Stating that the declining state of Indian cities is akin to a ticking time bomb signalling their devastation, DLF chairman emeritus K P Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a high-powered cabinet rank committee, comprising planners and developers from the private sector in every major city and environmentalists, to prepare a blueprint for the development of urban infrastructure in all major cities.
“With a clarion call, I beseech our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently convene a high-powered cabinet ranking committee, composed of farsighted planners and developers from the private sector in every major city, along with environmentalists of repute, all of whom should possess the experience or capability of envisioning India 100 years from now,” he said in his new book โWhy the Heck Not?โ released in the capital on November 14.
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He said that to build a resilient nation and to ascend a $5 trillion economy, we must wield our collective might to fortify the foundations of our cities. โWe must focus on rapid urban infrastructure development. The declining state of our cities is akin to a ticking time bomb signalling their devastation,โ he writes.
The members in the committee must work with the foresight of Edwin Lutyens, who planned what is known as New Delhi almost a century ago. “These futurists, planners and a collective of individuals with wisdom and experience should then craft an enduring blueprint of the urban infrastructure development of at least all the major metro cities of India that will last a century,” Singh writes in the book.
The PMO should ideally monitor the committee monthly, with the PM personally overseeing it once a quarter, he said in the book, adding that the committeeโs findings should also be made public regularly so that people are informed of plans that will fortify their children’s lives through the development of India’s urban infrastructure.
In his book, he said there is a need to focus on rapid development of urban infrastructure, including roads, sewage lines and water supply.
โNow floods descend without warning in cities, streets turn into waterways, and roads transform into labyrinths choked with traffic,โ he writes in the book, co-authored with Aparna Jain and published by Penguin.
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Why are our cities crumbling?
“Our cities are crumbling, and why? Because urban infrastructure has neither planned nor kept up with the growth of cities. Because of illegal encroachments and settlements. Because no one is being held responsible. It all gnawed at me. When I envisioned a new city, it wasn’t just about bricks and concrete. It was a dream for a sprawling metropolis, a blueprint for future generations,” he writes in the book.
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He says that the master plan should be a legacy, robust enough to weather the storms of our country’s rapid evolution. โOnly through collective innovation and judicious collaboration can we shape a future that transcends the present challenges. And the plan must then be actioned on an urgent footingโฆ.This is my appeal,โ he writes in the book.
Singhโs autobiography ‘Whatever the Odds’ was released by Jack Welch, the former Chairman and CEO of GE, in November 2011.
