the development of small economic growth centres in all smaller cities. The thrust should be on the development of basic infrastructure, uninterrupted electricity and a regulated economic market. Second,support for MSME industries is important because large industrial houses are unlikely to focus on small cities. This will ease some of the pressure on mega cities and help sustainable and equitable development.
Karan Choudhary,
Pathankot, Punjab
