‘Never faced this in Ireland’: Techie flags preventable every day infrastructure crises in India

India’s rapid economic rise stands in stark contrast to the everyday civic hurdles that continue to burden millions — problems that many developed nations have largely solved decades ago.

From erratic electricity supply and toxic air quality to chaotic road behaviour and chronic noise pollution, these challenges are not rooted in resource scarcity or technological limitations. Instead, they stem from systemic inefficiencies, poor enforcement, and infrastructure gaps — issues that are, fundamentally, manmade and entirely solvable with the right intent and governance.

This sharp divide became the focus of a viral post on X (formerly Twitter) by Akash Tiwari, Leading AI & Innovation Strategy at Coursera, who recently moved back to India after several years in Ireland. His reflections echo a growing sentiment among returning professionals who find themselves struggling with civic problems they never encountered abroad. 

“Moving back to India has brought so many issues in my life, that I never had to worry about in Ireland,” Tiwari wrote. He then listed three everyday pain points that have repeatedly disrupted his routine. 

1. Unreliable electricity: “I am in Kanpur, and on an average there’s a power cut for 4-5 hours every day. We don’t have electricity even at the time of writing this,” he said. In comparison, he recalled that during his three-plus years in Dublin, he experienced a single 15-minute electricity cut — scheduled a month in advance for a meter change. The contrast, he suggested, highlights not just infrastructure disparity but the structural inefficiencies that Indians have come to accept as normal. 

2. Air quality and pollution: Tiwari pointed to India’s persistently poor AQI levels, especially in northern cities, where winter pollution makes global headlines each year. While Ireland maintains consistently clean air due to stringent environmental regulations and disciplined enforcement, many Indian cities routinely rank among the world’s most polluted. 

3. Traffic chaos and honking culture: The daily grind of navigating unruly traffic, endless honking and poor lane discipline, he said, adds yet another layer of stress that citizens in many developed countries simply do not face. For Tiwari, and many others returning from abroad, the behavioural gap is as glaring as the infrastructural one. 

“These are man made — artificially created issues,” he wrote. “They shouldn’t be there in the first place AND people could focus on other important things in life.” 

Tiwari’s post has sparked discussions on whether India’s civic discomforts are the inevitable price of scale, population and urban density — or whether they reflect deeper policy and behavioural failures. Experts often argue that India does not lack the capability to fix these issues; rather, it struggles with implementation, prioritisation and accountability.