Although the conference was in Mumbai, economists and urban planners discussed Delhi’s problems threadbare and said that the unplanned urbanization and rapid population surge were the main problems being faced by the city. There are signs that the city is bursting at the seams and that problems such as unaffordable housing, increased slums and continued pressure on the infrastructure are just a few symptoms that are evident nowadays.

The population of Delhi is expected to be as large as that of Mumbai, Mexico City and New York by 2020. It is expected to reach the figure of 30 million by 2025. You may expect that the city administration would be flush with funds and plans to meet these challenges head on. The first part of the sentence is true, since the Delhi administration is definitely all charged up to change the face of the city, but they have decided not to look beyond the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which means that the changes would largely be cosmetic and that the uncomfortable facts would simply be brushed under the carpet.

The slums are simply being removed from certain places, as if the poverty will vanish the moment we remove the slums. There has been no attempt whatsoever to integrate the slum dwellers somehow in the Commonwealth Games, whereas the poor were led to believe that the games would mean jobs and economic progress for the underprivileged sections of the society.

The real common problems being faced by Delhi’s citizens include lack of planning foresight resulting in everyday problems such as traffic hazards, among others. Delhiites are getting used to measuring distances in minutes and hours and not in kilometers anymore. The real question before us, therefore, is can we be sure Delhi will be ready for 2020 and beyond or would the administration continue to chug along in a haphazard manner?