WANDER around town and you would get to see literally countless numbers of open drains carrying filth of the city -- and spreading infection and posing public health hazards. In countless places, these open drains stink and make life hell for people living in those areas. Yet, no matter the political tall talk and administrative lip-service, the open drains continue to haunt the city of Bhopal, the modern, metropolitan capital of Madhya Pradesh. So the question: How can the city tolerate such a failure of civic governance ? Of course, there cannot be any convincing answer -- or justification -- of this question on the civic failure. Yet, the loosefooter has decided to ask the question and push for a logical answer from the administration. The problem with persons like the loosefooter is that they seek idealism in a non-ideal -- practical -- world. This is the general charge against them. No matter that, the loosefooter is undaunted. So his question about the character of the civic administration in Bhopal: How can the city tolerate such a failure of civic governance ? Possibly, the city has no escape from its fate of having to live in a modern metropolis whose governance is in inept hands. But ask any citizen in any nook or corner of the city if he-she likes living in the city with such petty problems dogging it down !

 

The invariable answer will be an emphatic NO ! Then, why do we tolerate such an incompetent civic management ? Is that so because we the citizens are least bothered about civic inconveniences. “Cities are like this”, say many among us nonchalantly, disinterestedly ! Such an attitude defies common sense. For, when citizens develop such a nonchalance, then the city goes down on the ‘ease of living’ scale.

 

In fact, uninterested citizenry should be considered an anathema to a democratic system -- of politics or administration in a modern State. Frankly, the convert open drains into closed or covered drainage system will need a lot of money. But for a State such as Madhya Pradesh, raising funds should not be a major issue. It can raise the money all by its own budgetary allocation, or seek a central assistance, or even seek a specific purpose loan from the World Bank -- which has been done in the case of many other cities in the country. But that is not being done because there may be closed minds in the State Government or Bhopal’s civic administration. n