The Hindu : New Delhi News : Waiting for my own Metro... .

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 19, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Waiting for my own Metro... .

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, DEC.18. Crack-meter? You would not find the word in any standard dictionary. It is Metro-speak, and the first time I heard the word was about three years ago when my chowkidar told me that the "Metro people" would be installing a "crack-meter" in all the rooms in our house.

A crack-meter, we soon discovered, resembles a half-foot ruler, nailed to the wall to record the progress of a widening crack, occurring because of "blasting" of difficult rocks undertaken by Metro engineers as they sought to make way for an underground railway line in front of our house here on Alipur Road.

Now three years later, this Sunday, the Prime Minister is scheduled, finally, finally, to flag off the new Kashmere Gate-Delhi University underground Metro line, and they are promising that those of us who live along the route would not even know that a train was speeding across a few yards away.

So it be recorded!

But, let me tell you, it has not been a quiet affair so far. We have, in fact, got totally used to a potpourri of noises: the blasting of rocks, though mercifully carried out as per a declared schedule, at 8-30 in the morning and 10 in the evening; the drone of giant power generators; the huffing and puffing of cranes; the unmusical belching of caterpillars; and a whole range of other noises whose origin could not be traced.

Noises like you get to hear if three or four taps start running simultaneously. In particular, these last few days one has had to put up with this grating noise one associates with sugarcane juicewallahs working their hand-machines to squeeze the last drop out of a protesting cane.

Noises apart, the underground Metro has had a major dislocating role in our lives in the months gone by. The topography of the area changed beyond recognition. Alipur Road became a one-way street and it became a challenge to our guests to reach our house without losing the way at least once.

But the construction work was -- by and large -- a citizen-friendly affair. The only time we got totally unnerved was when it appeared that our building at 32 Alipur Road would be virtually marooned as the Metro people were not going to provide a bridge to the street.

A benign intervention of the then Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, was sought; a meeting with the Metro Man, Sreedharan, took place in the Railway Ministry, and our "misunderstanding" was removed.

Three days later a group of engineers appeared with revised plans. I was impressed with their sense of mission. I remember one of them called the underground construction work a "mahayagna".

We too decided to get into the spirit of things and put up with all the minor nuisances that followed. Our chowkidar struck up a working relationship with the lower end of the Metro staff; he is always looking for partners to shoot the breeze.

Gradually not only did we get used to the dislocating nuisances and the never-ending noises, we grew fond of the Metro. It was a favourite topic to discuss with our dinner guests. And those of the guests whom we wanted to feel important were given a conducted tour from our balcony of the work in progress.

Though the Metro public relations officers are insisting that the work is over, ahead of schedule, there is considerable mess still on the road.

The Prime Minister probably will not get to see the unfilled trenches and unfinished buildings. Yet the residents of the area are not overly worried. We know the Metro management has a reputation to keep.

However, one does hope that the Metro people will soon keep their promise to restore our original boundary wall. And, not to be forgotten, they will do something about the cracks in our house, especially in the bathroom.

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