Real Jungle & Concrete Jungle !

Choose only one master - Nature….Rembrandt

Friends,

Just back from a four days trip from Kanha & each time when I visit the forest, its refreshment which only the one who has experienced can only understand or share. And it’s a thing which one has to feel by himself & for that we need to be open with our own self to accept that feel whole heartedly. A times looking at the way our needs or rather greed, are encroaching the forests makes me fear about how many more years or days I can enjoy this feel or surrounding may be the visit is only for 3/4 days! And then the next thought is unavoidable i.e. the comparison with the jungle we live in!  Its Urban Jungle or Concrete jungle as few may call it.

In so many ways forests teaches us how to live together in real terms & behave also, rather what we call society or community living is best exhibited in forests. But for that we need to visit it often & with open mind! Here are few of the scenes which you can compare with our day to day experiences in a Metro…

A full grown male tiger crossing a grass land right in the middle of Barsingha group (its rare specie of dears & very favorite food of the tigers) without even looking at them! Because he isn’t hungry but thirsty, so was heading to water. The tiger only kills out of need & never out of greed & this is applicable to every animal in the forest. Nothing in nature happens without a purpose or just for the sake of an individual! That's the way a balance is kept in living & no one crosses its limit. And look how we behave in our jungle, size of a  2 bhk flat has gone to 1200sft to 1500sft when it’s easily can be fitted up to 1000sft making it impossible for common man to think of 2bhk.

Similarly in forest each tiger has his own territory of 10-12 sq km. This allows each of them to survive also maintains the balance of grazing animals in the area. And look at our living style, all are interested to have a flat in posh locality making the rates in a particular area go sky rocketing!  Thus eliminating chances of most to buy a home in that area, for e.g. Prabhat road or Koregaon park ! It’s our greed for more which makes us forget what’s our need & that’s why the real estate industry & people surrounded to it are looked up by common man from black goggle! It’s often talked about affordable housing but that does only can be achieved if we understand this concept.

Another example is spotted dears (chital) & monkey’s togetherness is a classy example of how one specie can help other to survive. The monkeys stays on tree tops & can see the Tiger coming from a distance & alert the dears at the same time when its thick jungle & visibility is poor & monkeys have come down on ground for food at that time the chital can smell the tiger from a distance & alert the monkeys. This is perfect living together example & look at our attitude in living in so called posh complexes. How many times in case any flat burglary happens we read the statement of the family living next door than we haven’t heard any sound as we were busy watching TV or we did heard some sound but we thought its usual thing! And the criminals flee away undetected! And we call our self a society!

Then I saw a Tigress walking right across some 20 vehicles with visitors & went for the kill of a dear, without getting disturbed by so many spectators & paying any attention to them! She was focused on the job & that’s the hunting for her hunger! Again when I am a developer & building home for my customers, I should be focused with that target without getting distracted from my main job & that is to give a good home to the person who has shown faith in me & my organization! How many times we see that? And it’s not applicable for the developers only but to all those who are connected with real estate industry & are supposed to make a proper infrastructure for the city keeping the citizen’s well being above all. Again it’s our attitude which is restricted to our own self that’s what making affordable housing impossible.

If you look at Kanha forest from any hi altitude, all you see is a sea of all shades & sizes of greens. Its perfect blend of tall trees like sal, various creepers, fruit bearing trees like jamun, mahua & the grass as well bamboos. The whole forest has a pleasant & fresh fragrance where we can’t separate out the individual essence. Can we see such view in our city where all sorts of houses perfectly amalgamated giving enough room for all segments of the societies & taking care of their basic needs for living? Well, we all know the scene but it’s us only who can make the scene change!

As the Rembrandt said Nature is the best Master but as a human being are we not going to prove ourselves the best student by learning from this builder? I think the answer has got the key to our feature.

--

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Kanha, Battle of the Grens !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157626440314242/

Plz click above link to visit my kanha trip snaps.

Every time I have some moment on a sea shore, or in the mountains, or sometimes in a quiet forest, I think this is why the environment has to be preserved… Bill Bradely.

