PRIVATISATION!

Vemaraju Narasimha Rao

After quite a long time, I was coming to India. The flight was delayed by an hour at Bangkok. After having washed down a good meal with two glasses of white wine and three pegs of whisky, I felt drowsy. The flight would not reach Bombay till after ten in the night…..

Coming from the Hyderabad airport, I found the Patigadda road quite wide and devoid of any potholes or patch-work or any ups and downs, that crisscrossed the road. It shone brightly on the smooth surface. This Hyderabad appeared rather strange!

Oh! There used to be a garbage dump right in the middle of the road, at this turning. Where had it gone? The slum dwellers all around dumped their wastes there and squat right in the middle of the road. The rag pickers scattered the garbage all around after they picked up pieces of cloth and paper. The stray pigs then took over to spread it further. And, the municipality was blissfully oblivious of any complaints and had no time to bother over these petty things. How come, this wonder of wonders?

The road was clean like a mirror without any litter anywhere around. Not even, when one searched for it purposely in all corners.

While I was in Japan, I tore to pieces the receipt given by the shopkeeper, as was my wont and stopped short of throwing the litter on the road. I realized that even if one desperately wanted a piece of paper urgently, there was none anywhere within sight. I did not have the heart to throw the pieces on the road and held on.

On my return, there was a bridge and the water below was very clean and fresh. I enquired of my friend what river it was. He said that it was not a river but a drainage channel. Having been bred and brought up in Hyderabad it was rather hard for me to digest that information and believe that a drain could be that clean and fresh. The drains that I knew were dark and foul-smelling, clogged with garbage dumped by the municipal workers and the miscellaneous wastes thrown in by the neighbouring inhabitants. The very thought was so repulsive!

I could not pull myself up to throw the pieces even in the water.

After walking for about two kilometers and having found a dustbin, I deposited the pieces in it and felt happily relieved of having discharged my duties properly as a loyal and law-abiding citizen.

Exactly around this time, a procession of dark and huge buffaloes used to pass along this road, after having had their daily ablutions in the Hussainsagar. The entire traffic helplessly came to a grinding halt and stood still in their honour till the procession passed by leisurely taking its own time. This was a common sight for any Hyderabadi. But surprisingly, there was not a buffalo anywhere around or any trace of their barat. This too was another wonder!

The meter was furiously spinning as one kilometer after another passed by. But the same freshness and cleanliness everywhere! No trace of any litter anywhere.

For a moment I wondered if I was in Japan or Singapore, but no. I was very much in Hyderabad. And, the auto, for sure, was of Hyderabad registration, with the amatuerish letters and spelling mistakes. “Beware of your samans. 11/2 meter 10pm to 5am”. Yes, it was Hyderabad.

“Bhai , shahar itne saaf kaise hai?”, I enquired.

I expected that he would say that the Government gave back the crores it owed to the municipality and that the municipal staff were dutifully attending to their duties to keep the city clean and green.

It was obvious from the look he gave me that he treated me to be an ignoramus. The looks seemed to say. “Don’t you know this much?”

“Saab! The Government has been privatizing all its departments as it does not have enough money. They privatized the Colleges, Schools, Hospitals, Electricity, roads and bridges and many industries. The private companies which took over are reeking in profits. Recently the municipalities have also been privatized. Let out to contractors, on tenders. The contractors are paying huge amounts to the Government in advance.”

“But, running a municipality is not such a profitable proposition, I suppose!”, I asked.

“Nai Saab. Previously the municipal drivers and the workers sold the garbage to individuals for a pittance on the sly, for conversion as manure for agriculture. Now, every house is supplied with a plastic bag. A bagful of garbage is paid five rupees. The contractor’s men collect the filled bags. Now, no one throws any garbage or litter on the road as before. Some bada contractor got the bid for the municipal corporation. He is not leaving even a small piece of paper or a rag. He insists on collecting everything – The previous practices have all gone!”

This was refreshingly good news. What the numerous rules and regulations and efforts of the officials could not do, privatisation did. Now the city is clean, though not green. And, the people were accustomed to healthy practices. A brilliant idea, indeed…..

“Flight No.751 is about to land in a few minutes in Bombay. Please fasten your seat belts and put off cigarettes. We do hope you have had a comfortable journey on our flight. Thank you!”

With the pilot’s announcement, all the drowsiness disappeared at once!

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