All hands on deck

I am writing this article from my flat in Mumbai adjacent to the Oberoi Hotel. I have been confined to the flat for the past 48 hours or so and done little else than watch with mounting horror the unfolding tragedy of Mumbai. I have witnessed fires; I have listened with numbing helplessness to the cries of those trapped in their rooms many of whom were perched on edges outside to escape the billowing smoke. And I have wondered with a mix of anguish, impatience and anger why the fire department was taking so long. It has been a cathartic experience and not one that lends itself to the penning of an article.

These past few days have triggered conflicting thoughts. I have marvelled at the extraordinary courage of individuals. The stories of how the staff of the Oberoi and Taj hotels protected their guests even at considerable risk to themselves is supremely humbling. The NSG, army and the police are clearly comprised of men of dedication, determination and discipline. At the same time I have wondered at the state of our public institutions. I do not have the facts and it would be harsh to draw conclusions on the basis of visual experience. It was at least two hours after I saw the fire that the engines arrived and another hour before they pumped water into the by then charred lobby of the hotel. I am sure there are good explanations for this delay but from the vantage point of my bedroom and with the cries of the guests ringing in my ears, I could not then think of one.

The Mumbai tragedy made me ask once again the perennial question. Why it is that the performance of government-controlled entities is so often less than the sum of its component individual parts? Is it lack of leadership? Is it fragmented decision-making structures that fog the lines of responsibility and accountability? Is it the political system that vests ‘hard power’ in elected officials who are simply unable to accept short-term pain for longer-term gains? I contemplated this question not so much to find an answer — the explanation has to do with all of the above and more — but because with every passing hour one saw evidence of the gap between the promise of public service and its delivery. And the tragic human and material consequences of this gap.

... contd.

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