New Delhi   

A world-class city in the making

Photo: V. Sudershan

Re-designing the Capital: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports M. S. Gill during ‘Delhi: A World-Class City in the Making’ conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Expressing satisfaction with ongoing work for hosting the first ever green Commonwealth Games here next year, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said all the new stadiums, buildings and flyovers in Delhi would be eco-friendly.

Addressing a conference on “Delhi: A world-class city in the making” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Ms. Dikshit said: “We have to make Delhi a city which each one of us is proud of. We need to provide power, sanitation and good livelihood opportunities to our citizens. We have to become a world-class city and move away from a city with multiple authorities.”

“We are confident that infrastructure will be in place in time for the Games. We have planned a whole lot of activities for training government officials, policemen, taxi drivers and bus drivers,” she added.

The Chief Minister said there was a need to construct eco-friendly buildings in the Capital. “We cannot make our city a concrete jungle.”

Asserting that one of the success stories of her government was reducing power losses, Ms. Dikshit said: “Eight years ago power theft was as high as 52 per cent but after privatisation we brought it down to 20 per cent. Our aim is to reduce it to 15 per cent. There was so much hue and cry over fast-running electricity meters. Many households that had never seen an air-conditioner are now using them. Well-off homes have two to three refrigerators. If you use more gadgets in your daily activity then don’t expect your power bill to be Rs.250 per month. Consumption of so many gadgets would automatically increase your power bill.”

Stating that Delhiites need to change their way of thinking, the Chief Minister expressed concern that iron railings were being removed from roads by drug addicts. “So I pitched for cemented dividers. We need to do away with dilapidated railings that make our city repulsive,” she added.

The Chief Minister said she gets depressed when people tell her that they find Singapore and London cleaner. “I always ask them did they litter the streets there. Since we cannot implement a ban on throwing cigarette butts in Delhi because of our burgeoning population and lack of law implementing service, the citizens need to keep their city neat and clean.”

Stating that Sheila Dikshit was the face of the Commonwealth Games, Union Sports Minister M. S. Gill said: “Massive infrastructure is being built in the city..... Delhi is a great city, has a lot of potential to develop, but it is surrounded by less developed areas. As a result there is migration to Delhi. How can a city like Delhi cope with migration of such a mind-boggling number of people? The Chief Minister is carrying a lot of burden. We have to stabilise the population of Delhi’s adjoining areas.”

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