From New York's Clean Air to India's Pollution: A Stark Contrast
Writing from a small town in upstate New York on November 30, 2025, prominent columnist Tavleen Singh describes a jarring contrast that any Indian traveler would recognize. The first thing she noticed upon arrival was the clean air, a dramatic shift from the poisonous atmosphere choking northern India and even Mumbai. This observation comes at a time when air pollution is finally becoming a heated political issue in India, with judges, doctors, and political leaders raising their voices in anger.
Singh welcomes this belated outrage but insists it is not enough. She labels the situation a national emergency that provincial officials can no longer handle alone. She calls for the Prime Minister's personal intervention, stating that without something as fundamental as clean air, the grandiose dream of India becoming a fully developed nation in two decades is simply unattainable.
The Root of the Problem: Misplaced Political Priorities
The columnist laments the state of her homeland, comparing it to the litter-free roads, beautiful woods, and pristine streams she witnessed abroad. She poses a painful question: why does Bharat Mata look so bad? The answer, she asserts, lies in the priorities of the political class.
According to Singh, leaders are consumed with winning elections and subsequent squabbles over lucrative government posts. The desire to become chief minister is driven not by a vision for public service but by the opportunity to strut around like petty potentates. While this behavior is not new, Singh notes that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, public displays of religiosity have intensified.
"Personally, I have no problem with new temples being built but can we also build cities and towns that are livable?" she asks, pointing to ancient India's marvels of urban planning that included clean water and waste disposal.
Solutions Lie in Drastic Governance Overhaul
The core of the urban decay problem, Singh argues, is corrupt municipal governance. Officials are more interested in lining their pockets than providing essential services. They take bribes to allow unplanned, ugly urban sprawls to mushroom, rarely facing consequences for turning cities into slums.
Singh proposes a clear solution: drastic changes in municipal governance. Power over city services should be wrested from chief ministers and placed in the hands of directly elected, accountable mayors. She criticizes the common spectacle of chief ministers occupying grand houses in capital cities, their massive cavalcades causing traffic jams under the specious pretext of security.
For real change to occur, the Prime Minister's Office must take personal charge, similar to the Swachh Bharat campaign. Singh urges the government to declare urban decay a national emergency, with immediate measures to clean the air, manage waste, and create vital green lungs for cities.
Another critical priority is affordable housing. Singh highlights the plight of millions of migrants who pay exorbitant rents, sometimes more than their entire salary, for tiny hovels in cities like Mumbai. Life on the footpaths of Delhi or Mumbai, she notes sadly, is often better than the alternative in their villages.
This urgent call for an 'ease of living' stands in stark contrast to a recent post by the Prime Minister celebrating an 8.2% growth in quarter 2 of 2025-26. Singh concludes with a powerful plea: it is time to forget about building temples and giant statues of dead leaders and concentrate on building modern, livable cities for all citizens.
