The sensational announcements have been made. And they have created the sensations that were expected. There is anger in a few places, mockery in others and genuine concern in a few quarters. All of this would have been well enough had there been well-thought-out reasons behind the decisions.
Now that the announcements have been made and the initial reactions have come in, what is required is action. That seems to be lacking. Clearly, the emphasis behind the announcements seems to have been more on optics than on genuine public interest. When it comes to the new secretariat and the new airport, the State Government is very clearly clueless about what to do next.
The New Secretariat: A Decision without a Plan?
Let us begin with the secretariat. That decision, at least, had all the hallmarks of a spontaneous one. And therefore, it would not be appropriate to expect that much thought had been given to the consequences. But can an elected State Government really afford to do anything spontaneously, without bothering about the consequences? Surely, the Chief Minister’s advisors are aware that there is something called a Master Plan, of which the third edition is overdue. And surely, something as disruptive as a new secretariat ought to be taken into account in such a document?
What about studies on the load that such a large complex will place on its immediate environment? That no public consultation of any kind took place before the announcement is evident from the fishermen’s protests against the Pattinapakkam option. The arguments put forward by the fishermen show that they have clearly thought through the impact of the secretariat. This is something our Government has failed to do.
The latest development in this saga is that the Government may be backtracking in the face of the fishermen’s protests and criticism from (retired) city planners. That qualification is necessary because those in office never open their mouths. They become vocal critics only after superannuation, when the damage has been done.
A New Airport, but No Alternative Plan
We now come to the question of a new airport. That the party in power was opposed to the earlier choice of Parandur is no news. The TVK had made its opposition clear even when the site was announced. But having expressed its disapproval and declared that it would reverse the decision if elected, it obviously did precious little. A responsible opposition would have embarked on exploring alternatives even then. That way, it would have been prepared to take a decision if elected to office.
The concept of shadow cabinets is well established in mature democracies. Our State parties ought to be setting an example for the rest of India. Instead, what is clear is that the party never expected to win. Now that it has, it has been left with no option but to reverse the earlier airport decision, without pondering over the alternatives.
The end result is further delay in a project that would have taken considerable time even to implement. In the interim, the present airport is not covering itself in glory either. Something as routine as a taxi terminal is awaiting the pleasure of a VIP to inaugurate it.
Chennai’s Airport and the City’s Image
Taken overall, the present Government is displaying ineptitude in many ways. While the secretariat can wait, the airport sadly cannot. The city’s image is getting tarnished.
This magazine does not subscribe to the popular view that we need a glamorous new airport. But what we have is truly a shoddy facility, compared with which even airports in Tier Two towns are better.
This article appeared in Madras Musings–https://madrasmusings.com/vol-36-no-12/season-of-dither-begins-over-new-secretariat-and-new-airport/
My book, Chennai, A Biography can be ordered–https://pastforward.in/cart/