Friends,

Just back from a four days trip from Kanha & each time when I visit the forest it’s a refreshment which only the one who has experienced can only understand or share. And it’s a thing which one has to feel by him & for that we need to be open with our own self to accept that feel whole heartedly. A times looking at the way our needs or rather greed are encroaching the forests makes me fear about how many more years or days I can enjoy this feel or surrounding may be the visit is only for 3/4 days! And then the

next question follows, what I am doing for preserving this

wonderful treasure which god has given us? Yes it’s this  question which  makes me upset & I think that’s the start of every change to our own

self. Jungles, keep apart the hypothetical aspect, has given many of us

immense moment of joy, may it be watching a tigress moving for kill or

an eagle taking a flight or a blue jay flying over grass flaunting its

exorbitantly shining blue range or even a large spider making its web &

awaiting prey! Watching all these & keeping guessing about what new

scene the next road turn is going to get unfolded in front of my

eyes, its more suspense than a Hitchcock thriller ride in jungle!

In so many ways forest teaches us if we keep our eyes, brain & most important the interest open to what it’s showing to us. For example I saw a tiger going right across the full heard of Barsinghas (its tiger’s favorite prey) & yet neglecting them like they don’t exist & heading to water hole as he was thirsty & not hungry. And then in other instance a tigress moved ahead for a kill towards a heard of spotted dears focusing intently on the prey & neglecting nearly 15 odd gypsy’s & aprrox 100 tourists watching her, that all commotion didn’t hurt her focus from the target! What we learn from all such incidences in forest depends up on why we are visiting the forests.

So much to learn as in forest nothing happens without a specified purpose & all the elements even the trees stick to the purpose. This is what the major difference is between human beings & other species. We are always looking for something more than what we have & neglecting what we deserve & what’s our real need is!

This all not only needed to be preserved but has to make it grow more.

Recently in Green Earth Summit 2011 our Hon. Environment & Forest

Minister openly & frankly admitted that it’s impossible to take the

percentage of forest cover to the ideal mark of 33%, all thanks to the

continuous growing population of our country which will be reaching to

120 crores this census! It’s not just our need but the greed which is

the biggest threat to the forests & unless we don’t curtail it or find

the means for doing so it’s the Jungles which will be going to loose

the battle with the men! Urbanization is an issue & it’s making

constant encroachment on the easiest prey that is the Jungle. We can’t

blame the people doing so as it’s easy to comment or speak patriotically

by sitting in our AC cabins in Metros. Ask those all millions who don’t

have a roof of their own on there head & they will see give away your

trees, give first shelter to us! We need to find answers for our

growing population & their long term future there only lies the future

of the forests.

When ever we say "Save Forests or Save Tiger”, it’s not what we are

saying, it’s what we are doing for what we are saying is what matters

most. It’s not a single specie or an area we are looking at, its the

entire system which needs to be modified. Like I always laugh when I

hear the appeal by many even the leaders " Corruption hatao"! To whom

we are kidding! Corruption is within us & that’s why we are unable to

remove it from others. Here I may sound hypothetical but then so is

the topic in itself. My words may not be true for all but think over

them & see on the scale of analogy & you will realize some where we

are also part of corruption, sometimes with will sometimes without

will. Same is applicable to "Save Forest" moment. How many of us have

done in any way to increase the Green Cover ,leave apart Saving

Forests! Frds, first act something on the front by our own, get failure

even after trying sincerely & then criticize others. Many of us go to

the forest places like Kanha or Corbet. Usually the jungle safaris

starts at 6am in morning, so you have to be up by 5 am something & you

get the hot tea ready along with break fast delivered at your room

before you ready for the safari. Have we ever noticed the local boys

who mostly are the room attendants which usually are local village

boys. Have we ever given a thought in morning cold these boys have to

wake up at 3.30am something daily to make your trip comfortable. Many

of us may be tipping them few bucks have we thought of making their

life comfortable? We can give them of thermal wares or shoes!

Ultimately forest isn’t just trees or animals, as I said earlier its the

system or the surrounding & our such acts will definitely help some where

strengthening that system as these are the peoples which are going to

decide the faith of the term forest. As if they are under paid they

wont look after forests but will encroached on them is a fact. And it

will be us who despite being capable of doing something hasn’t done

anything. Theirs is genuine need to survive where as ours is greed

this makes us neglect the real need & full fill the same.

