Real Estate & Respect!

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem…Abraham Lincoln

Recently I read sharing of a fellow colleague in Sakal & he has pointed at very vital issue about the attitude of society towards the builders or developers! That why cant the society look towards the builders with hostile view or friendly view! Sure many a people will wink their nose & say you yourself think on this, what the reputation of your profession is! And no two minds here, most of the people like the glamour or money in real estate but nobody want the dirt it carries along. No business man can with pride say yes I am a builder & even if he says the society don't pay him the level of respect which is being paid to other business or professions is a fact! Some how during past years the rapport between the society & this industry has got broke & I won’t blame society for that. Many of colleagues won’t like this sharing but by turning our face away from the facts, facts don't change!

Look at the names like Narayn Murthi, Azim Premaji, Tatas & even Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti & I am not even taking names from other countries like Bill Gates & list continues! Not necessary that you should be from white collared IT industry to gain respects, Bjajaj's & Mahindars are from auto industry & so are Oberoys who are from hotel industry. Not only they have gained respect in the eyes of the society but they made their business /profession also get respected in the process of gaining them the respect which the real estate industry men are missing. Here we as real estate industry needs to asses the way these people have been able to achieve what they have achieved. Especially when the real estate industry though it’s not even got the status of an industry as yet, provides homes to millions of this country where home is not just scarce but a sacred commodity. In India home comes before any buy & indeed a dream buy it is! Watch the famous TV show " Kaun Banega Karodpati?" & for 90% contestant when Amitabh asks what’s first thing they want to do when they will win the price of some lacs, the answer come as they will buy a home for their family! No one says that he will buy a car or an I-Phone or a Lap top or will go & stay in a five star hotel with the price money! And apart for making homes the industry is probably the second largest job provider after infrastructure & supports n numbers of small scale trades like carpenter to fitters to masons & the list goes on.

So much demand for the product of this industry & so low respect level about the same of towards the people of the Industry! “Bat Kuch Hajam nahi huae!” Jokes apart it’s not about just the owners or rulers but even people associated with this industry. Ask any topper of Civil engineering branch from engineering college that where he wants to make his carrier & never you will get the reply as in construction firm! It’s always in infrastructure or consultancy or going in to computers. Ask any top class fresh architectural pass out & he dreams to design great public buildings or resort but never a housing complex for middle class by working along with a builder. Ask any real estate employee about where he is serving & you don't find the pride like people take in telling that they work for Telco or Wipro or Perssitance or Infosis! And if you feel I am exaggerating then no sir, these are my own experiences. Few years back when I had gone to represent my firm in an Environment seminar at Delhi, the reception desk girl asked for my details & when I said I am  builder, she gave me a look like she has seen Vijay Mallya in Darubandi rally( Anti-Liquor) !  Such was her  reaction that what a builder is doing in environment seminar? I am the one who is responsible for damaging the environment & why I have been called for such seminar! Agreed a lot of water has passed under the bridge by now but yet that look haunts me & that’s why when I read the write-up I realized though years are passing, the gap between the society & real estate men is increasing. And it’s high time to breech it, more by people from the industry as it’s their image at risk.

From many years there is a constant demand by the real estate people to give it status of industry but govt is being deaf & blind on this demand. Some where the reason is the image is not respected in the eyes of common man & that’s why the power or strength is the demand isn't enough to move government. To get the status of Industry we need icons like other industries have got & there are few but they are real few & that's why when we open up the news paper we have to read the news like “Builders are banned from Mantralay by the new CM". Are we criminals or what for being banned from a public place like Mantralay?  Mukesh Ambani goes to Mumbai Corporation it becomes news, so as if any big Industrialist visits CM or any such dignitary. That’s because they have come for development of the society & to discuss issues like that but not builders who actually develop the society. The reason is people don't believe that men from real estate industry can approach Govt for the benefit of the society but for their own! No business can survive by making profit for only one side of the table & unfortunately this feeling that builders are interested in their profit only has made people to look at the real estate by not only disgrace but with doubt. We have lost the trust of common man & even if we try to do something good with good intentions it’s been turned down. For e.g. the latest issue of Hills in Pune i.e. BDP. No builder to my knowledge has officially build building over hill even in old limit where it was hill top & hill slope & 4% FSI was allowed, rather there are thousand time more slums already existing at such spaces yet the BDP issue is related to builders wasted interests! And joke is no builder protest openly about being blamed for the same! It takes courage to stand against allegations even false they may be & courage comes from the self conduct. I think this is what need of the time, to analyze the self conduct. There are organizations like PBAP & MBVP but the segment is much unorganized & hundreds of small time operators are there who are not members of these organizations. And then issue isn't restricted for one Pune city, it’s about real estate development all over the cities in the country. You can’t differentiate one auto industry from other, though the management may be different or place where the industry is but the manner in which the industry operates & gains the respect in the eyes of the society is same all across the country.

