THIS is a very valid issue -- as anybody would agree -- “Why target only hospitals?”. This issue came up as regards the urban mess in Nagpur’s Dhantoli area -- which was once upon a time known for its serenity and civic orderliness. Today, however, Dhantoli is becoming infamous for exactly the opposite reasons. And the general impression is that the sudden rise in the number of hospitals and nursing homes in Dhantoli area is the main reason for the urban mess -- resulting in traffic congestion or parking woes or over-crowding of roads and lanes etc etc ...! But is that really so? -- asked an esteemed reader, Dr. Shubhangi Deshmane (who is also a regular contributor to ‘The Hitavada’). This question does merit a serious and wholesome attention, so to say. The loosefooter -- or ‘The Hitavada’ -- harbours no grudge or bias for or against hospitals. He agrees that other entities -- including high-rising housing complexes -- also contribute to the mess urban mess in Dhantoli.

 

And that was the reason why he wrote in the last edition of ‘Footloose in Nagpur’ that many other areas of the city were becoming victims of civic mess, thanks to bad urban planning and worse administration. There is no doubt that the plots that held only bungalows housing just a family or two previously now host dozens of families and hundreds of persons as regular residents. Even the fulfillment of their basic needs also puts a great pressure on the plots and the lanes and the roads and the areas. Add to the housing complexes and hospitals the countless numbers of commercial establishments that line the streets in truly bewildering numbers. Each of these establishments are hosts to countless numbers of visitors who also use the space for transit parking. Let us, therefore, imagine a scenario of just 30 minutes in peak time of evening -- say between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm. If Dhantoli has, say, 1,000 commercial establishments (which are besides hospitals) and each of those has average five visitors or customers at a time, then there are 5,000 additional people on roads mostly with their vehicles in transit parking -- during peak time.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the density of road-usage in an already congested place like Dhantoli -- or any other area, for that matter. This general comprehension of the situation leads us to serious questions about the method and manner of our urban planning and management. In this scenario, the hospitals alone need not be made targets, all right. But the issue is not just about hospitals; it is about the process and thinking of urban planning and management. The trouble in Dhantoli -- or in many other areas in similar conditions -- is that of absence of sensible urban leadership. There are residential areas that now suddenly boast of countless numbers of restaurants etc within 100 meters of one another. Similar is situation with hospitals, so to say. For, there are many areas where dozens of hospitals have sprung up from the ground in the past some time.

 

Those who has studied classic approach to town planning know that there are regulatory arrangements to restrict numbers of establishments of the same nature in an area or a locality, so to say. That basic principles appears to have been given a go-by in Nagpur. Hence the urban mess. Hence the chaos which does not appear to have a credible solution -- unless, of course, the urban authorities take a hard stand and ensure a logical and sensible dispersal of establishments. And this is applicable to all establishments -- which do not exclude hospitals in the least. The target, thus, is not just the hospitals; it is the faulty approach to urban planning and management -- which the loosefooter often insists upon.