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Leader of the Opposition L K Advani deserves to be commended not just for writing one of the longest autobiographies ever. After dashing off 986 pages in just eight months, the 80-year-old Advani still had enough stamina left to break the ice between him and Sonia/Manmohan, neither of whom turned up for the release of the book on March 19.

The BJP leader celebrated Holi by calling on the UPA chairman and the PM to present them with autographed copies of My Country, My Life. Not that there are flattering references to Sonia in the book, which dwells on her foreign origin. Manmohan had been earlier described by Advani as the weakest PM India has seen. But, then, any author worth his salt will tell you writing is all about telling it like it is! And Indian political commentators will add that Advani’s attempt to mend fences with Sonia/Manmohan deserves a Nobel, even it is for peace and not literature!

That My Country, My life was also used to improve intraparty ties is indicated by reports that Advani touched NDA chairman Vajpayee’s feet while presenting a copy of the book whose foreword was written by the 83-year-old former PM. Advani also presented a copy to 56-year-old BJP president Rajnath Singh who then fell at the author’s feet.

But, then, the BJP is a traditional party where younger leaders prostrate before their elders! The release was followed by interviews on TV channels like Times Now where Advani indicated he was kept out of the loop on the decision that his then Cabinet colleague Jaswant Singh should accompany the terrorists who were exchanged for the passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines plane at Kandahar in December 1999. If Advani has not spilt the beans on whether he threatened to resign over the decision to exchange terrorists for hostages, it could be because some state secrets should remain secret, especially for an author who is also a PM-in-waiting!

Tuesday, 1st April, 2008

The summer of discontent is here again. It is now Gurgaon’s turn after a round of water crisis in parts of Delhi earlier this month. This problem is not restricted to just the northern cities. There are other parts of the country as well where we may see the scarcity of the water in the coming summer. The recent shortage in Gurgaon was caused by a breach in a canal that supplies water to nearly 70 per cent of the city, forcing residents to buy water from tankers at Rs 500700 per 5,000 liters. But the root cause of this scarcity lies elsewhere: farmers living near Gurgaon breached the canal because they desperately needed water for their farmlands.

The extraction of fast depleting ground water which was used for irrigation of the fields has become difficult because of the poor electric supply.  There is a civic unrest because of the inequities in water availability. We may expect water riots in the coming months if the situation keeps on declining the way it is .

 Mismanagement and reckless extraction of this resource is another wrong side other than the inequity. The second UN Water Development Report, 2006, clearly states: “Good governance is essential for managing our increasingly stretched supplies of freshwater and indispensable for tackling poverty.” And, it is here we have been found wanting. Both Delhi and Haryana have ‘legislations on water harvesting. But implementation, as usual, has been amiss.

Gurgaon has been officially declared as a DARK ZONE; the extraction is nearly 63 per cent while recharge is a modest 40 per cent. However, the government has not stopped its pace of urbanization in this area. There has been a huge mushrooming of residential complexes, malls and other office buildings in just a few years. This relentless over-extraction of water is also bad economics as a falling water table has a direct impact on power bills. And extracting more than what is meant for you also means denying someone else their fair share.

To block the leakages, hiking water tariffs were the resort. However, the country with political interference in almost everywhere, no political party is expected to take the call. Now, therefore, there is a need of rationalize the usage of water, the water management system should be decentralized, the recharge should be made a commitment and the traditional water harvesting systems should be popularized. If the onus is on the government to pass legislations and implement them, it is the responsibility of the users to contain wastage and use water responsibly.

The delay in commercial opening of the new Bangalore and Hyderabad airports underscores the urgent need for policy clarity and, of course, an independent regulator.

Much of the debate and behind-the-scene lobbying over user charges, passenger levies, fate of existing airports in these cities is farcical. The concession agreement signed between the government and developers talks about the various levies and clearly says existing airports in these cities would cease commercial operations once the new ones start working. Should the government have agreed to such terms? In hindsight, maybe not.

 Most big cities have multiple airports, with some sort of specialization - corporate/leisure airports, cargo airports, city airports for smaller carriers and so on. Besides, these new airports would start operating at full capacity almost from the start. A bit of competition would also have helped check passenger levies and airport charges.

Tempting as these considerations are, the government must not have any second thoughts on closing existing airports because of the long-term implications of such a step. Government has largely left infrastructure financing and creation in the public-private partnership (PPP) domain. Such a globally unprecedented private investment in infrastructure projects, which typically take years to implement and have even longer payback periods, requires a predictable and a transparent policy regime. If even contractual obligations are questioned, attracting private investment would become almost impossible.

The issue of airport charges is contentious the world over because of the monopoly nature of the business of running airports. It is no surprise that the levies proposed by the new airports have raised concern. What is needed is independent, empowered airport regulators that can decide on pricing of airport services and also help plan development of airport infrastructure better. The fact that airport charges in India are already a lot higher than in neighboring countries underscores the urgency on this count. A relevant Bill has already been introduced in Parliament and is now lying with the standing committee. The government needs to get the Bill passed at the earliest.