This is what we require to achieve for real estate industry & for that from ground level working is required. There is CREDAI i.e. National level confederation of real estate people but apart from that  self improvement approach should be there in every individual developer. As any organization depends on the kind of people it has got  & they help to improve the entire industry by their behavior. Here business should not mean only making money but going beyond that & sharing the good things with entire society. It doesn't mean just lowering the prices of homes or affordable housing. But it means helping to build a strong society by reaching out the needy segments of the society with all means. May it be social front may it be issue of sports, culture or education or public health, the country has too many lacunas presently & real estate men are definitely capable to fill up many with their resources. Giving transparent deals & sticking up to the commitments we make to our customer is very basic & a must thing, what we have to do is stand tall for other aspects of the society apart from just meaning our business.

After all society is like a mirror reflecting our own deeds! If we are acting doubtfully it will look towards us with same eyes & if our actions are full of trust it will look at us with trust! If we understand this and act accordingly then I don't think the day to gain respect for real estate is away as nothing more noble is there than giving shelter to a homeless family, which is our countries main need today. A own home can boost confidence of men like any thing & that's going to reflect at all fronts the man will be working ultimately benefiting the entire nation & what more we want than that!

--
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/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

FSI & City Grwoth!

Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.... Eliel Saarinen

Pune is famous for the cutouts & uncalled birthday hoardings yet few of the cut outs are there for public awareness too & one such caught my attention on FC road. It’s a questioner by an association related to developers/engineers & few questions were asked to the passer by about whether it’s right to increase FSI of the buildings in city & is it wise to let the city grow further more when already the infrastructure is weak & insufficient for the existing population. And is it practical to allow the population grows further & to entertain the new industries as well development which meant the new buildings!

Being an engineer as well developer by profession, the hoarding caught my attention & so as the thought process! After all why & how a city grows? And if yes then can we control growth of any city by just not giving additional FSI? More to add then do we really want our city to stop growing? I think the third question can be the key to earlier two questions! Why we want this city to stop growing? Is it the infamous Train effect? Like in train which is running full, at each station the new comers are not welcomed by the insiders type! Have we got the right to stop the new comers when at some stage we too were new comers in this train? Agreed after a certain capacity it wont be possible for any bogie to accommodate the new comers & the result is disaster for all the occupants but in train there are other bogies or even next train in case. Have we got that kind of alternative for this very Pune city? The migration towards the cities is not new now as it’s not the cities which are lacking in infrastructure it’s the towns & villages which are not even having basics of them. As to lack you need to have something in basic to be existed which isn’t & that’s why more & more people are opting to shift to the cities making them metros! Nobody leaves his native place in will or by choice, it’s the forced decision in most cases as in present times considering the inflation rate, a city life is much costlier than the village life is a fact. Then why a person opts for moving out of his town or village & comes to city is a question to be studied.

Now after accepting that people are migrating to the cities lets come to the issue that how we are going to check this up at city end? Think about the kind of system we have developed here & what it takes to keep this system in operation? We have development plans for the city & it’s said to be accommodative for coming 20 years. If this is true then why we are worried about city getting over populated! As that must have been considered while making the plan which includes infrastructure for this population too! Thing is we are too slow on making the development plan & then slower ate executing the same. For e.g. take the DP of extended PMC limit, still it’s in process of approval since last 7-8 years & with every segment crying over it! Yet as a city we are failure to get something sanctioned which we only have planned & we are talking about curtailing the new growth by not giving additional FSI.

