State-of-the-art Junk

First it was the metro tragedies and now part of the ceiling of the new swanky Delhi IGI airport terminal giving way in a rain of an hour. Some things never change. We tried to make ourselves believe that the government machinery is not equipped to deliver world class infrastructure. We needed Private Public partnership for putting us on the infrastructure superhighway. We got that but the result is out there for us to see. Maybe the infrastructure is getting built faster but the bigger question looms -Is it safer? Is it sustainable?

Actually the issue is not with the public or private. It is with basic lack of accountability. Contracts are awarded but rarely supervised effectively. Deadlines are imposed but the safety measures are blatantly ignored. The legal system is such that if you drag someone to Court it will take years and a lot of money and resources to prove the guilt. Another strange fact is that this particular incident will not get half the media attention and coverage as the fact that SRK was frisked in Newark airport due to computer based security profiling. Talk about priorities....

Anyways I do not mind paying the Rs.300 as airport development charge every time I fly through IGI or BIA or Hyderabad GMR. But when I see the actual reality of the so called "world class" infrastructure, it really pains to part with my hard earned money. I really hope that the much anticipated 2010 Commonwealth games go off without a major display of embarrassment.