Civic authorities have constitutional duties

The only lesson we learn from history is that we don’t learn. While environmentalists speak endlessly about global warming and the threat to civic life, if we stick to the many strategies we follow by the day, the natural calamity that hit Chennai is a timely warning to all civic bodies to come to terms with Nature.

Chennai, in many ways is an eye opener and a loud warning of things to come. While it is true that the quantity of rain was unprecedented in a city not known for copious downpours, the loss was disproportionate. Most observers would believe that the tragedy, while could be natural, was aggravated by contributory negligence of a civic society gone wrong.

The threat looms over Hyderabad, too. It is trite to state that Article 21 of the Constitution not only guarantees to the citizen the ‘Right to Life and Liberty’ but casts on the State the duty to ensure that it is not violated by any action of the State-directly or indirectly. The modern State, however, is so caught up with populist promises, electoral dividends and financial limitations that Nature and planning for the long run are seeming luxuries. Chennai is the alarm and we cannot afford to snooze. It is no longer open to a government to be a mute spectator to those who exploit nature to its detriment. The expansive definition of the right to life is to ensure that people live not like an animal but with human dignity—it is the duty of the State to ensure this.

As, we observe, civic life in Hyderabad usually comes to a grinding halt after anything more than a minor drizzle. Modern statehood is about planning against a calamity not giving it a knee jerk reaction. The neighbouring State stood up to the calamity of the Hudhud cyclone with a plan in place for the emergency. Does Government react only in an emergency? Can they be in deep slumber when its civic amenities are not functioning to capacity? Needless to point out, this would be a serious violation of the guarantees contained under the Constitution.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act (Section 112) provides that it shall make “adequate provisions for” for about 29 facilities of modern city life. While what is adequate could be a matter of debate, there is no gainsaying that if the facilities so endanger our very existence, then the understanding of the responsibility is seriously in jeopardy. The question is not one of politics. It is also not to suggest that one political party has been better or worse than another.

It is, however, time to take stock of the situation and realise that we are all sitting on a volcano that can burst any moment. Our lakes are disappearing, our sanitation is pathetic and our hygiene is a tragedy. When a leading government hospital puts off surgeries because it cannot get clean water, the situation is alarming. The roar that we are heading to a scene of acute water shortage is gaining echo but, are we in a position to understand and make those responsible accountable for the sorry state of affairs?

Do the statutory authorities have an escape route? The answer is in the negative. It would be a mockery not just of the taxes we pay and the duties levied on us but, would be a poor display of statutory and constitutional duties. Now is the time to wake up lest we be swept away literally and otherwise. Life is at stake. Power must answer. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

By L Ravichander