The Delhi Metro is probably the only public utility, which functions with some amount of equity and efficiency for the people for whom it is intended, the citizens and visitors and others in and around the National Capital Region (NCR).
What keeps the NCR ticking despite huge problems is the Delhi Metro, with about 3 to 3.2 million passenger rides per day for an average of about 17 kilometres each, a substantial part of which is either underground, or elevated and therefore does not really impact much else of the city-state-region as it goes about its business. The crisp cool and efficient Delhi Metro, once you enter its portals, appears to exist in another world altogether - far removed from the rough ready and often filthy city that slams into you as soon as you exit its gates.
DMC has just increased its fares and the State Government is up in arms. Yes, fares are going up, but for a large segment of users, the impact will be minimal, considering how expensive and time consuming the alternative options are. Yes, there is a weaker section of people for whom the fare increase will pinch, but many employees in the organised sector reimbursed by their employers. Those who would suffer are employees in the unorganised, students and those from the poorer communities.
The current noise by the Delhi Government and others on the fare increase by Delhi Metro also does not take into account the simple truths that costs have gone up also because of -
a) The huge payout made to the Anil Ambani operated Delhi Airport Express Line in a deal where Delhi Metro found itself holding the baby and the bathwater.
b) Massive delays in land acquisition by the Delhi Government for small but crucial segments of Phase - III and Phase - IV, putting matters three years behind schedule and counting.
c) Successful lobbying by the illegal hoarding industry, which in turn prevents Delhi Metro from using pillars and overhead lines for advertising revenue.
d) A multiplier effect of delays causing more environmental emissions and pollution causing more corrosion causing more breakdowns. Acidic corrosion in Delhi is now worse than coastal saline corrosion.
The various arms of the Delhi and NCR Governments have been singularly unable to provide a decent public transport and parking framework. Revenue losses and scams in both these streams are legendary. By contrast, DMC works efficiently.
To understand what this really means, you have to first appreciate that the NCR is composed of three separate States that often do not synchronise matters between themselves very well.
Our water, our garbage, our buses, our traffic jams, our criminals, this and more, is what bounces around amongst these three States like a three-sided volleyball game. We have entry tolls and taxes as well as environmental cess that we pay on commercial and public transport movements by road. We have States threatening to shut off our water, and most of all we have a huge government with all the baggage that rides with it sitting approximately in the geographical centre of Delhi.
The Delhi Metro did not happen without resistance. The lobbies against the smooth and successful operation of the Delhi Metro are very many and very powerful. These include - private transport, fossil fuels, corporate healthcare, builder's lobby, organised crime and most of all - the traditional representatives, elected and selected.
Of all these, the elected and selected representatives are the most twisted of the lot, and like the old proverb goes - "an envious landlord sees how happy his tenants are and therefore evicts them all" - within Indian mis-governance as we know it. A public utility functioning properly for people is considered a loss of power for those "in power", and thus to be immediately tampered with. An example is how free drinking water was replaced by a corporate supplier of manufactured RO water at a cost, backed by a global payment processing company.
Still, the Delhi Metro continues to deliver, and elected representatives at least, as they realise that public transport and sanitation are going to be two major electoral issues soon, increasingly post photos of themselves on the Delhi Metro. Truth be told, for the Municipal Councillor from my part of town, it is 20 minutes by Metro against 90 minutes by car for him to go from his constituency to the Town Hall. And he does more networking with voters on board trains than he could do in a month of car rides.
Today, the very eclectic users of the Delhi Metro get a sharp and swift lesson in equity and rights, as well as an exposure to how things can be better in India if those who govern us want it to be good. There is a sociological benefit in this equation, which cannot be counted in monetary terms - improved politeness, respect for elders, discipline and value for money. There is also an immediate realisation that the moment you step out, there are the various other arms of governance, what are known as State Governments, out to destroy exactly all that has been built by the Delhi Metro, and that is much more than concrete and stainless steel.
And the final truth is this - when ridership goes down, as it does on off-peak and certain routes, the Delhi Metro is agile enough to reduce fares as it has done in the past too.
We do not need the Delhi Government to interfere in the Delhi Metro, and one good way to achieve this as it spreads its lines far beyond Delhi, is to rename it the NCR Metro. Because the Delhi Metro is, figuratively and literally, about much more than the quagmire that Delhi is.
(
Veeresh Malik is an activist from Delhi, who continues to explore several things in life.)
!!! Those who have done nothing ,will be most vocal !!!
Get well soon?
First, will increasing the fare increase the Delhi Metro revenue or reduce it?
This point has not been addressed by the author-"activist". What are the
revenues and the expenses of the Delhi Metro? Revenue by ticketing is around 2K
crore whereas the expenses including wear and tear, and loan repayment, is
around 10-12K crore per year. Does anyone really think that the fare hike would
bridge this gap of Rs 10K crore even though it is yet unclear whether the fare
hike would increase the revenue or reduce it?
