Vision of Life; by Sanjay

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way(Click link below)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

Think Green, Think Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

Saturday, March 27, 2021

100 Days of UDCR & Real Estate!

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help”... Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Well, as we know before joining politics Reagan was actor in Hollywood & was Union Leader also & no wonder it’s in USA the president himself can say such word about a system which he heads! And how perfectly every time I start something to share about real estate such witty & wise words helps me to open the topic as one look at our policies about real estate (I mean most of them) & you get more afraid with the new policy than welcoming it, such is the system we call govt & makes these policies which it thinks is to help the people (read as businessmen) at large!

And especially when the business is real estate then the above words of Mr Reagan fits so perfectly as the more Mai Baap Govt tries to make the policies business friendly (govt loves this term) the more chaos (read as havoc) it creates! And then when the govt is thinking at large i.e. for entire State’s real estate’s ease then needless to say the mess is far bigger as even the God can’t make all the people happy at once but then the govt always thinks its mightier or greater than the god, isn’t it! And the latest happiness or ease of doing initiative for the real estate by the govt was none other than UDCR i.e. Unified Development Control Rules i.e. same rules for building buildings for entire State (* i.e. conditions apply, which here is, not for Mumbai region & our dear PMRDA which again is a joke but about that sometime next)! Its nearly 100 days complete now, the UDCR has been announced with Loud Speakers, Band-Baja, that how it will resolve all the problems of real estate (whom are you fooling!) & stream line the sanction process as the major enemy of entire real estate’s plan passing process was ambiguity on many fronts like TDR, Side Margins (distance needed to be kept between building & the plot boundaries), FSI, Height, Parking norms & many such but all these has been addressed & there will be no confusion, was stated by the govt! Real estate (read as fools) as usual welcomed UDCR with open arms & with acquired smiles on these happy faces & waited for trouble free (and fast) sanction process but even after three months of announcement of UDCR the confusion prevails (what else expected) as before UDCR its discretion or local body ( some call it as monopoly) but now the problem is rules are made by the govt i.e. State govt i.e. Urban Development Dept & the implementation has been put on the local bodies i.e. Municipal Corporations, Nagar Parishads, Collectorates, Town Planning Zone as well regional offices & all such establishments (I am not sure what’s fate of projects which comes under jurisdiction of Cantonments i.e. Defence establishments)! Let’s focus on our two temples i.e. PMC & PCMC (as PMRDA has been kept out of UDCR at least until now, don't ask why) for the implementation of UDCR as first & most important issue about implementation is the power centre which till now was within these two organizations for anything related to the DC rules as they has been drafted (created) by the respective local body i.e. PMC or PCMC! But now the UDCR has been drafted (and created) by the State Govt itself i.e. UD dept, so for anything related to discretionary powers here, local bodies are like tooth-less & claw-lees tiger which nobody like to become one, especially when you have enjoyed the power of those teeth & claws! At the same time on other hand it’s very convenient also to dodge the unwanted issues for e.g. premium reduction or TDR utilization or Parking policy type sensitive things.

I can understand the agony at the local body level, especially GB i.e. elected members who thinks they are the city & its god too (and they are right in a way) as its the GB along with its finance arm like Sthayi Samiti i.e. Standing Committee & planning arm like Shahar Sudharana i.e. City Improvement committee used to hold all the cards about any city, its development, infrastructure & rules also! Its due to this power Jalgaon Nagar Parishad sanctioned & build a seventeen story building some thirty years back when in Pune there was permission for only five storied buildings! And keeping all due respect for good people in the system, its exactly these powers which made every local body making their own rules for building control & used for the benefit of individuals more than collectively for the city is a fact. If on one side it was necessary to have the local bodies total have control on the development as they know the pulse of the city or town most is also a fact. And then real estate is a business or profession directly related to the local conditions of a city or town or region as you can’t take land from one city to another city just because it has better living condition. One has to plan the homes & allied industries or say daily wages earning factors keeping in tune with the local conditions of a city or town & that’s what makes drafting controlling rules for real estate very tricky job! At the same time it gives immense power to the controlling authority as when you call real estate then it’s not just homes we are talking about as we can’t build homes in a location where there is no water, no roads, no power supply, jobs, no means of entertainment, no industries or no communication in place & even if we build the best of the buildings at such places no one will come & live in such homes even we offer these homes free, leave apart buying them!

