New Delhi: Roads in the capital zone of New Delhi will soon wear the traditional look again after a faulty experiment bordering sycophancy.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has agreed to repaint kerbs, pavements and roundabouts in the traditional yellow and black colours.
NDMC traces its origin to the Imperial Delhi Committee set up by the colonial British rule to oversee development of New Delhi as the new Indian capital in 1913. It is the smallest of the five civic bodies of the national capital and probably India’s richest civic body due to its surplus budget and massive revenue inflow due to presence of several business districts in its 43.7 sq km area. The national capital zone of sprawling metropolis comes under the NDMC jurisdiction.
NDMC had taken a curious decision to paint kerbs and roundabouts in pink and green in October last year. The civic body defended it by saying they wanted aesthetic looks under which green symbolised eco friendly approach and pink represented the rich heritage of the city.
The pink, however, was the darkest shade of the colour bordering on looking like saffron. Many felt then that it was sycophancy at its best with the NDMC honchos purposely opting for these unusual colours to paint the town in colours representing India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which uses saffron and green as its colours.
The NDMC had paid no heed to objections raised by several NGOs connected with road safety and the Delhi Traffic Police which said unlike the conventional yellow and black strips which reflect in dark, the pink and green strips could lead to increase in road accidents. Roads in the NDMC areas are considered safest considering they are wide, well light and well maintained.
Muktesh Chander, special commissioner (traffic) of Delhi Police, wrote a letter to the new NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar on Sunday, expressing his grave concerns over the existing non-conventional scheme of kerbs which could lead to fatal accidents.
NDMC at its meeting on Monday decided to form a committee to look into the objections and suggestions given in this regard. “The council in principle agreed to revert to the conventional yellow and black or white and black colours. The committee has been asked to further assess the matter and give its proposal at the earliest considering it is a matter of public safety,” said an MDMC official.
NDMC is one of the five civic bodies of the metropolis. The other four being Delhi Cantonment Board and North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation. The later three were created with the controversial trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi by the previous Congress party-led provincial government.
