Planning a Long-Term Vision with Short-Term Memory

As the monsoon season draws to a close and the festive months approach, the heavy rains that left parts of the country devastated will soon become distant memories. Social media has already moved on, with preparations for Navaratri and Durga Puja gaining momentum across the country.

This #fervor has been a defining feature of life in the post-COVID era. Love it or hate it, society passionately embraces every moment—until the next big thing comes along. While we excel at being passionate and argumentative, our greatest flaw lies in our short-sightedness.

This has become our generational malady: reacting to crises rather than preventing them. Basically, till we do not attack the problem, we do not get the desired permanent solutions. We often find solace, a #quantumofsolace if you will, in these reactions rather than addressing the root causes of the chaos. It’s a vicious cycle of temporary fixes that fail to provide long-term solutions.

Sounding philosophical Am I… Let’s consider this facts

• Most of Gujarat received more than 50% of its seasonal rain within just a few days, or in some cases, just a few hours and this has been scenario pretty much the last decades. Our cities are not designed to address this kind of rainfall. Are They?
• Global warming and climate change—terms we’ve been hearing for decades—are now manifesting in our everyday lives. Cloud bursts, torrential rains, hurricanes, and flash floods are no longer rare; they have become regular, even seasonal, events.
• Urban Development Authorities across the state are severely understaffed, particularly when it comes to urban designers and town planners. Key positions remain vacant. If the right minds are not put to work, how do we expect to find solutions and execute it correctly.
• Citizens contribution to any new initiative by the government is always given cold shoulders. Citizens and governance are two parts of the coin, both need to work hand in hand.

These issues are interconnected, the malice that has been growing unfettered, undetected.

Take Vadodara, for instance, a city recently hit hard by these changes. While it's easy to point fingers at government negligence, the deeper issue is whether we have enough academically and technically competent people making decisions. Decision like when to release dam water, whether to dredge Vishwamitra river, or has the time come to build a bigger larger dam to replace Ajwa Dam, to stop yearly issue of flooding.

Are we seeking lasting solutions, or merely temporary reliefs—our own "quantum of solace"—while the real problems fester?

As citizens, we’ve danced in #knee-deep water, hurled curses at authorities, and rejected emergency aid. Yet, as the floodwaters recede, we simply return to our daily routines, ignoring the deeper malaise afflicting our cities. At the turn of the last century, Vadodara was the cultural capital of Gujarat, an industrial powerhouse, and a Tier-II city of national importance. Today, it lags behind. Is the government solely to blame, or have we, the citizens, become too complacent to take the initiative?

Having lived and worked in the city have seen it grow feverishly earlier on individual and government push then leisurely in later of the last century and then stagnant in last two decades.

Working closely in commercial and industrial real estate, I have seen the steady inclination of the multinationals growing towards Ahmedabad, not because government put Sanand Industrial Estate, but because private developers took the initiative and ?build state of the art commercial and industrial spaces for MNC to come and operate.

Coming to #Vadodara why is one of India’s oldest universities, whose engineering degree was globally recognized in post-independence era, no longer producing research that could guide the city toward a more resilient infrastructure?

Vadodara is one of the first erstwhile state, which had set up a bank to lend to industrial endeavor specifically to promote industrialization of the state. It is also home to the first pharma company of the country established in 1907.

Still.. Why are our brightest minds leaving to study abroad, rather than contributing to their hometown’s future? And why, in a city that hosts some of the country’s top engineering conglomerates, is there no citizen-led think tank collaborating with the authorities?

Institutions like CEPT in Ahmedabad provide the planning backbone for many growing cities. This city is home to IIM, ISRO, and PRL, alongside many other universities that shape proactive, engaged citizens.

As an industrialist and educator once said to me, “It may be the government’s role to provide solutions, but it is our role to create better citizens who will work alongside them.” Around the world, the best educational institutions have thrived because they were backed not just by governments but by private citizens and industry leaders who built, nurtured, and reinvented them.

Consider Surat. After its devastating plague outbreak, the city transformed itself into one of India’s cleanest urban areas. This was not only the result of government efforts but also the contributions of local industrial leaders from the diamond and textile sectors. Similarly, Ahmedabad’s renowned riverfront development wasn’t the work of the municipal corporation alone—it was driven by a collective vision from private citizens.

Cities are like living organisms. They need periodic rejuvenation or they risk falling into terminal decline, as seen with Kolkata, where an elitist mindset left all responsibility to the authorities. It’s time for citizens who make Vadodara – ‘Vadodara’ to wake up and plan for tomorrow.

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