This is where the UDCR makes difference as speaking up personally I am of opinion the functioning of the development control rules should be like our Judicial System i.e. there is Supreme Court for any doubts about the rules framed but there is High Court also for deciding things which are not getting clear at District Court’s level so every now & then a person should not have to go to top level for clarification of smallest of the things. One more thing with real estate & DC rules is missing (read as needed) that is the way Supreme Court or the High Court acts on their own whenever they feel some injustice is happening around & on their own takes cognizance of such matter & act on it; same way the urban planning authorities also must act (one more Mungerilal dream) as if you are behind implementing UDCR then can’t you see the confusion going on hundreds of fronts on real estate depending on the respective cities & its issues, is what I will ask to Mai Baap Govt! As right from slum rehabilitation rules to infamous TDR on 6m wide roads to Metro corridor premiums to loading system of TDR vs. Paid FSI row among the local bodies & yes about illegal constructions about which everyone is suddenly silent!

Speaking about TDR utilization, all I know is revenue is an important aspect & cities as well towns if we need to make self sufficient then they must have their own avenues of revenue for which infrastructure is very important aspect & for that land acquisition plays vital role! It’s not about TDR or paid FSI as the builder should have his or her own liberty for same but that must not harm the entire infra aspect of the city. At the same time civic bodies are known to play soft when it’s hitting hard to masses for e.g. forceful road widening or reservation land acquisition & becomes very hard in implementing policies on business fraternity (read as builders), this also should be checked! Why we have to pay in cash or in form of TDR for land acquisition why it isn’t in the form of land bank or constructed form with local body can’t be exchanged for reservation lands, which can be way easier & cheaper option, high time to put our heads on such matters & act, this also is job of the Mai Baap Govt which is keen of UDCR philosophy!

In the end, just the way we look at the religion, i.e. it’s not which god you bows to, in the temple or masjid or church but it’s what you want by praying the god is important; same way UDCR or local DC rules, apply anything but see that the cities don’t get turned in to the slums, is all I will appeal to the policy makers, till then real estate is anyway running on “Ram Bharose” i.e. by God’s Grace, in English!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

Think Green, Think Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

"Save My Grassland": a Wolf's Appeal !!

“But more impressive than the facts and figures such as height, width, age, etc., are the entrancing beauty and tranquillity that pervade the forest, the feelings of peace, awe and reverence that it inspires.”... George MacDonald.

George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy & fairy tales literature and the mentor of many fellow writers. No wonder it’s only a fairy tale writer who can describe the forests the way Macdonald has written about those greens! Most people when heard the word forest the scene comes to their mind is of tall trees, greens with creepers & flowers everywhere & serene types but then let me tell you not all forests are evergreen or with creepers & flowers & mist looming over them & with lots of water bodies around! Some forests are yellow, grey even black too, seemingly barren on the surface & all you see is just shrubs or dried grass covered land stretched over miles but they are equally alive as any other typical forests you think about or know about!

Interesting Central India is gifted by the Nature God with many such grasslands & entire Deccan Plateau which ranges from foot of Western Ghats & stretches towards south-eastern side of the country. Most of this part comes under rain shadow because of mountain ranges of the Western Ghats & all the grasslands are the outcome of this rain shadow area i.e. very less rainfall. Pune district is very special on the habitat front or say forest front as on the west side it has got classic western ghat forests i.e. green with rivers, stream & wooded hills then its south-east side has secondary type grasslands rich with many species which can survive only in such habitats!

Most people (even the regular forest goers) doesn’t know that grass land forests is a separate type of forest & is home for hundreds of species like Indian Gray Wolf, Bengal Fox, Termite Hill Gecko as well birds like falcons, kestrels, short toed eagle & many such all of which now are in extreme danger of extinction. Needless to say the reason for the threat of extinction is none other than our (humans’) encroachment on these grass lands for reasons of our needs like cattle grazing, residence, farming, industry & if nothing then due to sheer ignorance towards these grasslands! As whenever the term “save forest” is referred it’s usually taken as trees, creepers & an area with tiger (mostly) in it & all the focus of conservation is towards such habitats or lands or terrain, whatsoever you call them. And unfortunately (with all due respect) the forest dept (read as govt) also is no exception to the above misconception of “save forest” mission & that’s why the grassland forests are in grave danger along with species like wolves! Already the forest dept is poorly funded & to relocate the villages from core areas of project tiger itself is a problem so to acquire the land under thousands of hectares of grasslands is a near impossible job for the forest dept. And then the poor infrastructure of the forest dept as well allied other department’s ignorance towards wildlife is another “kamjor kadi” i.e. weak link of the system. All these lacunas, some genuine & most deliberate are major enemies of the grasslands which are taking their last breath along with many species & the scene is not just around Pune but all along Central Indian terrain!