Here it’s important to understand the concept of FSI, its Floor Space Index which means a factor which decided how much constructed area you can have on a particular piece of land. Usually in Pune city its 1, means we can built as much area of the plot only. In gaothan i.e. old city it’s 2 & in some case where number of existing residents are more its 2.375. Yet it’s less for redeveloping such old tenements which we call wadas. Also above this TDR is allowed which is 0.60 times the FSI permitted on the plot. But presently due to procedural delays TDR is getting one of the scarcest commodities in real estate. Some where this does lead to increase in costing of the homes.

The city has already grown up as a metro of future & so as our demands of life style from the same. And to fulfill these demands we need man power which in end needs residences. Any city which makes new job opportunities available becomes hot destination for real estate is a fact. And Pune has got IT industry, Production/Auto industry, Education Industry & fast growing service industry. All these industries are need of the city as they provide jobs to thousands in this city & in turn these thousands need homes is a fact. And that too in a reasonable costing along with basic infrastructure like water, drainage, power & transportation. Here we are not even thinking about cultural as well social infra like entertainment, education & medical! It’s this front we are neglecting & that’s why people have reached to the conclusion of curtailing the growth of the city itself! As what’s point in expanding if we are not able to cope up with existing demands. Though it will be suicidal attempt is what my personal opinion. Because for development works we need money & its going to come from the revenue coming from various forms because of new development only. We are not doing anything about increasing taxation of old establishments then from where we are going to raise the money if we ban or curtail new industries, it parks or constructions? Today the development charges as well octroy on various items makes the most of PMC inflow in budget. What will happen to that, have we worked out any alternate source of income? Sadly the answer to my knowledge is a big no!

Let the city prosper & for that we can take examples of similar cities around, how they have coped up with the growing population. Problem is there are enough examples around right from Nagpur to Ahemadabad but are we ready to really adopt such things? FSI may seem to be the issue behind population growth but it’s not the real culprit. For e.g. Hyderabad don’t have the concept like FSI, you can build as much as you can by paying premiums to the local body & following the norms like side margins & parking & yet they don’t have infrastructural problems. Rather as the home prices are in control so more & more companies are choosing that city as option. Similar liberal policies about the FSI have been adopted by many cities & they are not having any problems which we are having even with FSI controls are here.

I think need of the time is to plan properly & plan fast and then execute what you have planned. As the quote says we needs to understand the planning concept before we decide on rules/policies which will stop or curtail our growth or else we will be ending up like the infamous “Shekhchily, who cut down the very branch on which he was sitting”!

--
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/65629150@N06/sets/72157627981139310/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Forest, Camera, Action!

Sadly, it's much easier to create a desert than a forest... James Lovelock

Come any holiday & my feet's pull me towards the forest & Kanha is one of those places which you can visit every day of year & yet it wont stop surprising you on every day. Such is the canvas of forest over there. Not just the animal sighting but the exposure to such vast form of nature make you introvert & you start looking at yourself from new dimension. Provided you are open enough to the nature! Many things you start seeing, feeling & understanding which you haven't noticed earlier though they may be happening right under your nose! Come winter & the entire forest gets a different fresh look at Kanha,sight of which makes you forget the chilling cold! The Barsingas ( type of dear) with pink & velvet luster horns & birds flaunting their exotic colors & wild flowers & butterflies all over & even the spiders joining the party!

The entire display makes you awe about the verity nature can offer & how limited our exposure to the same is. The forest is alive with activities all around &you regret that you can be at one place only at one time & miss so many things! Like at night a look at sky & you feel like you are on different planet! Such is the scene in the sky as the sky is full of stars free from city lights disturbance as well no smoke emitting from the vehicles or industries. The air is cool but so pure that our lungs are not used to it & its carrying nice fragrance of the vegetation around. Then I realize how I was missing all these in city life! The morning ride to forest starts at 6 am in morning when you can see the moon still shining in clear sky & if you are real forest lover then to be as first entrant you need to be at in queue at gate before 5.30am. So you have to wake up by 4.30 am have a cup of nice hot tea with morning breeze & then you realize  tat to give you the morning tea at this hour some one has to wake up by 3.30am & they are the local boys serving in your hotel. Just have a look at what they wear in such cold winter mornings & you will be ashamed of your full fledged winter attire!  Also think about the forest guards who are patrolling this vast expand all over the year in extreme  weather where temperature can vary from - 5 degree to 45 degrees! These thoughts never entered in our minds in our commercial world where we think everything is business!