Here I remember the famous Hollywood movie Matrix in which there was

shown a constant on going war with Machines/Programs against the

Humans & humans on the verge of loosing it till a super guy Neo comes

& save them eventually! Well is fine with movies, in real world no

such individual Neo is going to be there & the Greens are fighting the

loosing battle against human beings. But yes, there is one such Neo in

each of us which we need to wake up by our own self & let him go on

the mission of surviving the Greens in our own way. Then only the movie

will be a Happy ending or else the Tragedy is written on the wall!

--

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157626440314242/

 

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Pune ,Kal ,aaj aani Udya! ( Pune ,yesturday, toaday & tommorow!)

A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one. . Aristotle
 

Comparatively I am that way a new comer to this city, like many of us who have come here for education & fall in love with the city & got settled here only. Now more than 50% of my total age has been in this city so I can consider myself as Puneri, though the Nagpuri tag does shows in language, especially if Hindi is the medium J

Whenever some one asks me what’s you feel the most important plus point of this city? And I strongly feel that the backbone of our city is the Social as well Cultural base of the people living city.

 A city is recognized by the people residing in the city & not just by the monuments in the city or products manufactured in the city. I am sure the nature & attitude of Pune is one of the most social as well culture oriented, that too because of the residents & their attitude. Its one of the safest & most cultured city in compare to any other cities of its size, not just in our country but across the Globe. Look at the Ganesh procession, over a million people including toddlers to oldies on street for whole night! In any other country they would have required an army to control the crowd & in Pune just a thousand policemen are there, they too with just lathis, can control the mob. Rather they are mere observer; the crowd in itself is so much at control that one hardly required any thing special to do.

The real estate (it’s a commercial term, what I meant here is housing) is here since last 40 years i.e. right from late 70’s. But the Sky Line of the city has changed significantly in these last 25 years only. It’s like Tendulakar taking his own time to settle for first 10 odd over & then changing gears & speeding up to cover the lost over! Till late 80’s the city was growing just like any normal town i.e. responding to the natural growth & as an outcome of Panshet calamity. It’s in late 80’s the City started getting recognized as Industrial hub with big industries especially Auto & Ancillaries started setting in PCMC area. Naturally any big industry needs man power & man power needs residence. So responding this new demand many people saw the opportunity & here the Real Estate started in real means. Yet till mid 90’s the buildings were monotonous as there were restrictions on height, coverage, tenement density, fsi etc. At the same time the customers were also raw with basic demands as four walls. I remember Kadappa otta & colored tiles were considered as very high end amentias & canceled plumbing & wiring was meant for only super riches! And this was till early 90’s. Lifts were not common & not relied, so there were Ground plus 3/4 storied structures. Parking wasn’t’ mandatory under the building & that’s why we see road side parking in front of many building in then suburbs like of Karve road,Ideal colony, Bibwewadi which are now considered as center part of the city.

After mid 90 the picture started changing rapidly as outcome of Y2K many of the computer engineers have started visiting western countries regularly, the mechanical industry was getting ready to be equipped with newer technologies to compete with world market, IT industry was setting footholds in the city & a new industry was emerging in & around the city i.e. Education Industry! All these developments generated a totally new breed of customers for the real estate industry which was till then making homes for pensioners mostly! This new customer was well aware about the modern life style & the facilities it offers, so he stared demanding the same from the developer & the real estate has to respond positively! The Development rules got modified & 11 storied building started with multi level parking, sit outs, terraces becomes important aspect of the design & elevation of the building also become a selling factor of the project!

It’s not just residential building but the need for commercial buildings, corporate offices also started increasing & so was the demand for exclusive shopping malls & multi plexus too. The real estate stared getting used to the terminology like Commercial building, IT Park, Malls, Townships, and Mega Townships. So was the sky line of the city. The existing city limit got extended in start of 2000 & so were the rules of the development.

