Delhi: Unsafe but fun

Age has nothing to do with it. No matter how old Delhi gets, it will always remain a love-me-hate-me city.

Age has nothing to do with it. No matter how old Delhi gets, it will always remain a love-me-hate-me city. Love it for its greens, wide roads and leisure opportunities. Hate it for its stubbornly unruly people. This will never change.

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An opinion poll conducted by Cfore for the Hindustan Times shows in 2005 Delhi became a lot more dangerous place to live in compared to 2004. On October 29, big terror visited the Capital in the shape of bomb blasts at Sarojini Nagar, Paharganj and Govindpuri.

Crime against women continued. Remember the Dhaula Kuan gang rape? A woman snatched off the road and raped in the car for hours, as she was driven around the city — possibly through some police barricades.

Most Delhiites polled (66 per cent) said the city became more unsafe. Are the police listening or are they, as usual, busy fabricating another excuse or bumping off another innocent?

Noise levels went up. So thought 46 per cent of those surveyed. Seventy-two per cent said living in Delhi had become much more expensive and the prices of essential commodities had gone up.

But 2005 was not all dark and dangerous. Infrastructure started looking up. More and more people use the Metro every day. A lot of the respondents said the power and water situation was better than previous years. Many (47 per cent) said roads had improved. While half the respondents said the city was greener, only 18 per cent felt there was less greenery.

The big plus: entertainment and leisure. The mall and multiplex boom showed no sign of stopping. Seventy per cent of those polled believed Delhi was more fun than before.

But what about the nightlife, which world travellers believe Delhi lacks completely? Getting there, getting there.