Earlier Kanha entry was some 700/- per trip & cameras were charged extra,now they have made it 1700/- per trip per vehicle & then you think how many people can afford this! As two rounds including the Gypsy tariff can cost you nearly 8000/-! Stay & food charges to add on over this! Now imagine what even 3 day trip can cost you! Here I realized how lucky I am that I get a chance to experience this nature's treasure so often! And then think how many around us can have the exposure of the forest & what we are doing about it? Rather govt should seriously think about making the forests open at reasonable costs to every one as per their affordability. Especially to the school kids of rural as well urban poor as from this class some day forest protectors are going to be rise! Unfortunately no one is trying on this front.

I had got a new lense  for my camera & was eager to shoot the jungle moments but I have forgot that just buying a good camera doesn't make you a good photographer & when I review the results of some snaps in display I got upset. And then I realize I was forgetting the joy of experiencing the forest moments in zest of taking photographs! In our daily life also we make such mistakes, forget the joy in enjoying the moments  of small thing around & worry about things which are not in our control! No doubt capturing the wild life in camera is best hobby but if you are missing to enjoy the forest in this process then something is going wrong! A lot is happening around us in forest & not every moment can be captured through any man made lence,this I learned in forest. We were obviously looking for sighting of tiger & out of our eight rounds we couldn't see any in first seven rounds! But then there was so much to watch & feel which other wise we would have lost in tiger chase. Sound of birds, drongo mimicking other birds or group of parakits playing in sun light on top of a dry tree or the rising sun shading the sky in all shades of red & orange, so many things are happening around. A jungle is never dead ,its full of activities. In the silence also many things are happening like a spider waiting for insect getting caught in its web or an eagle waiting over a branch of tree for the prey without even flickering of his feathers. You redefine the definition of silence in forest &  it teaches you to be patient for right time. This is the biggest thing we can learn from forest as there  nothing is before or ahead of time, everything has its right timing & one has to know his right time! One has to wait patiently in silence & let the director Nature unfold the script in front of you, is the best way to watch the jungle. And yet when I saw a tigress coming out of thickset foliage & walk like a professional model walking on ramp , for a moment I forgot to click the snaps! Such is the impact of watching a tiger in open forest. Even to watch the faces of tourists who are lucky enough to share this scene is also a treat!

Forest is a form of nature & as the wise men have said no better teacher than nature for the one who wants to learn. each time I enter in forest like a school boy who is ignorant about the future & get out with bag full of new things. Also the knowledge about such places is to be made more public as right now its restricted to just a fraction of society & that's not going to make people aware about the importance of forests. Rather places like Kanha should be declared as World heritage sites! And for that every one has to take efforts on their respective fronts. Though by just declaring World heritage site isn't going to make difference . Its our attitude towards forests needs to be changed & given them the importance they deserve as then only our future can be with shade of green!

Here are some of the moments...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627981139310/

--
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/65629150@N06/sets/72157627981139310/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Our City, Our Devlopment Plan!

“In great cities, spaces as well as places are designed and built: walking, witnessing, being in public, are as much part of the design and purpose as is being inside to eat, sleep, make shoes or love or music. The word citizen has to do with cities, and the ideal city is organized around citizenship -- around participation in public life.”…Rebecca Solnit.

Well well that goes for the ideal city as by the great planner Rebecca Solnit but when we think about our beloved city has this multidimensional thought been put in planning? In news paper now the term DP i.e. development plan is so many times covered that even a 5 year old who has just started reading to an old man who has on the verge of stopping reading must know the term DP! But how many of them have really understood the term or the reason behind it? For any city the term DP is very much important as its going to decide the future of the very city. Now many a will say what's big deal, has not our Pune city prospered without any such thing & even if there isn't any DP, are the Industries like IT or automobile going to stop coming here? Well the answer is a big YES! They may not stop immediately but without a proper plan of the development of the city the city will refuse to take any additional load & will burst because of the load on the infrastructure like Drainage, Water & road! Many of the things we are already witnessing like numbers of vehicles on the roads. however big road you build if we cant plan a proper public transport system & arrange the city growth in planned manner, the road wont be ever enough for the private vehicles! This is result of not having proper DP or not implementing the same in time.
A Development plan is like a mirror showing future of the city & here you can not blame just one organization like PMC as a DP is multidimensional thing. It covers every segment of the society & it’s expected to contribute. Here I will give you a simple example, few years’ back PMC has announced Rain water harvesting policy to incorporate the same in DP & called for Public suggestions. Can you imagine just one has come & that to of Credai i.e. then PBAP, an association of Pune's builders! This speaks the ignorance of the common people about the subject which is so important of every citizen’s life & then we blame each other for poor life style the city offers! I don't blame for this ignorance to the common citizen as the subject has been never made aware about to them! Here is the failure of the system as its prime job is to make ascertain than the process of making DP goes more & more open & with participation of as many citizens as it can be. Sure on brighter side many NGO's are aware & we have seen the result on the subject of hills & BDP reservations & so is about the public transport but does the DP means just Hills, roads, drainage & water?

