Agra: Agra: When young Akhilesh Yadav took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in March 2012, tall promises of speedy development and transparency in governance were echoing in the area as Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav emerged as the new messiah of Socialism.

However, neither the political culture changed nor the ruling dispensation showed any sense of urgency in speeding up structural reforms. No wonder the mood of despondency and despair pervaded every sphere of life until the 'explosive debut' of the Aam Aadmi Party on the political scene.

The focus in the last few days has shifted to Arvind Kejriwal. The ripple effect of the success of the 'political upstarts and lumpens,' as described by one political pundit, has given enough cause for worry in the SP and BSP circles. Already people are comparing Akhilesh Yadav with Arvind Kejriwal, while Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, appears losing attraction among the 'apolitical' youth.

'If there is one person who has made mockery of democractic socialism, both by his persona, his dynastic aspirations and his actions, it is undoubtedly Mulayam Singh Yadav, and now his son whose understanding of the political processes is as superficial as face powder, seems lost for direction and passion,' says political commentator Paras Nath Choudhary.

People in Agra region comprising districts of Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, are disillusioned as the Samajwadi Party has not kept its poll promises.

The grand Mughal metropolis is dying and degenerating. Home to the 17th century white marble wonder the Taj Mahal and several other grand monuments, the city attracts lakhs of tourists round the year and is India's number one tourist destination, but in terms of facilities and ambience, Agra offers virtually nothing. The city is neither tourist-friendly nor worthy of such great monuments, says hotelier Surendra Sharma.

When the Mughals ruled, Agra was a mega metro, bigger and better developed than London and Paris, according to many European travel writers of the 17th century. The British looked after Agra with care and indulgence building huge educational institutions, railway stations, high court, even mental hospital. But after independence, Agra has been a victim of lobbying and consistent step-motherly treatment, says Wake Up Agra president Shishir Bhagat.

The residents feel 'India's tourist destination number one has suffered as a result of poor political leadership. The city’s economic growth has remained stunted as a result of the pollution war. Promises of developing pollution-free industries including the IT sector have not been kept and the shrinking of opportunities is forcing young graduates to migrate to Delhi and other parts of India. Without adequate economic activities, the city might in future be reduced to a backwater region peopled by retired senior citizens, and the lonely aged couples left to fend for themselves.'

Despite being a major tourist centre, air connectivity continues to remain a major hindrance. The case for an international airport is still hanging fire, caught in the cross fire between union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and the Samajwadi Party leaders who seem more keen to promote Sefai than Agra. 'This issue has been hanging fire because of intense lobbying by various interest groups including the Delhi lobby. The chief minister had in April 2012 agreed in principle to reduce VAT on aviation fuel to attract airlines to the Kheria airport in Agra, but so far has not acted on his own promise. The air force and the civil aviation department have shown reluctance to green signal a new international airport near Tundla. For all practical purposes the airport for Agra appears cold storaged,' laments Agra Vikas Foundation chairman KC Jain.

As for Yamuna cleaning to rid the river of pollutants, Akhilesh Yadav, an environmentalist himself has so far shown no interest nor spelt out any plan for action. 'He is more keen on a tiger safari park and an elephant rescue park in the Etawah region for which crores have been spent and animals being procured. Whether they would survive in this arid area, remains to be seen,' says environmental activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

Yamuna, the life line of the city is dead, reduced to a virtual drain carrying effluents and deadly pollutants from upstream cities. The water is unfit for humans as well as aquatic life. 'They are not even concerned that a  dry river bed is a constant threat to Taj Mahal's survival. The SPM level is constantly rising because of the dust from the dry river,' says Yamuna activist Naresh Paras.

The biggest problem Agra faces is traffic. The city is eternally jammed with traffic chaos obstructing vehicular movement within the city. Tourist vehicles are stranded for hours in traffic jams. So many UP ministers have in the past 20 months promised action to solve the problem, but the condition of the roads, traffic management and general policing have not improved, says activist Dr Anand Rai. Time has come to take drastic action against encroachers and traffic rules violators, Rai adds.

Visitors to Agra find the city dirty and stinking, as if there were no civic administration. 'The Agra Municipal Corporation finds its resources unequal to the challenges of garbage management, regular cleaning and general maintenance of the urban facilities. Corruption is a major problem which unfortunately has not attracted the notice of the Samajwadi Party government,' rues tourism industry leader Sandeep Arora. Agra has often been described as the dirtiest city in the world. The city does not have a scientific waste disposal plan and the facilities for regular cleanliness are non-existent. An Action Plan to clean up the city on a war footing and maintaining the tempo of cleanliness is urgently required through institutional arrangements supported by adequate funding, adds senior travel industry leader Rajiv Tiwari.

Home maker Padmini associated with Nari and Bal Vikas Samiti says the  city lacks a proper local bus transport system. The connectivity being poor between different tourist places, tourists are fleeced and cheated by tempo and taxi operators.

Decent air conditioned buses should be available for the tourists to enable them to visit all the tourist spots. Locals should also benefit from a regular and streamlined transport system which should be pollution free, comfortable and affordable.

The state government, ignoring the basic problems of the city, has lately shown  more interest in a thousand crore rupee mega theme park project and the questionable Agra-Lucknow Expressway, on lines of Yamuna Expressway promoted by BSP supremo Mayawati.

Before the elections the Samajwadi Party had promised to shunt out private discom Torrent from Agra, but the company not only continues to run the show but extend its tentacles much to the chagrin of the "Aaam Aaadmi." Even though the Supreme Court of India had directed the state government to ensure uninterrupted 24x7 power supply to the Taj Trapezium Zone, spread over 10,000 sq kms, the goal is yet to be achieved. Erratic power supply, frequent voltage fluctuations and inadequate capacity have led to a situation when use of diesel generators has become an inevitable necessity. A gas based power plant for for the region is a long pending demand which needs to be addressed urgently.

Agra being a sensitive eco-sensitive zone, demands have frequently been made to declare it a centrally administered unit.

'It has been one of the long standing demands of this city that for speedy and scientific development of the city, the Central government should work out some institutional arrangement to ensure there were no conflicting perspectives and action plans. Right now we have the Mission Management Board, the Taj Trapezium Zone coordination committee, the central and the state pollution control boards, the municipal corporation, the zila panchayat, the housing board and the Development Authority, each with its own set of priorities and levels of accountability. This creates confusion and duplication of efforts which result in promotion of corrupt practices,' says activist Sudhier Gupta of the Heritage Society.