No "glocal" city

Chennai, like many other Indian cities, is going global. I am provoked to provide this cliched view of a city (that has had a rather long international association from the days of the somewhat disreputable Robert Clive) because there is now a visible post-independence population of "foreigners" here, all of whom have to literally breathe the local air, join the powerless pedestrians, use the roads, weave past obstacles and generally avoid being run over.

There are many who have to put up only with item number one. That is the air. Everything else one can buy in a "cleaned up" form.

This is something of an irony for the Hyundais, the Mitsubishis, the Fords, the Suzukis, the Fiats, Mercedes, BMW, Audi (and any other automobile company that will come to India), because they are all eagerly setting up automobile plants. These companies achieve the depressingly negative outcome of adding to global warming and reducing, ironically, the level of mobility in the city by crowding out cyclists and buses, while promoting gridlock.

To that list of course, one must add the local manufacturers of cars (Tatas...) and motorised scooters and bikes a few hundred of which hit the city roads everyday.

On Monday, I just missed taking a picture of a group of people of African origin being escorted across the road by an autorickshaw driver. It was a funny scene. The auto man had his hand raised in a gesture of helpless pleading as the flock of ageing visitors followed him. Everyone was nervous in the group. Not without reason, because motorists are usually impatient on the somewhat wide road with the red lights. Pedestrian crossings are usually ignored and there are no major subways available for several kilometres (between LIC and, say, Safire). This scene at the Spencer's Junction on Anna Salai (the famous Mount Road of yore) is, incidentally, supposed to be monitored by police closed circuit satellite television! Take it from me, it is money down the drain. The system does not work.

This is just my point. This city of flashy cars and discotheques is hopelessly barbaric when it comes to the roads. Yet, few businesses that set up here appear concerned about their impacts on the already deteriorating quality of life. I am not asking for their understanding. I am demanding that they realise social responsibility. I am not also xenophobic. It is just that we have a lot of problems from ignorant, unregulated, corrupt, unaccountable and completely greedy domestic businesses. We don't need further input of irresponsible capital powered by the deliberately weak state of the rupee and the seemingly insatiable appetite of Indian consumers to add to the chaos.