Yet it took late 2000 for raising the bar of the height for the buildings to 100meter i.e. 30 storid! Still Pune isn’t as height loving as Mumbai & the reason is simple. In Mumbai till first 10 floors you don’t get fresh air & all you see around is slum, so it after 10 stories one start enjoying the advantages of going high. Where as in Pune even after 4/5^th floors you get a good view around & fresh air. Also here we have increased height norm but the FSI is same. The TDR also is allowed maximum of 1.6, which don’t compensate for the expenses incurred in going for sky scraper. That’s why you still see around most buildings of 11 or 12 storied. Yet a lot of variety can be seen in facade i.e. elevations of the buildings & that because of trying to give something different & better to the customer. Especially in commercial building with lots of glass & alucobond material, the city has really started getting ready to become a metro.

And here is where we need think about how we want to make our city look? As it’s not only governing body but the developers also have to play a major role. In making something different we should not spoil the face of the streets & architects too have to be cautious on this front. Similarly it’s important that the bio diversity also has to be maintained along with the looks of the structures. The building should be designed to serve the purpose for what they are being build & importance should be given to the utility first & then let the asthetics follow.

What I feel is there must be proper infrastructure to nourish this backbone of the city, which unfortunately isn't happening. A city isn't just Sky scrapers or Malls or IT parks. A city is people living in & their class i.e. standard of living is what matters which is offered by the city within the city to its residents.

Till today majority of the class is educated, forward looking, thinking citizens but the local bodies as well the infrastructure providing authorities should ensure that this class remains. With the growth, all types of people are going to migrate in the city & not all can afford the luxuries of the life at any price. We need to take care of all the basic needs of this class. And this is where unauthorized developments start if the demands of every class aren't fulfilled, as housing is a basic need for every class of the society. The problem with us is when it comes to planning, we are extremely poor & it’s not about the ideas but about concluding on some concrete solution. The issues are many from infrastructure to environment to education & yes we are not short of bright minds, but I think that’s the curse too!

There always are two types of Infrastructure, one is Physical such as Roads, Water, Drainage, Power, Public Health etc & other is Social such as all the Festivals we have, Cultural programs going on all around the year, the quality of Education we have, Sports facilities as well the environment we enjoy.

We have to provide enough space to the people to socialize frequently & with out obstruction. We need good auditoriums, theaters where artists can perform. In comparison to the population as well expand of the city we have hardly 3-4 performing theaters ,BalGandharva, Ganesh Krida, Yashwantrao Chavan & they too are planned /built more than a decade back. There isn't a single good art museum in the city, the libraries/reading facilities are vanishing. If we want a society to be in good state of mind set then we should have enough outlets for the same. We don’t have enough play grounds, for e.g. take a look at Karve road, in the whole stretch of Varje to Nalstop, just 1 Ideal colony ground i.e. in 7 km one sports facility! How you expect the kids becoming sports savvy! The same scenario is on all major suburbs in the city

You count the public sport facilities in the city& there is a big
void on that front also. The same scenario is on all major
suburbs in the city. These are just some facts about the city. Unfortunately city civic body has faced off this reality. We talk
only about Roads, Water, Traffic, and Greening when it comes to city infrastructure but that’s not all. We have to plan for overall requirements of the citizen to make life comfortable regarding not just physical needs but mental needs also & for that Culture is the key.

Medical/Public health & Education are two such fronts again, usually neglected by the elite class, as they never face the problem. By paying good sum, one can have best of education & medical facility in this city, but what about the majority who can’t afford! How many of us, even class 4^th people (I mean financially) also avoids Govt/PMC’s public health facility, that’s the image of our Medical infrastructure & how many of us send their kids to Municipal schools. How many new Public Medical facilities have been built in last 20 years & when the population of the city has been on rise constantly?

Developers also have major role in this as while planning the new
developments we can have a keen eye on these fronts & instead blaming it on Govt we can provide the facilities/amenities that will serve the social purpose. Making more places to socialize the residents of the colony within the colony, arranging cultural programs within the complexes are the few things, which can be done at colony level itself.

We are entering in to a new decade. I think both the infrastructures must be planed keeping in mind the growth of the city. Then only we can keep our backbone intact & keep our pride of being the safest as well cultural capitol city. There should be enough places for the big trees to grow as that green sky line is also equally important for the city.

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157626002106936/


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

 Uniquely Singapore !

