The
first requirement to decongest Delhi is to draw a roadmap on how to decelerate
Delhi's population growth.
And
it cannot be something like what China did while restructuring and developing
Shanghai and Beijing, forcefully evicting people out of city precincts.
Delhi
is magnate for people from across India because it gives best hopes to people
to earn their livelihood when we compare the employment generation capacity of
all the metros in India.
And
that has been the major reason behind Delhi's rapid population growth. In fact,
if we see the population growth in Delhi without the migrants inflow, it comes
out to be lower than the national average.
And
they are most welcome. It is their Constitutional birthright to settle anywhere
in India that supports their life.
So,
what are the options that Delhi can adopt to decelerate population growth here.
The
answer, though innovative in the Indian context, is nothing extraordinary. What
policymakers need here is the vision to follow the roadmaps being followed with
persistence (and patience).
Jing-Jin-Ji
or Putrajaya are what India needs to look up to - in terms of what China is
doing to decongest Beijing or Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur.
Jingjinji
or Jing-Jin-Ji is a planned vision of China where it intends to establish a Megalopolis.
China is working to develop Jing-Jin-Ji as an urban complex of superb economic
growth.
But
the underlying reason behind it is decongesting Beijing.
Jing-Jin-Ji,
China's National Capital Region, is going to be the answer of China's Beijing
woes - an environment nightmare. Beijing, like Delhi, is one of the most
polluted cities. In fact, its notoriety precedes Delhi. Emergency alerts on
extreme pollution levels have been a common feature of the city.
To
tackle it, China is working on a multi-pronged strategy - developing areas in
Beijing region to house industries and people - and shifting government offices
out of Beijing. In fact, the municipal government of Beijing, that employs
thousands of employees, is being shifted to a satellite town.
There
will be infrastructure in place for industries and people to relocate, not far
away from Beijing, developing the region as a whole. Once this starts happening,
it will reduce population and thus the vehicular burden on Beijing.
To
continue..