[sustran] Guest column - `Width of footpaths defines depth of democracy ...not necessary illusions'

[Asija, Navdeep]

*Navdeep Asija*

In the year 1989, famous American philosopher Noam Chomsky coined the term
“necessary illusions“ connoting the use of propaganda by the political
class to distort and distract people from major issues so as to maintain
confusion and complicity, and hence, precluding real democracy from coming
into effect. In the contemporary world, the same “necessary illusions“ are
used to distract people from their real and basic infrastructural needs,
especially urban transportation. The expensive solutions in the form of
fancy flyovers, elevated corridors, metro rails in small cities, and 12-16
lanes urban roads are more like a propaganda by the politically-influenced
bureaucracy and duly endorsed by a technocrat far removed from the ground
reality. This transportation infrastructure solution serves as “necessary
illusion“ i.e. propaganda and precludes real solutions becoming effective.

In most of the cases, technology is selected by politicians or bureaucrats
without involving experts with domain knowledge and then technocrats are
assigned to fit that technology onto the city of their or choosing.
Personal Rapid Transit System (PRTS) for the city of Amritsar is a classic
example, wherein plan to cover-up all narrow and habitable streets and
roads of Amritsar (a walled city with elevated PRTS). It was shelved after
its announcement due to protest by local residents who acted swiftly
against this ill-planned monstrosity in order to safeguard their
livelihoods and the heritage ambiance of the city. Hence, the present
heritage street around Golden Temple bears testimony to the civic and
democratic spirit of the people of Amritsar and not any political party or
politician.

Roads are the first infrastructural property of any nation, economy thrives
on their development. In the context of urban roads infrastructure, which
is mostly necessary illusions, has been created in the name of development.
We have created more liabilities for the country than assets. The recent
census data released on commutes for the 200 million working Indians
revealed that among those people who have to travel for work, one-third
commute on foot, another 10 percent use bicycles and 16 percent travel by
bus, while 18 percent use scooters or motorcycles. More people take auto
rickshaws or taxis to work than private cars.

The percentage of commuters using car is very less, but, since our
policymakers travel by cars, entire planning is biased heavily in favour of
a car-centric model.This infrastructure is humungous, expensive and does
not address the real demands of urban transportation. The question that
needs to be answered here is whose needs does this urban infrastructure
cater to? It just fills up the privy purses of a few and is instrumental in
placating the masses by creating and illusion of grandeur of the project
without demonstrating its actual benefits. At times media also gets carried
away by such illusions. Amit Bhatt, strategy head urban transport at EMBARQ
India, explains, “In India, traditionally cities developed in ways that it
required small commutes. However new towns and their extensions are being
built on the North American model, requiring long commutes which the poor
struggle to afford.“

Other necessary illusions are the elevated roads and flyovers within
cities. Professor Dinesh Mohan, Professor and Coordinator, Transport
Research and Injury Prevention Programme, Indian Institute of Technology,
Delhi in one of his articles on `The politics of mobility', mentions,
“Though the negative health and social effects of elevated roads and
flyovers have been documented with some precision the world over, this
knowledge seems to have no effect on policy-makers in India. It is
interesting that no elevated roads or flyovers were allowed to be built in
any European city over the past 20 years, yet Indian and other Asian cities
persist in investing large amounts of money on infrastructure with dubious
long-term benefits. Many explain this by putting all the blame on the
contractor-politician nexus. But this would not be fair. The fact is that
most urban planners and consultants are also ignorant of the modern
scientific evidence on these issues.“

A large proportion of trips in urban areas are short. These provide a good
opportunity for daily exercise required for health benefits. A mere 15
minutes is the average time needed for a 2 km walk or a 3-5 km cycling
trip. However, the enormous potential savings on the healthcare costs that
can be provided by the higher levels of cycling and walking for daily
commute is rarely appreciated. On the contrary, there is now a trend in
many cities in emerging economies to adopt transport policies that
discourage cycling and walking.These policies are likely to create a very
substantial health burden in the future, and a large healthcare bill
considering the high costs of treating the range of chronic diseases caused
by physical inactivity.

The negative health effects of air pollution observed in epidemiological
studies seem to be greater in lower socioeconomic groups. This could be due
to the cumulative effect of multiple factors that elevates their personal
exposures and greater personal susceptibility.

A simple solution to this mess is to first create infrastructure which
promotes safe walking. Wide footpaths and sidewalks are the best and
easiest way to tell ordinary citizens that “we care for you“.Width of
footpaths defines depth of democracy.

Another pertinent case is that of Chandigarh Metro, where administration is
very keen to spend Rs17,000 crore on building metro for the daily commute
of 3.14 lakh passengers by 2020. It is a projected figure and it is not
certain if the Chandigarh Metro is going to attract the projected number of
passengers or not.In contrast to this, humble cycle rickshaws which already
cater to more than four lakh passengers daily is completely neglected by
the policymakers. High-cost solutions suit everyone's personal agenda,
except poor commuters.

Also, the engineers find it easier to build metro infrastructure as
compared better or upgraded cycle rickshaw which is possible with minuscule
cost compared to metro.But yes, the glamour quotient of a metro is high and
in democratic societies politicians and contractors are able to garner
votes and accolades through the sheer optics of it, hence creating a
“necessary illusion“.

*The author is traffic adviser to Punjab government.*

*Times of India, Chandigarh Edition, Page 4, 25th September 2017*
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