I have affection for a great city.  I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets. ..Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Surely Mr. Henry must be referring to Singapore! A year back I had been invited to read my paper at Green Asia meet in
Singapore. It wasn't my first visit to the city but surely with the
environment back ground it looked more beautiful to me & a comparison
with our city is unavoidable.  Many of us know Singapore as a good holiday destination as well shopper’s paradise, fun & happening city & things like that. But how many know that the city is one of the pioneers in finest urban planning with balancing environment? Like any other country they too have problems arising urbanizing as well growing population. On the top of it they are an island & space is always a problem!

The conference was about urbanization in
the East Asian countries & the impact of environment it's causing on
the city life as well overall. During the sessions I get an opportunity to meet many people from the field & also to roam in & around Singapore, one of the most beautiful as well environment savvy metro of East Asia. With a population over 42million even they are also facing problems of traffic & energy. Also being an island in Hindi Ocean they don't have a permanent source of potable water & water is a scarce thing. Being an equatorial country though rains are all over the year yet increasing urbanization is a
looming threat on the greens. The topic of Singapore development is so vast that one can do PhD on the same! But we will focus a few where we in Pune city face similar problems & just keep crying & playing our favorite blame game over them!

A small example is the way they are dealing with the issues is the way
they dealt with debris of construction activity as well the excavated
stuff (multi storied basements parking is a common thing for the most
sky scrappers) & the dumping yards is a problem. What they did is,
they have made to dump the excavated stuff in the open spaces adjoin
to the buildings within the plot premise( like open spaces in our
layout, not to forget that club house & all other things are allowed at
podium or at terrace level) & retain it with proper walls & convert it
in to small hill garden. Hundreds of such hills island covered with
thick big trees is seen in between the tall buildings, is the effect.
Both purposes achieved, the excavated stuff taken care as well green
cover is maintained. And look at the debris dumping on whatever place we get here in Pune & the unofficial garbage yards they become later!

The funny part about environment is not just a technical thing; its
aesthetic looks as well the part of the culture of the city too. one of the  striking feature was no hoarding in haphazard way all along the streets which is a common scene for us & no mesh of cable TVs, Cell phone towers, Broad band cabling all over the sky line of the city. It feels so good to have a
look of the city without any such obstructing objects, there are huge
advertising hoardings but at fixed positions only. The way boards are all in similar fashion & not covered by any banner displaying some guy's birthday! The city was celebrating their independence festival but without cut outs of numbers of political/social images on them in all shapes & moods!

 The major problem most of the Metros are facing is from this
class of society which has money in their pockets & gives importance to
the wealthy life style where they think "if they can spend then why
not" type attitude. It reflects not just in spending valuable goods
but consumption of natural resources like water & energy. Most of the
electrical energy comes from burning of fossil fuels so a slightest
saving in power consumption is directly related to the conservation of
natural resources.

Water is a big issue as if you go below some 50' then the water becomes salty. Most of the water the country literally imports from their neighbor Malaysia! Though being equatorial country, rains is a daily routine & they have one of the best rain water conservation systems which are maintained at high priority. Every drop of rain water is collected with a net work of
open channels which are spread all along the roads, public areas. This
water is collected to pumping stations at regular interval & guided to
natural passages like river & streams.

The whole city is user friendly in terms of information of the
services the city offers right from metro to bus service to land marks
of the city. At every major square on main streets there is a booth of
Singapore Tourism with a person there for giving information about the
city as well distributing free city maps with locations of interests
mentioned. This is something which really makes a visitor to become
fond of the city. The local citizens also get benefited with the
facility as Singapore being a big Metro many don't know about all the
places in the city.

Seeing this I just keep on thinking what is going wrong with us and
where they are scoring above us! I think it's the accepting facts,
knowing what kind of result we want to achieve & adopting the remedies
at fast rate at which urbanization is growing, has made Singapore
unique!

Let's act & not just think friends, time is running out…..

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Budget Shaharache ! Part 1

Man proposes God disposes… Old Saying

Such thoughts must have been crossed in the mind of Hon Comm when he was reading the budget of our beloved Pune city for 2011 i.e. first year of the new decade, to the  PMC elected members!

