Development at what cost?

India is one of the emerging economies of the world and could easily become the 3rd richest 5 years down the line. The GDP growth rate of India is unprecedently great. India is posed to become the next hot manufacturing hub after China. India has the maximum number of millionaires and billionaires globally. We are flooded with these optimistic & positive news about India everyday. But are things really that rosy?

I stay in Mumbai, one of the costliest cities in the world in terms of real estate, the commercial capital of India & one of India's most developed cities. But I do not get a basic necessity such as drinking water from the BMC. I do not have space to walk without rubbing off someone's shoulder with every step I take. I feel suffocated in the explosing population & increasing pollution. I do not need malls as much as I need clean drinking water. I do not need a car as much as I need some space to walk comfortably. I do not need luxury treatment in South Mumbai hotels as much as I need an assurance that I am safe.

I feel a deep pity for the thousands who were "murdered" in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy 26 years back. And I feel a deeper pity for the survivors who got their hopes murdered a day back. The criminals of the first murder are the millionaires & billionaires of Union Carbide India Limited who, in an excitement of making more bucks, neglected all the safety measures that could have avoided this calamity. They, deliberately, had kept the gas chambers unrefrigerated, to cut "fixed costs", due to which the chambers, finally after half a year, gave in and exploded, releasing the toxic gas all over the city. Indians will never forget two nights. One night is the one when we got freedom, and the other night is when we were again captured by the worst industrial accident in the history of the world.

And after years of delay and postponement, when the final verdict is out, India again faces another black-out. That of a law that is gradually diminishing to void. Everybody knows that not a single accused is behind the bars, let alone a death sentence. This is what we call justice in India.

India, surely, is developing. But at what cost?