How green was my valley

As we drove into the city, we were stuck in a traffic jam outside the railway station, where buses, cars and cycles jostled for space amongst the raucous black and yellow six-seater three-wheelers euphemistically named `Vikrams’. The Vikrams, spewing billowing clouds of noxious smoke, have become a major pollution hazard here. Traffic policemen are few and far between. Even those on duty look somnolent and weary, too lethargic to accost offenders. And yes, although new restaurants like one jauntily named Chutney Merry have sprouted all over, good old Kwality’s, famous for its yummy stick-jaw toffees, still remains something of an institution.

But it was on Diwali eve at the Doon Club, once an august institution peopled by genteel intellectuals, that the population explosion really hit me. The roads outside were choked with an eclectic range of cars, and inside a motley crowd converged madly on the assorted Diwali stalls. A long car parked flamboyantly at the very entrance of the mela, with an ICICI bank counter alongside, for a bit of hard-sell could not have been more symbolic of the city’s new ambience.

Naturally, the hot topic these days, especially amongst the intelligentsia, is Uttaranchal. Old residents who chose to settle in Dehradun because of its beauty and serenity are now full of apprehensions about the future. "It’s going to bring in the mafia culture and goondaism, and shatter the peace and quiet forever," was a constant refrain. As it is the town’s population now borders on 10 lakhs, with another 10,000 people expected to descend with the formation of the new capital. The civic facilities are already collapsing under the strain. Inured to daily three-hour power-cuts and an acute water shortage, residents hate to imagine their fate once the babus move in.

Earlier rumours were rife that the locals would banish all outsiders from the city. Given that most of the large shops and restaurants here are owned by Punjabis, the repercussions would be disastrous. For sadly, Garhwalis have not risen to any great prosperity. As the rush to prepare the city for its new avatar reaches a crescendo, a number of people were being forcibly evicted from old government buildings.

Perhaps the only positive comment I heard was from one of my cousins, who remarked that the legendary Garhwali woman power might help purge corruption. And if Uttaranchal could be made a model state, drawing on its vast natural resources, things might well look up for the deprived populace.

Whatever the outcome,it marks the end of an era here. The Doon valley will never be the same again.