As however the noble thought may be but all depends up the God & unfortunately the city has too many Gods! Right from the numerous so called Jagruk Nagrik, NGO”S, Builders, Gold smiths, Hoteliers, Transporters ,Industries too the Supreme God i.e. General Body of the city who consists of elected members i.e. Corporators, all of these have to be satisfied with their interests then only the budget will be through! In all this, where is the voice of true god i.e. the Janata Janardan? What’s their say on their demands as well the promises made to them on during election? Here I remember the movie Gajani of Amir khan in which he has shown patient of Short Term Memory loss! We as a public are also diseased with same thing & its growing every day! Only difference is we have this disease just in reference to the various promises made to us by our elected members as well Govt regarding the development of this city!

Let’s see what’s the intentions & actual reality about the budget & then we will talk about what the city needs! Please don’t take my words as criticism as there is no deficiency of critics in this very city, what I am trying to analyze is what is the scenario about the city development on the start of new decade as well this will be last budget before next Municipal election, so its interesting how our supreme god reacts on Hon Comm’s proposals. This is the time when we can analyze that can even the God be selfish! Because city right now is growing like Sachin Tendulkar’s carrier story i.e. what ever he does now is a record! May it be a hundred or one more one day or test or every single run he makes in international cricket! Every day scaling a new record is what we are also doing as a city, may it be a new educational institute, new vehicle on road, new accident or a new hotel coming up! Unfortunately here also we top in some dubious records & that is road accidents along with highest number of vehicles per person. What a shame for us that we know exact numbers of vehicles & type & make but we are unable to know number of trees with us which actually will be counter parting the pollution created by these vehicles!

What the Hon Comm has in budget has proposed is not just add on taxes but it's increase in revenue which no doubt is a must for the city development & each time we can’t be dependant on Central Govt or World bank for funding our own projects. Issue is will the Supreme God’s accept this on the eve of forth coming elections? Because that means annoying the true god which they remembers once in five years! Please take a note that, here my intention isn’t put blame on any single segment of the society but what is mentality of the society or thought reflection you can call it. Though the true god is also equally at fault for being quite over four years & getting awake only in fifth year! Here many will say what we can do about it? Well this question at least we could have asked in time!

There is ( I presume) a provision of accommodating suggestions from the citizen in the budget about the works to be done on priority basis in their neighborhood, which again always has been disapproved by our supreme gods! Yet it is there & how many people have availed it? How many times we collectively have gone to our cooperator or ward office & submitted list of the works to be done in our surrounding, rather how many of us knows where is our ward office & who is officer in charge there? We always criticize slum dwellers for getting favored by elected members as well by administration for all their needs but have we ever thought why? Its simple they always fight collectively for their demands & they vote also collectively! We all so called white collared can only fight with each other collectively & that’s why our demands remains in our own minds only!

Yet some questions remains over the intentions of Hon Comm’s comments or suggestions on increasing taxes or current policies. Like, what about the tax recovery from slums ,as if nearly 30% of the city population is from slums or that kind of establishments, what steps or measures have being taken to recover property tax from them & what’s was the contribution from the same in last year? Because any tax hike will pinch only to the person who is paying the tax! Similarly there is need to decide on the increase in revenues & for that some bold policies are a must! For e.g. while traveling around the city one can see lots of open land & being in profession related to land, I know many of them comes under various reservations such as roads, parking, gardens etc. Why PMC on her own isn’t doing the development & giving TDR or remuneration to the land owners on not just fast track but super fast track. Why we keep waiting the developer or the land lord will come forwards & do the road development & then rest of the development will follow! Is this city runs on individual’s development plan for his land? Because by now even a small kid knows that if the road net work in any area is good the rest development automatically follows, indirectly generating more revenue for PMC. Here we can take example of our neighbor city i.e. PCMC, where you can see good wide roads crossing even fields where no development has been around.

Also any property development is directly related to the development of such infrastructure in the surrounding. For e.g. after construction of Rajaram Bridge Sinhagad road & west part of the city i.e. got connected & the rates as well speed of development around Sinhagad road increased significantly. Similar is Paud roads Bhusari colony area got prospered after cancellation of Kacara depot. So we can imagine the significant impact of budget on real estate.