I will share my own experience of visiting this grassland patch in March 21 near Pune, its some 70 off km from Pune & in span of six hours I could see a lone wolf wandering for food, a male fox, a fox den with pups, some reptiles, Montague harriers (many of them), short toed eagle & many such. Where we saw Bengal Fox pups on the den, some 100 meters from there domestic cattle were grazing & where I could click the Grey Indian Wolf, just 300 meters besides it a JCB was clearing the land for plotting! Then at night we had round of the grassland & where hyenas is supposedly roam I saw bright lit rubber industry which the tour operator told me has come up in last year only & just ahead again entire grassland patch has been divided by a barbed wire fencing stretching for a kilometre length blocking the path of animals for that entire length! I understand (being a builder & civil engg by myself) all these grasslands must be under some private ownership & legally the said land owners have every right to utilize the potential of their ancestral land but for the very same years (or even more) the said grasslands are owned by wolves, fox & hyenas too, right? Most people may laugh at my logic & tag me as fanatic wild lifer but the truth remains & I am not saying not to give these grasslands to other animals making losses to its human owners but can’t we strike a mid way, is all I am asking & that’s what government is for, right?

Solution to save these grasslands is two or three fold, one is slowly making budget provisions & acquiring these grasslands exclusively for all the species is the best way which I know isn’t easy but we can do it as a long term solution. Another things is, use the locals around these grasslands (including such land owners too) as the saviour of the grasslands by making them realize as this can be a good source of income as wildlife tourism need not have been just tiger & leopard is by now many people knows & do enjoy visiting such habitats. And such tourists who know the danger these grasslands are facing after visiting them can be a source of survival by their inputs which can be money they will spend here or awareness & many such avenues which we call conservation. Till all this happens deploy at least some staff, in & around such grasslands to protect the wildlife which is in grave danger of immediate threat of assaults by domestic animals & humans as monitor lizard & hare are favourite hunting targets for trade & food & which are abundantly seen in such grasslands & this is just one example. Agreed nobody hunts & eat or trade a wolf or a fox but if you burn away every grass leaf (grass burning for increasing fertilization potential of the land for farming is common phenomenon here) & kill every that specie which is food for a wolf or fox, then what you think will happen to them in the end?

Guys, the sight of that lone wolf looking in my camera while its wandering aimlessly for the food on the vast spread of burnt black grassland with JCB’s working to clear the remaining of the grass, haunts me even when I am awake; like it was asking me “look what have you done to my home, how you will feel if I do such damage to your home”! Well, one thing I promised to the wolf, from the camera lens, “you are not alone, just keep your hope alive & I will do my best for you”!

Here are some clicks of the grassland safari, click at the link ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157718627212286

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way(Click link below)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

Think Green, Think Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

Monday, March 8, 2021

Women's Day, Wild Life Day & Future!

“Wildlife is something which man cannot construct. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. Man can rebuild a pyramid, but he can't rebuild ecology or a giraffe’... Joy Adamson.

On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March –because this was the day (i.e. 3^rd March) on which signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2021 under the theme "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet".

Well, interestingly the very same week of the year shares one more important day starting with alphabet W , yes it’s Women’s Day which is celebrated on 8^th March & let me tell you both W’s are very much important to entire mankind & its wellness! More interestingly if the theme of the Wildlife Day is People in & around the forests then theme of this Women’s Day is Women in Leadership as first time we have acknowledged that if we want to make survive the wildlife then it’s the people around the forests or say wildlife habitats which are going to play a vital role in it. Just like wildlife conservation, the women can be conserved (read as allowing women to live with pride, peace & dignity) then they has to be given the pilot seat which is seldom denied to them in a men dominated world is a fact & I am glad, late but we are trying in right direction on the front of both W’s i.e. wildlife & women!

Now coming to wildlife & people around forests & women, on face one will say what’s connection in it or what’s common factor in all these but let me tell you if at all we can save the wildlife then it’s the women who must take (and not given) the pilot seat as the phrase says, if you teach a man something , it will make him to prosper but if you teach a woman something then it will help entire family to prosper & we want many families to save wildlife so high time the women takes leadership on the front of wildlife also, along with other businesses & professions!

