SENIOR INDIAN officials have urged residents of federal capital New Delhi to mend their ways and behave in a civilised manner ahead of the Commonwealth Games which the city is hosting next year.
“We should seize the opportunity of the Commonwealth Games to change our behavioural pattern. We must behave as residents of an international city,” federal home minister P Chidambaram said.
“We are not living in the countryside; we are not living in a pastoral area. We are living in a city. Therefore, we must behave as the citizens of a big city,” he said in his plea to “gentrify” Delhi, which Forbes magazine recently listed – along with India’s financial capital, Mumbai – as one of the world’s 25 dirtiest cities.
The minister said those coming to Delhi from other places in the country must accept the discipline of living in a big city that was also the capital. With a population of more than 14 million, Delhi has a mere 3,300 public toilets and each morning tens of thousands of people relieve themselves in the open. Proposals to build additional toilets in crowded and popular market places have been under consideration for decades as have plans for more rubbish dumps, but are accorded low priority.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit last week said her administration was taking steps to change the way people behaved by announcing the launch of a “civilising campaign” to make locals more “caring and conscientious”. Those who litter, uninate, defecate or spit in public places before the October 2010 Commonwealth Games begin will be fined.
Municipal officials said fines would range from 100 rupees (€1.35) for defecating in a public place to 200 rupees for urinating, along with other similar “misdemeanours” commonplace because of overpopulation and the lack of adequate facilities.
They said 1,000 inspectors would also penalise owners of pets who littered the streets and those who used public taps to bathe or wash their clothes and utensils.
"Practically every large wall in Delhi bears a warning against urinating upon it and below are tell-tale wet patches left behind by men who don't care two hoots," ran the city pages of the Hindustan Timesyesterday as part of a campaign to try and clean up the city.
“The public etiquette is just for the Commonwealth Games,” the paper said. It was like fooling visitors into believing you had a beautiful house by remodelling your drawing room but leaving your kitchens and toilets in a mess.