For me any land which is shown as residential in Development Plan & is undeveloped is like money laying in bank without interest! Such should be view of the PMC as then only revenue will increase.

What I feel is it’s not about the rise in tax or octroy but it’s the trust of the tax payer that he is getting returns out of what he has paid is important. Reality is, there’s an increasing feeling that what ever policies or development PMC implements they are made either keeping interest of some individual or for some particular business only. And some where PMC elected members, administration as well some of the trades are incapable of generating that confidence in Janta Janardan! The budget needs to overcome this lacuna & instead of figures let the work speaks for itself, which will definitely help in melting down the resistance for any tax hike.

Lastly , I will like to appeal to the citizen of the city that please remember, being aware about our responsibilities doesn’t mean just paying our property tax in time!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Budget Shaharache! Part 2

Men do not love Rome because she is beautiful; Rome is beautiful because men have loved her. - Leopold Kohr.

I think it’s high time for our so called God’s of Pune city to remember this quote & understand the meaning of it! Year after years budgets after budgets have come & gone & forgotten the promises as well provision made in them. I don’t say that the city hasn’t have any development ,indeed there are good efforts like few bridges across the so called rivers flowing through the city, some road widening like Sinhagad road, Nagar road, Solpur road in tits & bits, the BRT on two routes though I have always failed to understand the meaning of Mix BRT ! I think it’s a good joke in technical terminology like  "Headache in head or Vison fault in eyes!" As when BRT is supposedly Bus Rapid Transport, giving a separate route for those buses then how one can say mixed BRT at places! And along with we have number of jokes like Z – bridge joining Dean & Narayn peth, Paud road fly over connecting lesser traffic wing of Karve road leaving remaining traffic to get jammed or Mhatre Bridge which is closed for heavy traffic or Pedestrian’s flyovers & underpass which are usually deserted & the great fly over the highway at Wakad going towards Hinjavadi we have many such around. Even the way fly over is designed & built at Hotel Sadanand, baner, it’s very risky for vehicles coming from Bangalore side & taking turn towards city. The city is getting more famous for wrongly planned structures than the real engineering monuments is a fact & its not my personal opinion only but refer all the media news as well talk to any common man & you will get the same outcome about city development.

We have already talked about how budget & its allocation for the works as well their implementation is important for the city. So in last 10 years i.e. first decade of 2000, what are most significant developments of our city? Can we name them? Here I am referring to works supposed to be done by local body i.e. PMC & not private developments. Long back in one of Abhijit Desai’s critic write-up about Hindi songs he mentioned, "its very difficult t name Lata didi’s ten top song & it’s equally difficult to name Anuradha Paudwal's too!" As it’s impossible to choose best of Lata didi’s song, so it’s impossible to remember ten songs of Paudwal, was the sarcastic part of it! Same feeling is there when we compare Pune city on scale of development with other cities, it’s difficult to name top ten developments in the city & it’s job of all those connected with this topic why so? We have good engineers, knowledgeable minds, and veteran politicians in the city along with very alert & aware NGO’s. Then what’s the problem in not planning proper development plan & execute the same. With due respect for his good intentions, Hon PMC Comm. has said that the budget should be at least Rs.10000 crores & we should not weigh the budge on basis of amount spent! Isn’t both are a bit cross statement? If we don’t apply the scale of amount spent then what criteria we should apply for judging the implementation of budgeted works? Sure then it should be the common man’s quality of life before & after budget. So let’s have a look from that angle.

Why a white paper isn’t published by PMC each month from the day of budget about the amount allocated for a particular work & its progress by volume of work & amount spend on the work? To my knowledge in any private company there is a work progress chart for each job undertaken & its monitored weekly, and then only you keep the track of any work which you have undertaken! Here day, months & years we keep reading in news paper about projects like Paud road, Baner road or Elevated road, the list goes on & on & we are unable to know about the end completion date of a work which is part of budget! All these leads to negative mindset of the common man towards the city governance as well about the entire system which consists of Builders, Politicians, Govt Officers, even about the Ngoc’s who many a times make oppose just for the sake of it without giving any concrete solution.

