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They charged the Deputy Mayor with taking a partisan attitude and said the Municipal Congress Party was behaving like "British rulers." Finding them in a defiant mood Congress Party leader Brij Mohan moved a resolution for adjournment. It was carried by 39 votes to seven and the meeting was adjourned. Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra (JS) said the sadhu's death for a "noble cause" went against the Government and the Delhi Administration. "The attitude of the Delhi police was more condemnable as they had tried to show that he had died of indigestion or exposure." Accusing the Chair of partiality he said the Corporation had passed a condolence resolution in the Panipat arson case. He asked why the Deputy Mayor had disallowed the Sangh resolution. Mr. R. C. Aggarwal (Ind.) who supported Mr. Malhotra's contention said it was being ruled out on political grounds. He was in favour of adopting the resolution. Deputy Mayor: "According to the police report, the sadhu did not die because of the fast; he died of something else." V. K. Malhotra: "The police and the district administration have lied. It is a case of sheer murder." The Deputy Mayor suggested that if the four group leaders came to an agreement about the resolution, he was prepared to adjourn the House for 10 minutes and would reconsider his ruling. Mr. P. S. Gupta (Com) said he was against the resolution as there were doubts about the causes of the death of the sadhu. He was against adjournment. This evoked angry protests from Jan Sangh members who criticized the Communists. Mr. Sumer Chand (Cong) said the Jan Sangh, by disobeying the Chair, was following fascist and undemocratic ways. Since Sangh members had refused to take their seats or allow the proceedings of the House to go on, there was no alternative but to adjourn the meeting. Mr. I D. Ahluwalia (Cong) moved an amendment saying that the House was being adjourned because of the rowdyism of Jan Sangh members. Jan Sangh is expected to make a strong bid to capture Delhi Corporation at the next General Election due to be held in February. The Shome of Our Cities SRINAGAR THE DREAM CITY - Srinagar, the dream city of lakes and gardens of graceful trees fringed by snowcapped mountains, is also as shabby, stinking and filthy as man can make it. Perhaps in no other town is the distinction between the haves and the have-nots 80 sharply drawn. Though the condition of the working class is much better today than it was a decade ago, there are still large pockets of abject poverty in the city. The people are good-looking and intelligent. But the city abounds in sharp practitioners such as are not easily found in the whole of India. Government publicity attracts a large number of tourists but the moment a tourist arrives in town, the porter, the taxi-driver, the houseboat wala and a host of other agents catering to his needs, see to it that he is charmingly fleeced. And even the most amiable tourist sees red when the porter charges him Rs. 10 for carting his luggage for a mile, the tongawala Rs. 5 for going the same distance, the taxidriver refuses to go where he wants to, and the houseboatwala tells him after a day's stay that he will have to pay more than the fixed rate. And yet Srinagar is regarded as a tourists' paradise. Like the city, the residents too are full of surprises. Th.y are gracious and kind, but some are indifferent and cynical. A newcomer to the town had better cultivate patience, otherwise he will be a nervous wreck within a short time. There may be five taxis waiting at a taxistand and yet not one may take him where he wants to go and he can't do a thing about it. Complaining to the authorities too is of no use. The attitude of the small business-man whether he is a shawlmaker or grocer, milkor flower-vendor is "take it or leave it". A typical example of this attitude was cited by a friend who went to buy a fur cap. When asked the prices of various caps, the shopkeeper countered with, "Do you want to buy the cap today or tomorrow?" "I may buy it tomorrow," replied may friend without taking offence. "Then come back tomorrow," the shopkeeper said. The beauty of Srinagar is so overpowering that the human hand cannot destroy it. Talking of the need to rebuild Srinagar, Jawaharlal Nehru once said: "The magic is there already but unfortunately the human hand and human folly have tried to cover it here and there-still it peeps out through dirt and slum." The slums are a blot on the fair name of the city. In fact, the whole of the old portion of the city is a virtual slum. The banks of the Jhelum can be the most picturesque part of the city but they are the dirtiest. The river is virtually an open drain which carries the city's sullage. There are about 50 slums in the city, some of which are very densely populated. Public lanes are narrow, most of them being less than eight feet wide. It is not possible to drain out water from these lanes or provide piped water end electricity without damaging the houses. One cannot walk through them without soiling one's clothes because of drippings from