Traffic Jams, City & Real Estate!

 

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“Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.” …  Jane Jacobs

Once again, it's Jane’s words & once again the topic is about our beloved Smart City i.e., Pune & its recent problem which is traffic! Well, that way a society survives (read as is alive) not because of the good things happening around but the bad things, & this is not some wise person’s quote but my own findings, with which many people can contradict & I am ok with it! As Pune’s first & foremost characteristic is contradiction, may it be about water or garbage or any road from some hill, as unless you don’t put forward your opinion about everything you are not officially declared as a Punekar, so be it! Now, coming to our sharing which by heading itself is very clear i.e., Traffic Jams & the city, this much one can understand & agree but what it has to do with real estate, this can be subject of the contradiction. But let me tell you the focus is about traffic jams & its impact on the city as over all, so let’s focus on this aspect & we can later come to the real estate aspect of it, ok?

That way since beginning i.e., even when this city is called as Pensioner’s Paradise, then also the public transport was never a strong-point of the city as then it was Bicycle’s City, where entire commuting was done with the cycles. But then distances were short & destinations were fewer as even today the Blue Blood Punekar’s (those from Peth areas) proudly used to say the city beyond the river (deccan also) as outskirts, so you can imagine the spread. And this was scene till 1980s’ but post that the scene along with periphery & the skyline of the city started changing rapidly, especially in last two decades the city has exploded practically with no more it’s just Pune but its Pune Region now & if its boon in terms of financial growth of the city then on infrastructure front it was a disaster. Because water was abundant there (thankfully) the only problem was its distribution but even by tankers you can get water. Drainage, well its turn to become a disaster is yet to come, then comes garbage of which the heat is being faced by the unfortunate suburbs like Fursungi (Location of present garbage depot) & the we are used to living with garbage till it’s beyond our sight is a fact. Education & public health fortunately was being shared by the private sector so this front of infrastructure has been taken care of in a much better way than other growing cities. The social as well as cultural infrastructure was always the backbone of Pune & rather it flourished with the development (read as growth, if you want) & the money as well as connoisseurs it got along. All is well but one thing & as the distances & destinations both increased multifold no more the cycles were useful for commuting, so they got replaced by automobiles, two wheelers earlier & four wheelers later. But the only hitch was bicycles never needed fuel nor the space the way these fuel eating (drinking) machines needs & before we realized the disaster has stuck in the form of traffic jams! 

Though as I have mentioned (personal observation), Pune (read as Punekars) was never a city which liked or say favoured public transport as a tool for commuting in & around the city. I know many Punekars won’t agree with my observation or statement but look at the past & the present & speak with as many citizens, & you will find they are happy of comfortable to use their private vehicle for any purpose of travel in the city because that gives them a feeling of in control with their routine. Again, most Punekar will say, because our public transport is useless that’s why we can’t be dependent of it for our daily chores & I thought I won’t contradict with this fact but if our public transport system is useless or can’t be dependant of then we too are responsible for this fact, lets accept it! Because like the “pahale anada ya pahale murgi” phrase, as public transport is bad, we use private vehicles & as we use private vehicles public transport remains bad due to its unprofitability, let’s think from this angle! And the more private vehicles will come on road the more traffic jams will keep happening, is the simple maths of the traffic! And then our attitude towards the law or rules is another aspect of the traffic jams, this I am deliberately putting forward because before blaming any system (read as govt) first retrospect our own approach to the problem & when it comes to following the traffic rules, less we say is better, for Punekars! We jump red signals, we drive in wrong lanes, we take turns as per our mood without any indicator, we stop anywhere on the road & we honk for fun! In short, we break every possible traffic rule & for us driving means just owning vehicle & having a document named licence, we forget that along with these two things there comes responsibility as a driver also, may it be a two-wheeler or a four-wheeler & outcome is traffic jams on every road of the city! And on top of all these, we park our vehicles at any place whenever we feel the need to park, just the way a stray dog pee whenever it feels to pee at any place! This is why I say, the traffic jams we are suffering, one major reason for them is our own attitude towards the term traffic also!