As a developer rather as a citizen first what I feel about budget is it should be transparent & result oriented. It’s not just the provisions for the various works but their proper planning & execution is what matters most when we talk about budget. The city is growing & we ought to provide infrastructure which will cover its Social as well Physical needs. On one side Sassoon Hospital is over flowing with patients and on other hand what we read in news is the plot which was reserved for general hospital is allotted to a developer! We need good public Hospitals on all eight sides of the city along with recreational centers for masses as not all can afford multiplexes or private hospitals. Same is with PMC schools & drinking water. Each time when city development is discussed we think its only traffic which is a problem for us but major problem lies underground & that is Drainage & Water lines net work. It’s now over 10 years of newly merged village (the term itself has got old now) & major chunk isn’t having network of these basic services & reason is we are not fast enough to acquire the roads! Leave apart other reservations & their execution. Because the better services is the only key to bring better people in this city & make them stay here & these better people is the key to bring better business in city which at end will generate revenue for the city only!

These should be the key factors of any budget as the budget is face of development & it’s every citizen’s duty to keep this face presentable or else like the quote about Rome, Pune won’t be beautiful any more as no body will love her!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo_power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Surviving Tiger !

Frds,

I have sent 100 winter kits including a full neck sweater,handgloves & head gear( kantopi) for the forest guards & guides in Knaha  Tiger Project.Yesturday on 14th it has been handed over to the Hon Forest Director Mr Himmat Negi who took keen interest in the process & Dy Director Mr Mahanto by my frds & distributed among the field staff & guides who accompany the tourists on their jungle rides. Winter is real chill at Kanha & tem drops at 3-4 degree centigreds! Yet they have to do their job right from early mornings when most of us are fast asleep in our four walls' warmth!

"Save Tiger" isnt a job of any single NGO or person or Govt, its everybody of us who can contribute in our own way & strengthen the people who are actually working over there!

Thought of sharing my team's contribution with you  ,so as u can spread the word
 to make more & more people aware about their responsibility towards the cause :)

Post sharing this news....

I got huge response on sharing the news about sending winter kits for kanha forest guards/guides. About tasneem's enquiry,here is something.

I travel  quite frequently in lots of forests across the country,one as hobby ,second as assisting on their water management program within the park wherever i get called from them.
During these travels I see lots of things where we can can assist to strengthen the infrastructure around the forest,as jungle is not just tiger & trees but its people around the same & then there are people like forest guards, guides & labors working within who are actually engaged in jungle conservation!
A lot can be done for them for eg take a case study of Kanha..
Agreed forest dept have funds as well the officers like Mr himmat negi are doing a lot yet the task is so vast that any help from outside is welcome. It helps actually as well it helps in boosting moral of those who are working in extreme conditions as temp in kanha varies from 3-4 degree centi in winter to 45 degre in summer!

Most of the guards & guides do get uniform but its just 2 sets. So u can contribute there. Also the labors don't have any thing u can gave them pants ,shirts preferably earth colors!
U can give jungle shoes/canvas shoes. Cycles & cycle repairing kits. U can give medical portable kits, thermal water bottles.

Also the schools around the forests are imp to make the kids awear & we can donate stationary for the same along with clothes for school kids. We can give water dispenser as inside the forest there are guard huts & they rarely get hygienic water to drink.
Even for schools we can give battery inverter as power is a problem always & many basic medical especially snake anti venoms needs a particular temperature to be maintained to preserve.
We can give solar /led lamps and torches for the guards as well guard huts.
So many things by which we can contribute.

When ever we celebrate new year / birth day try thinking gifting such items for those who really needs them & will be very happy with ur gesture. My team got such a warm welcome from Kanha which is beyond expressing & more imp is the feeling "yes , we are actually part of save jungle moment" !

You can contact me for any info as well
Gift Gallore, 9923558588 , hemangi.vartak@giftsgalore.in , revati.thube@giftsgalore.in
the agency who can asist on procuring the goods as well deliver to the destinations.



( special thanks to Hemangi & her team at Gift Gallore who not only procured the kit but went all the way long to kanha to deliver the same)


--
Sanjay Deshpande & team Sanjeevani
Sanjeevani Dev
Envo_power Committee,Credi,Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157624239269202/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life