The face of the rising and new India is incomplete without the rise of shopping malls and shopping centers. The small roadside moving carts of produce and fruits are replaced by dazzling shops with veggies in bins, just like the supermarkets in the West. Ironically the latest entrant in the market is the Reliance Fresh where the produce on a recent visit was hardly fresh. Gone are the small straw baskets in which one could dump the veggies to give the seller, and then put it in your cloth bag. Now a days, PLASTIC rules. Carrying a tote bag guarantees that you will bring home at least 2-3 plastic bags. The only exception being the CSD Canteen (stores run by the Indian Army!). During every visit to a shop, I am accosted with images of landfills of plastic or roadside cows/bulls eating this toxic waste.
Along with the burgeoning middle class, Garbage in India is also rising at an alarming rate. One of the challenges of this rapid urban growth is the lack of infrastructure…poor roads, sanitation, and pollution. Construction of apartment buildings is the new ‘in’ business. Apartment complexes come in various names like Madison Square Apartments to Surya Niwas, and in various shades from Jaundiced Yellow with Blue Stripes to the staid Grey Cement. In residential colonies where homeowner associations have established rules against the building of apartments to protect against adversely affecting the water table, these apartment buildings are slowly becoming a huge problem. Despite being vested with powers to police the unwarranted rise of poorly constructed apartment buildings, the Muncipality sits mum.
Is this the face of new urban India? In the quest for modernization, have we come to accept this as an inevitable consequence?
Friday, August 10, 2007
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If this is the face of new urban India, it surely has a frowning countenance. It seems that countries transitioning from 'Third World' to 'Second World' (?) endure a new phase of self-destruction as the 'throw-away' society concept takes (strangle)hold.
At some point I suppose it will slide into the 'First World' and capitalize on the power of its eventually bloated economy by throwing its garage in *other* countries. But hopefully I am wrong and India will halt its own waste proliferation long before it becomes as garbagely callous as the US.
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