Now, if you have had enough retrospection then let’s come to our favourite part, what the xxxx govt is doing towards traffic jams, is the question we all love to ask but don’t do anything for the answer, right? When we say govt on traffic jam front then it includes mainly PMC (local public body), Police (of course) & Mai Baap i.e., Urban Development dept & yes, we the people. The last part we have discussed already, so, coming to PMC, it has twofold responsibility, one is providing road network infra & second is providing public transport. Unfortunately, in the past & presently, PMC seems to focus only on the earlier part i.e., road infra. Here too, just road making is done but nothing concrete is done on maintaining the purpose the roads have widened apart from the way they have widened, which again is controversial! If by just making more & wider roads we think we will overcome the disaster named traffic jams, then we are the biggest urban fools! And then, we just build roads, wider footpaths & forget to see that they remain in the way we have built, as the roads become parking lots & footpaths become trading centres, this is what we have witnessed all the years! A full time, non-bias, competent authoritative squad is a must for checking every road & footpath & see that they are functional for the purpose they have been built & that squad was & is missing, is the main reason for traffic jams! This squad should be made of PMC-Police joint staff with separate uniforms & powers which they won’t use to harass people but make them fear & respect the traffic system, this is the need if we want to overcome the disaster named traffic jams!

Now coming to another responsibility of PMC & that is public transport; well, do mind, still nearly one million people use everyday day PMPML i.e., city’s public transport system but PMC turns a blind eye when it comes to feed (read as support) its own birth child that is PMPML. And now we have an adopted child named Metro & we think with Metro our entire traffic problems will be solved, no it won’t, unless it’s backed up by proper bus public transport & even the rickshaws along. First reason is, Metro to come in full functioning will take ten more years & the city will burst till then with the vehicles it is having or will have & second be Metro can’t be going to every single road or suburb, but PMPML buses can! We must have proper study of routes as well infrastructure for buses which is missing right now as we don’t have proper routes, bus-stops, time tables & monitoring system, so we don’t have commuters using the public transport system, which is also a fact & main reason for the traffic jams! At the same time the citizens also must understand to use public transport they will have to be a bit patient as it won’t be coming to your door steps & it can’t be run on your time table but you have to be accommodative & a bit disciplined to use public transport, which is in your own benefit in the long run! PMC must take responsibility for PMPML & ensure that it’s been supported on in every need, may it be funding, infra like space as well proper monitoring for the end output i.e., service to its commuters, that will surely help overcoming traffic jams! At the same time Mai Bap of PMC i.e., Urban Development dept must guide (read as force) PMC to make policies which are public transport friendly especially the parking norms. The more parking spaces means the more private vehicles, instead make public parking spaces available for private as well public vehicles & charge for every minute not just for hour!

Lastly, the Police which are seen only in stopping commuters once they jump the red signals that to at the month end, is a bitter fact on Pune roads! We need Police to make people respect & obey traffic rules & focus must be on this aspect which is not happening. How can somebody dare to drive in the wrong lane or jump a red signal or park his vehicle in the middle of a road, have we ever thought this? It's only because we know nothing will happen to us even if we do all of the above, this attitude is the main reason for traffic jams as well road mishaps & police must act on this! 

And here is where real estate comes in the picture on the traffic jam front, as a good city is a place which is preferred by the people to settle down & proper public transport as well less time in commuting is one of the major factors in defining a good city! Many people have been migrating out of cities like Bengaluru only because of the time they have to spend in commuting between their homes & work places & Pune’s real estate should be careful of this aspect. As well, real estate can join hands with PMPML & Metro for coming up with ideas, concepts by which more & more people will use public transport as there only lies the solution for traffic jams! To conclude, all I will say is, regular traffic jams are like warning signs about the health of the city & if we ignore it then as Jane has said in her book, we only will be responsible for the death of our city as we ignored these warning signs, mind it Punekars!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

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

 

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

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

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

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