Varanasi’s Lost Decade – Part 2

The AIDEM’s series “Ear to the Ground” comes back with a focused probe into the development story of Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for more than ten years. This is the second and final article in the two-part series. [Read Part One Here]

A New Temple Corridor: Business over Spirituality

The area adjoining Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of God Shiva, has been developed into a sprawling temple corridor during Modi’s reign. His supporters enthusiastically talk about the new temple corridor as an achievement. However, not many Hindu residents of the city see it as an achievement worth rejoicing. The development of the corridor ravaged a part of town that housed many ancient temples. Many devout Hindus also believe that the corridor has converted an ancient sacred temple to a kitschy tourist spot, with restaurants and shops selling tourist mementos and the like. They find this completely unacceptable and point out that the temple should have preserved the spiritual sanctity that the sacred Shiva Jyotirlinga deserved.

The creation of the corridor has also led to strict regulations regarding the rules of entry, leading to inaccessibility for many city residents, especially senior citizens who cannot stand in queue for hours. Even after going through all this, darshan is possible only from the outside during normal hours, as new rules restrict entry inside the main temple, except for VIPs. Before this temple corridor came into existence, a normal city resident could go inside the temple and touch the Shivling anytime during non-festival days. Now, longtime residents of the city can only reminisce about that experience of erstwhile days. In short, close and proximate darshan of the deity for a non-VIP pilgrim has become something that he or she can only dream about.

A Metro that Never Ran: Transportation Woes

For many years, starting in 2015, Varanasi residents have repeatedly read multiple news reports on the city’s metro project. A few years ago, the project was shelved and replaced with proclamations about India’s first city ropeway project, which is currently under construction.

Compare this sluggish process, spread over ten years, with the construction of the Lucknow metro and one realises the stark absence of concrete planning and execution, under the patronage of the creator of the much touted Gujarat model. Started during Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav’s tenure as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2013, Lucknow metro rail began commercial operation in September 2017. That is, in a matter of four years.

The track record of the construction of the Delhi metro, which has much greater spread and caters to a larger geographical area is also impressive. Starting in 1998, during the 15-year reign of the Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi, Delhi Metro’s first line became operational in 2002, and the first underground line became operational in 2004, 6 years after the start. It witnessed a massive expansion, connecting Gurugram (earlier known as Gurgaon), Faridabad, Noida, and Delhi. Delhi metro also includes the dense areas of Old Delhi, including Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazaar, etc. Varanasi’s dense urban areas are often mentioned as a hurdle to new infrastructure projects.

During Modi’s 10-year reign as a local MP of Varanasi, the city’s transportation infrastructure has not experienced any improvement. Privately run three-wheeler autos, running on a fixed route and shared by multiple passengers, remain the major form of transport for the common public. The city has recently gotten a few electric-powered air-conditioned buses, but, surprisingly, no bus stops. People board and alight on these buses at the whims of the driver or multiple unmarked bus stops, developed by a shared understanding between the driver and the passengers. (see video below).

At Rathyatra, people are alighting and boarding at a busy intersection that doesn’t have a bus stop.

Infrastructure Projects: Failed Promises

In 2016, the government planned to remove the entangled mess of overground electric wires criss-crossing above the roads and move them underground. In 2016, Piyush Goyal, then Union Minister of State for Coal and Power, announced that implementation would be completed in one and a half years. Local political grapevine has it that Prime Minister Modi got annoyed at the sight of these wires on one of his visits, which led to the announcement of this project. 

A public-sector enterprise of the Government of India was entrusted to complete this job. Eight years and counting, this project is behind schedule, with many city areas still having overground electric wires. It may take many more years. Even in the parts where electric cables have been moved underground, the space left has been occupied with broadband internet wires run by private companies like Airtel, Jio, etc. (see video below) 

A video of the Rathyatra crossing in Varanasi, with overground cables on one side of the road and no electric wires on the other sides.

Another project that seems to have been abandoned or has slowed down is the piped gas supply to homes, which started in 2016. A few areas of the city receive piped gas supply while older parts still receive the gas in bottled cylinders.

Some projects were completed on time, but have failed to deliver the promised benefit. With a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum, a multi-modal terminal, built with a cost of nearly 206 crores, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in November 2018. The actual utilization was only 129 tonnes in four plus years; that is till 2023. A trade facilitation center has been built, but it has not given any uplift to the traditional Banarasi saree business that has been steadily shrinking for some years.

BHU’s Struggles: Failing to Regain Glory

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has been a historic symbol marking Varanasi as a centre of learning for nearly 100 years. Established by Madan Mohan Malaviya, a stalwart leader of the Indian Freedom Movement, in 1916 with express objective of contributing to nation-building through education, the Central University has been one of the premier universities of north India, especially catering to eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, covering 20 plus crores population. The university is also home to a hospital that is one of the best in this region and gets nearly 10,000 patients across different specialties. During the UPA-2 (Congress led United Progressive Alliance government of which Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister), the Institute of Technology which was earlier part of the university was given the status of IIT and carved out as a separate institute, although it is stationed on the same campus. During the earlier regime of UPA-1, a new extended university campus was built in the neighboring Mirzapur district, named the Rajiv Gandhi Barkachcha campus.