Exactly keeping this aspect in mind I must share something about our contribution (sorry this blog is not for sharing my personal achievements but this isn’t achievement, it’s a small effort) on this front. Six years back we started Vanaja, a Nature Club at BNCA, and a leading women college of architecture in Pune, to make the lady architects aware about wildlife & its importance for the society. As its these brains (women) which will be designing various projects in future & if they know what they have to save (i.e. wildlife) sure they will plan every project may it be a industry, a school, a resort or a township, they will ensure wildlife will be part of their designs, was the thought process! And I am very happy to share that after six years the community of women architect leaders is increasing & who are wild lifer also & that makes a big difference while they plan any project! And then we have been part of Jungle Belles an exclusive wild life initiative for women only, making city women know about wildlife & make them expose to this wonderful aspect of our life!

As the women will start understanding wildlife then if the architect women (via Vanaja) which will be designing projects for humans i.e. people in & around forests will surely accommodate wildlife in it as well the women which will be getting exposed to wilderness via Jungle Belles will be going to forests, meeting people over there & apply their thought process for well beings of these people! And outcome is, during this lockdown era when wildlife tourism got worst hit on finance front, many women extended their hand to help people living around the forests & supported via contributing things like clothes, food grains for the villagers, guides & such allied people depending on forests as well wildlife tourism for their livelihood via Jungle Belles forum! This I will say, is fusion of both the “W” themes actually, as if wildlife day is for people around the forests & women’s Day is for women leadership then what’s happening via initiatives like Vanaja & Jungle Belles is making two fronts of life meet & work in harmony for betterment of both W’s!

And the logic is also same for both W’s, i.e. if you want to survive (or grow or conserve) the wildlife then what you will assure, the simple answer is give wildlife its space to grow, right? And how you do it, can you do it sitting in your plush residence in city like Pune or Mumbai or Bangalore or Chennai or what about glass walled office towers which we proudly look at as symbol of our success? No guys, wildlife needs space & that space if in the form of the ocean, lake, rivers, ponds, hills, forests, mountains & many such & it’s right now being encroached by people who live near such places & it’s their land too which we want for wildlife! So its these people’s (humans) comfort & livelihood is at stake when we are conserving wildlife & we can’t just drove them off to make wildlife survives. And when we say we want women at peace & happy, what we should do? Same way as wild life i.e. we should give the women their space & how we do it but by giving them leadership, where they can take lead in deciding way to life for achieving their peace or happiness!

And let me tell you the major conflict when it occurs between humans & wild, then it’s the female gender which has to take the toll, from both sides! Look at the cases where humans has been succumbed to injuries or fatality in animal attacks by sloth bear or tiger or an elephant, most of the times its lady of the house who has to go in open wilderness for natural call in dark hours to avoid men eyes (which are more deadlier than any wild animal) or to collect fire wood for cooking or to accompany a child going to school far away from home or for grass cutting & become easiest prey for the hunters like tiger, though no fault of them also! At the same time whenever there is incidence of an animal’s unnatural death (due to humans) it’s mostly a mother & the reason is to protect her cubs from humans or from another male tiger or to feed the cubs where hunting becomes hard, the mom tiger or elephant exposes herself to human settlements & outcome is her death!

Friends, its irony of our so called evolved or developed society that we have to celebrate days for things as important as two W’s i.e. Wildlife & Women which are actually is third W i.e. Wheel of our life! And yet we have to propose themes like livelihood of people around forests or leadership of women & frankly the wildlife for itself can’t do anything for its own conservation but the women can & must take leadership on both fronts, i.e. on their own lives as well wild life conservation, is need of the time! Why we need a theme to make women lead & tell or make women aware that she also can be a better leader than a man. Women, it’s high time to take controls in your hands than just demanding & use that power for yourself as well wildlife also! Imagine a woman whose main feature is care & apathy how she can harm innocent wildlife rather with more women in driving seat on wildlife front will make wildlife may it be some tree or a tiger or a bird (well women, snakes & reptiles are also part of the wildlife in lighter vein as most women hates or dislikes these specie) as a family member along with the people living forests & that will be the best day for both i.e. the women & the wildlife!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

Think Green, Think Life