Karanvir Gupta
“Who owns a city?” This must seem a weird question to you at the first instance. But I have had this question looming in my head for quite some time. A city is a labyrinth of its past, its struggles, people – laborers, migrants, workforce of all kinds, tourists besides natives, its architecture, food, culture and as well its hope and its aspirations. A city then becomes an emotion. Each city comes with its own history and glory. There are millions of us who are a part of that legacy. There are millions who live and experience a city before us and millions who would breathe in the fresh air in that city after us. All of us absorb and contribute towards the city in our own unique ways.
But then the question remains, “Who owns a city?” I might have forgotten the urge to ask this question to myself and you all but my recent recce in our own city Jammu pushed me harder to put this question on the table. As I took the stroll in and around the streets, temples, beautifully done parks, and other public places, I saw our Jammu city beaming with reluctant happiness. Not completely belonging to anyone, not knowing who its caretaker is. Not knowing who its caretaker ever was. Not knowing what the future holds for the city itself. Probably this is what happens to cities who are orphaned at the hands of political movements. Sadly so, Jammu city has always borne the brunt of upheaval created in the state since Independence. Daavedaar bahut hain, Sewakaar koi nahi. There are many who claim to own and exercise their right over the city but very few who submit themselves genuinely to the service of the city.
My heart reeks of a similar kind of reluctant happiness as that of our Jammu city. A city full of hopes but bewildered at the hands of destiny, standing at crossroads absolutely lost not knowing where to go on from here. But there have been attempts – half baked and superficial though – to make most of the city. Of many such attempts is Jammu Smart City Mission.
And the twitter handle of Jammu Smart City (known by @Jammu_SmartCity) is representation of that ideal Jammu we all have always aspired for. Everytime I log into my twitter account the updates from the twitter handle of Jammu Smart City pop up reminding me of my City of Dreams. But just dreams! The dreams that are fanciful, bright and fill you with all the hope. But then we forget that they are just dreams. Nothing else. The dreams that will keep looming over our sleepy heads forever. They are just a wishful aspiration we are looking to be fulfilled by an agency that has been spearheading a mission of converting a city into a smart one by handful of pseudo-intellectuals who would not even know the existential importance of Jammu city, its legacy, its hardships and struggles and glory. And for them Smart City merely means infrastructure development. Something that shows up on roads and visually to the public and can be photo-oped for press, public and media. An agency with no intention of getting into the software of a city – of ethnicity, people, places and culture that make Jammu, Jammu. An agency that gives a dime of hassles in terms of processes and procedures the public has to go through for day to day activities including registry of a piece of land, to getting a birth certificate, to shabbily programmed traffic lights which have higher probability of getting two cars hit to each other rather prevent the mishap. It is not that I have no reason to call the Jammu Smart City mission a sham and a half-baked solution. After all, it has been five years without any substantial progress.
And this sentiment reinforces with each day of this mission. Now when you take a visit in the city, you will see the directional boards above the flyover and at high masts bearing Issued By Jammu Smart City. I traveled to Indore, Raipur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bali where the respective I love city signs are put. But none of them says who put that board up. But then Jammu seems a special case. Every I love Jammu sign says in big and bold , at times bigger than the sign itself, By Jammu Smart City Mission. Such belittling acts to showcase how much you have been working. Shame! Shame!
I am shocked to see these love signboards. Not only their awkward placements, uncomfortable locations where you cannot get clicked or even stand for a second but at the pathetic situation of the folks working at the helm of affairs. What gives them the right to put their name out there. If I understand it right, Jammu Smart City is not the owner of the Jammu city. Or are we back to the times where there used to be a king and its subjects. Everything belonged to the king. And the territory was his kingdom. When I checked last, Jammu was no longer anybody’s private territory. Or is there anything I am missing?
Everytime, I dream about my Jammu as a Smart City, I see metros running from Kathua till Jammu to Udhampur – shortening the time to travel – and increasing avenues for people. Mobility is the key to getting people moving and keeping them connected. I dream of cherry blossoms, purple blossoms adorning the highways the moment you cross Lakhanpur. Because you know Jammu is the Gateway to Paradise on Earth. Shouldn’t that emotion kickin the moment you enter Jammu? Every time you ask me my vision of Jammu Smart City, I see a Clarquee bay by the side of Jammu River Tawi and the entire houses down the hill painted in white that seem like Sentorini. I see sidewalks for people to walk and cycle their way through Jammu University to GMC and from there on to anywhere else. I see huge potential for medical tourism but someone needs to sensitise the public and the current incumbents about those opportunities. There would be botanical parks considering the variety of floral species and indigenious crops. There could be many such Jurong Bird Parks and Laal Baghs in Jammu. If there would truly be a smart city, I would envision the mountains on the way to Chenani and Nashri till Kud and Peeda with a dense tree cover and not uprooted trees. If I am dreaming of Jammu as a Smart City, I would think a million times about Ease of doing business considering the DNA of the city. I would work towards a single window citizen program where all document related work a citizen could have could be operated and managed from there.
And I would not restrict my definition of a Smart City to putting up speed breakers that are more of a pain than a comfort. Imagine a pregnant woman travelling through these newly erected speed breakers in the city, ready for the bumpy rides. I would not restrict my definition of a Smart City to upping the Apsara road and keep showcasing it for months and months and get absorbed in the shallow glory and buzz. A smart city would be one which cares for its citizens in short and long term both.
And you know why the Jammu Smart City Mission is and will always be a failure. Not just because it is far from the practicality on the ground and the field, but because the people at the helm are rather trying to complete a checklist without their heart into it. But they cannot have their heart into it because they do not belong to the city itself. They do not know the real Jammu. A smart city is not put up by just erecting new infrastructure, then you are no different than a realtor. A smart city is a blend of hardware the public of that city needs and the software that will keep the public and the city operational, seamlessly. But only those can pick up the task of building (and envisioning) a Smart City, who are ready to get into the complex pieces that make up a city and its DNA, not those who are here to put up a facade of building a smart city.
And for that one needs to get rid of the mindset that they own a city. No one, as a matter of fact, owns a city. One only belongs to the city. The idea of making a city survive sustainably is the neat and brief vision for a Smart City but the incumbents seem to be far far from that vision and understanding. And that will not happen devoid a sense of belonging. Alas!
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