Many had hoped when Prime Minister Modi being the local MP, the university and the IIT would improve significantly. The IIT BHU, which was ranked consistently as one of the top-10 engineering colleges in the early part of the 2000s, slipped to outside Top-10 in NIRF rankings in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020, and was placed back among the top 10 in 2024. In 2023, the campus was in the news for the alleged gangrape of a university student by the local office bearers of the BJP IT cell, who were arrested after nearly 2 months.

In 2024, at IIT BHU, by the end of the usual placement season, more than 20% of students, who registered for placement, failed to receive any offer. For the first time, the placement season was extended till June, beyond the March-April period, the usual placement season. 

Banaras Hindu University was ranked 3rd in the 2021 NIRF rankings. It has been outside the top 3 in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In September 2017, the BHU campus was rocked by a protest following a molestation of a female student. The Prime Minister was visiting Varanasi during the period and changed his route to avoid meeting protesting students, mostly female, who sat in protest at the main entrance gate of the university.

Currently, BHU is without a permanent Vice-Chancellor as the last V-C has left after the completion of his tenure and the Government has not appointed anyone. Earlier, BHU operated without a permanent V-C for nine months, between March 2021 and January 2022. The university has been without an Executive Council for nearly 3 years, which former officials believe leads to low answerability of the VC to any authority, thus leading to a dictatorial functioning style.

Is the City Clean? The Ganges and Beyond

Supporters of the BJP cite the city’s cleanliness as an achievement of the Prime Minister’s tenure as the local MP. An MP’s contribution in ensuring sweeping of roads and picking of garbage in his constituency is indeed debatable. But, even if one accepts this claim on face value, it is evident that Modi’s track record in terms of his big promise of cleaning the Ganges is one of failure. In 2024, the Ganges in Varanasi remains unfit for drinking and bathing, due to the large amount of coliform concentration. Although government reports claim that the installed capacity of sewage treatment in the city has increased from 100 MLD in 2017 to 420 in 2024, the effect will only be seen when all the newer colonies are connected to the sewerage network and the network is connected with these treatment plants. 

The two small tributaries of the Ganges that flow within the city, Varuna and Asi, remain as polluted as before. The riverfront project to beautify Varuna in Varanasi, started by Akhilesh Yadav during his tenure as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, is making no progress after he lost power in the 2017 assembly elections.

Another aspect that has worsened over the years is the growing traffic congestion in Varanasi. Due to unresolved public transport issues, and incessant digging in the city for one project or another, traffic jams have become a daily experience for citizens. The lack of traffic signals at all crossings in the city is an issue, with only a handful of them on a few routes having operational traffic lights.

In 2017, Varanasi had air quality worse than Delhi. However, in 2024, as per the AQI data, the city’s air quality has improved tremendously. While the situation may not be as bad as Delhi’s, there are questions among the local population whether the air quality is really as good as the data indicates. AQI data varies significantly depending on the placement of the measuring device.

Good for an Ordinary MP, Not for a PM

It is not the case that during Modi’s reign, Varanasi has gained nothing or nothing has been done. Tata Memorial Hospital has opened a new cancer hospital in Varanasi. Railway station buildings have gotten new facades. A couple of flyovers have been built, a new ghat has been built, a new ring road has been developed, and a new cricket stadium is coming up on the city’s periphery. However, none of these are extraordinary indicators of development by any means. 

During the UPA-2 government, a new trauma center hospital was built in Varanasi, which Narendra Modi inaugurated. Mayawati built a new ghat in Varanasi when she was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for a few years in the late 90s. Shaheed Path in Lucknow was built in 10 years. Ekana stadium in Lucknow was completed in four years, between 2014-18, a year after Akhilesh Yadav demitted office. Earlier regimes completed similar projects in similar or less time, proving the ordinariness of the Modi regime’s development projects in Varanasi.

You can always pick a regime, highlight a few marquee projects, or show a few failed ones. The main point is whether any of these development projects substantially transformed the city or built a foundation for sustainable future growth. None of the new development projects during Modi’s tenure qualify on these parameters.

So, on final count Narendra Modi’s (ongoing) tenure as a local MP of Varanasi has seen the erection of some notable building structures, the element of transformation or a direction towards transformation is conspicuously absent, even after ten plus years. Varanasi is far from becoming a major international tourist destination. Banaras Hindu University and IIT (BHU) Varanasi have been in the news more for the wrong reasons than for any academic achievements. The city’s roads are choked  day-in and day-out by traffic jams. The Ganga, and other rivers are as dirty as before, if not more. The traditional weavers are seeing their next generation move to other trades, and tourism has failed to provide meaningful jobs that ensure good jobs that offer dignified living, and sustainable income.

As an MP of Varanasi, Modi has ensured that higher government funds flow to the city, compared to other parliamentary constituencies. But, this flow has not resulted in any sustained hope for the future. The city has not gotten a new direction of growth, ensuring better livelihood opportunities or living growth. When he leaves, a highly likely possibility after the unimpressive win margin in the 2024 LS elections, the city will be left with several uncompleted projects, a few monuments of unfulfilled promises, and no surety of a better future for its residents. Its residents will remember his tenure as a term that failed to live up to the hype in his electoral propaganda and the massive hopes it generated.