roof tops. No development in respect of drainage, water, electricity and roads is possible until these slums are cleared. Only long-term measures and the preparation of a master plan for Srinagar can rid the city of this blemish. Over a decade ago a slum clearance scheme envisaging an expenditure of over Rs. 41 crores was prepared, but no action has been taken on it as yet. Not doubt the cost is enormous but something should have been done to implement the short-term proposal of shifting slum-dwellers to less populated areas. Ward No. 8 is above flood level and has a low water-table and is thus ideally suited for setting up new colonies. But planners have warned that if the haphazard construction of houses in this ward is not stopped now, it will not be possible to develop this area after a few years. As a first step, slums on the banks of the Jhelum should be removed. Part of the funds for this scheme can be contributed by the Tourist Department as the river front when beautified will attract more tourists. At least, to begin with, the authorities should improve the river bund in the new Srinagar areas. The pavement here is so uneven that a stroll becomes an exercise in preventing a sprained ankle. The sanitary conditions are the most primitive. It is estimated that there are 30 miles of unpaved lanes devoid of public drains. This leads to water-logging which is aggravated by digging of ditches by citizens to raise the level of their dwellings. The city is full of such ditches. The authorities who have been pleading that they have not been able to take up improvement works because of lack of funds, could at least have constructed a large number of public urinals and latrines. At present the entire city, including the new residential areas, is an open urinal. The few public latrines that exist do not have proper drainage and have thus become a source of nuisance. Even the new Srinagar, which has amenities like parks, playgrounds, shopping centres, schools and colleges, hospitals and factories presents a picture of haphazard growth. Cinemas have been built on highways with no provision for parking space. The Government transport workshop is on the national highway which runs through the city. Even the new colonies have no drainage system. Luckily for the authorities the growth in population has not been much, otherwise they would have been beset with the problems of industrial growth and its accompanying diseases, traffic congestion and accidents, and the concommitant social and moral evils. The population of the city according to the 1964 census was 2,85,25738,735 more than in 1951 and 77,470 more than in 1941. The slow growth has been due to the high rate of infant mortality in the past. But with the improvement in medical facilities during the last few years, the population is bound to expand rapidly over the next decade and hence the need for planned development. Connected with slums is the housing problem. According to a housing survey con ducted in 1960, the city's 41,154 dwellings, shop-cum-dwellings and workshop-cumdwellings were occupied by 2,81,221 people. The average number of persons in one dwelling thus came to 6.8. The congestion in houses in the interior is even worse. Though new colonies have been built and loans given under the low-income group housing scheme, only the fringe of the problem has been touched. For want of an adequate transport system, the residents, particularly workers, are concentrated in the heart of the town. The bus service run by the Transport Department is most unsatisfactory. The few buses the city has, seldom run on time. The travelling public is left at the mercy of tongawalas and taxiwalas who charge arbitrary rates and take customers only if they want to go to a particular destination. A habit peculiar to this city is that a bus conductor never gives the passenger a ticket and passengers have long ago stopped asking for one. It is amazing how the department runs the buses on a commercial basis. The need to improve the bus service and to increase the number of taxis and taxi-stands is urgent. Srinagar, which was once a seat of culture and higher learning, today abounds in illiterate people. Though rapid advance has been made in the field of education, the percentage of literacy in 1961 was only 21.9. The proportion of literate females was still less and did not exceed 14.7 per cent. With greater freedom enjoyed under the present government, the number of female students has gone up considerably. The government propose to introduce compulsory primary education by the end of the Fourth Five-Year Plan. In fact, the present situation has become explosive as more and more students are coming forward but there are not enough trained teachers. The government has, therefore, decided to improve the quality of education during the Fourth Plan. The problem is the same as regards medical facilities. Doctors from outside the State are reluctant to work here because of the difficult weather conditions and the State has not got enough doctors of its own. The shortfall will be overcome in a few years when more medicos pass out of the Govern |