By Anoop Nautiyal
Just a few days ago, on 7 December, at a BJP parliamentary meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his fellow party members that he prefers being referred to simply as ‘Modi’ and not “Modiji”, asserting that the ji in fact distances him from the people he so lovingly governs. It appears that the prime minister yearns to be seen as a friend of his associates, as opposed to an all-powerful figure which is the widely held perception across the nation.
A day later, PM Modi was invited to inaugurate the Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit, and Dehradun made sure to do all it could to welcome the very special ‘friend’ and the investors that thronged the city. The build-up to the two-day long investors summit on December 8 and 9 was intense, as is usually the case when a burgeoning city hosts a “global” event, eager to please.
However, this time around, it is safe to say that Doonites may have witnessed one of the quickest, albeit temporary, makeovers to have ever graced the state capital. The city was akin to an underprepared student, cramming all notes till the very last second or a child cleaning his room just as his parents arrive home.
Roads were hurriedly widened. Or rather, all the makeshift shops and hindrances that perpetually encroach our roads disappeared overnight. That’s the kind of impact our city’s residents had been wanting for years, but it seems the city’s officials felt it would be unjust to perform unless the high-profile investors were in attendance.
The city was cleaned. Piles of trash and garbage that had become a part of the city’s landscape also vanished from some of the key roads, much to the astonishment of many residents who had got used to both seeing and dumping their waste indiscriminately on the streets.
Not only speed, but artistry was in the air, too. All around major areas such as the Rajpur Road, Chakrata Road, Rispana, Parade Ground and on the sides of several flyovers one will now find freshly painted murals adorning the city. It is ironic though that most of these paintings and murals shall be gone once the next monsoon season comes and goes as well.
Other forms of cosmetic treatment were apparent for all to see. The painting of dividers and lampposts in areas of the city that should have been painted to begin with. The installation of white flower pots all along the summit roads of the city, a gesture that is likely to see these pots in the homes of those who are too lazy or penniless to buy their own.
One of Dehradun’s iconic traffic hotspots, Bindal Pul, was covered from both sides with massive Dehradun and Uttarakhand signages, just in case an investor had missed the hundreds of signs prior. Or could it be that the Dehradun and Uttarakhand signages were strategically placed on both sides to obstruct the view of the slums and “river” beneath?
In a pioneering work of deception, the likes of which would bring a grin to the face of illusionists, someone came up with the idea to paint windows or use flex across the face of the heritage buildings in Connaught Place. What’s really spectacular is that these were window images so if investors were to just drive by, most likely they wouldn’t be able to tell.
In certain areas of the city, power went missing for up to 6-8 hours daily in the days leading to the start of the summit. Power outages were reported in nursing homes and special needs centres, as well as other facilities that do not have the generator back-up systems found in larger hospitals.
Despite the makeover, the city of Dehradun and its people were not really included in the summit and the event wasn’t owned by the people. There was an overall lack of city spirit surrounding the summit, and perhaps that is why the event somehow seemed detached from the people it intended to serve.
For instance, residents, institutions, local shops and businesses could have been encouraged or even incentivised to light up the entire city from December 1, both owing to the fact that the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel had been rescued on November 28 as well as the approaching summit. Going even one step further, extensive stakeholder meets could have been organised months and weeks earlier with local businesses, hotels and restaurants associations, citizen groups and community based organisations. None of this was earlier thought of or planned.
As life has limped back to normal, traffic has returned to a fever pitch. The chhola bhatura stalls outside the iconic Forest Research Institute building are also back to doing brisk business as encroachers across the city reclaim their temporarily lost spaces. What is perhaps most saddening of all is that the city of Dehradun that showed its true colours; what was once thought of as a city where nothing gets done has fleetingly proved itself as a city that can do a whole lot, but only when friends and a bunch of high-profile investors are visiting from outside.
(Anoop Nautiyal is Founder, Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation)