The author says the Delhi Metro "is agile enough to reduce fares as it has
done in the past" if needed to increase ridership. When if ever has prices of
any public utility including Delhi Metro been reduced? Can the author
substantiate? It is a rare case that the state government is against the hike
and the opposition of the state is for the hike.
If ridership gets reduced, as the initial response to the hike shows to be the
case, would that not increase pollution as well as congestion on the roads? What will be the cost of this pollution and congestion?
Second, the author claims the Delhi Metro runs efficiently but does not give
any evidence to support that, apart from his claim about operational
efficiency. What about financial efficiency? What about the Anil Ambani deal?
How did the author absolve the Delhi Metro from this deal and blamed the
only previous state governments (and not even the center which has appointees
in the Delhi Metro board) for it?
And, how will increased fare improve efficiency?
Third, he has blamed the state government for delays in land acquisition even
though land is not a state subject in Delhi. Delhi Development Authority, the
body responsible for land, is in the direct control of the center. This point
makes one feel that the author has an ulterior agenda, not "activism".
Fourth, the author makes the point of "illegal hoarding industry" that prevents
advertising revenue by the Delhi Metro. So, to shore up revenue, shouldn't
fixing this be the priority instead of the unimaginatively increasing the fare?
Why didn't the author make this point?
Fifth, why didn't the author address the points made by the state government,
specifically, the allegation that politicians at the center are biased towards
private cab operators since these fund the political party in power at the
center? The author himself has talked about "resistance" against such lobbies,
but a reader would have expected important points made by various parties
be addressed in any article on fare hike.
Sixth, the author says that the "free drinking water was replaced by a
corporate supplier of manufactured RO water" but he ignored the fact that the
current state government is headed by a fellow activist who has been speaking
against privatisation of water for about 10 years now. One can find videos on
Youtube of the current CM speaking against privatisation of water.
The fact of the matter is that privatisation (and favors to corporates) is
pushed in the garb of efficiency by crony politicians that are dominant in the
status quo political parties that raise funds via questionable means.
Also, the current Delhi state government has given to its people world class
facilities like more than 10000 modern classrooms, new schools with astro turf
and swimming pools, and world-renowned Mohalla Clinics, all within a short
span of less than 3 years. For this and the above reasons, the author's
allegation that the state government is "out to destroy" Delhi Metro can be
rejected as unserious banter.
Point by point here onwards.
1) Have fares been reduced? Yes, off-peak fares are reduced, smart card fares are discounted and routes like Airport Express have been reduced.
2) I have pointed out the Anil Ambani Airport Express line deal and it is not my job to be an investigating agency when the Courts are already seized of the matter. Fact remains, taxpayer is picking up the cost here from every side.
3) MCD passing the buck to DDA passing the buck to PWD passing the buck to Centre passing the buck to State and so on and so forth. This game we as citizens are tired of. If the CM of our State can not get things done then let him fix matters like other State CMs do instead of only pointing fingers at others.
4) I have myself made the point that additional revenues can be generated by hoardings and advertisements. I have no idea why this is not happening.
5) Who is lobbying with whom for what is not something cast in stone, app based cabs or auto-rickshaws or black-yellow cabs, eventually what is good and strong will survive.
What is a fact and what is unserious banter is visible on our roads and transport systems. All we hear is big talk and all we see is garbage on our roads.
The only clean entity being the Delhi Metro, and for a few rupees that most people can afford, the same political persons REGARDLESS of formation because most of them switch parties at the whiff of a change anyways,
the same political persons demanding VIP status and free Metro passes and more, now they are trying to tell us what is good for us?
> If the CM of our State can not get things done
The CM is fighting for the rights of the government. It was unfortunate that the High Court ruled that the power of the government rests with the LG and not the CM. So, ideally a citizen of Delhi should question the LG and not the CM, or the Delhi HC. You, as citizen, can't hide from the reality saying "we are tired" and yet "we do nothing about it". Now the matter of division of power is with the SC and I have faith that the SC will give the right decision. So, it is not like the CM is "only pointing fingers".
> Switch parties at the whiff of a change
You cannot paint every one with the same brush. Sir, you seem to be under the influence of regular horse trading done by BJP such as recently done in Goa and Manipur. Sir, you have forgotten the sting done by AAP MLA on BJP state chief who was offering Rs 5 crore to switch sides. What happened to that BJP "leader"? Nothing. And, Sir, you forgot that the present CM resigned from a minority government in a country where CMs and PMs never resign despite regular riots and lawlessness under them. So much for "switching sides".
> The only clean entity being the Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro may be a clean entity but the important question here is -- is it is an efficient entity? As you yourself said, it was involved in the Anil Ambani fiasco. And, it has failed so far to monetise its assets via ads, rentals, etc. So, it is not an efficient entity. It is possible to make it both clean and efficient, and that must be the first attempt.
> the same political persons demanding VIP status and free Metro passes
Sir, I am not sure what you are even talking about. There is no such thing in Delhi under the present government. Please correct me if wrong.