Here lies the crux; a city as mentioned in the quote has so many dimensions by virtue of which it’s decided as whether it’s a good city or bad & on its job of every citizen to understand where we are on those standards & not just few points. When we say Pune is growing & next IT hub or education capitol of the country then it has to be reflected on every front of the city then we can really be proud of ourselves.

Along with the greenery & safety the city offers there are very fine infrastructural thing which are a must to make a city a good one to live in. And all such things has to be thought of while planning DP & then to execute the same. Few such we will be discussing here & do mind its not just Pune, when ever any town, city, metro is being planned these are a must subjects. Let’s consider basic five thing apart from the main issues like road network or water or hills & they are  Private bus stops, Garbage bean, Public Toilets, Information centers, & seasonal centers like Phataka shops or even Ganpati or festive pendols!

The city has long back tradition of having private buses for industries carrying the workers to the work place from home. Telco, Bajaj were pioneers in the same & with number of call centers to IT industry to school buses now it’s a parallel public transport system operating private basis. But we don't have any fixed stops or pick up stations for the same. The result is these buses stops randomly anywhere in mid road causing traffic problems. Parking of the same is also an issue. The DP should take cognizance & their importance too & accommodate them.

Then comes the Garbage beans, we all are part of generating garbage in some form but no one wants a garbage bean in their premise. The reason is obvious, it’s the way they are maintained & result is most of the garbage beans are right on roads or blocking the footpaths. This scene we have been seeing now for many years & its a strong need to identify  proper locations for the garbage beans & install a system to see that they don't become a nuisance but serve the purpose for what they have been installed. We can design them in a proper way for this, learning from the mistakes in past.

Public toilets not only for women but even for men are in horrible situation. No sane man will use the facility in this category unless its extreme need & that's failure of the purpose. People don't want them in their vicinity because of the faulty design & the poor maintenance. We should try to think out of the box here. In Dubai the building rules makes it mandatory for every commercial establishment like restaurants or shops to have a toilet facility however small the establishment may be & its open for use to all. This saves the space as well maintenance of making public toilets. Agreed with the kind of population it’s impossible but for the population over 40 millions if we check the numbers of public toilets, it’s sickening & that’s an important aspect of good civic infrastructure the city should offer to its citizens.

When ever you go to places like Singapore you can’t miss the colorful, clean & warm information centers at regular intervals giving every information a tourist or even a citizen will need about the city & services it offers. Recently there have been kiosks of such centers installed on some of the main roads by local authority but it failed on two fronts, one is their very less numbers & other is the kind of service it offers to the visitors. Mostly its poor staffed or equipped & it don't have the information which an outsider or visitor will need. There has to be Internet & all information about important places in city along with a good display of road maps at sale also we can have toilet facility with drinking water fountain here. The DP should make provisions for such centers all around the city.

Pune is very much social & cultural city & that's the back bone of this very city! And its this front which keeps the city buzzing with public activities around the year may it be Ganesh festival or Ramzan or Durga puja, or Vari of Pandharpore in Shravan,all the festivals come along with many social & cultural activities. Come Ganpati & debate starts about the pendols & their nuisance to the road users. Similar is about fire crackers stalls in Diwali which starts occupying  foot paths & roads right from Dasara. Now with years of experience we know the type of such temporary structures & the timing of them so why can’t we try to accommodate them at a permanent location for ever so it will ease out the yearly routine & trouble of all for fixing their positions? Like each year fire crackers shops are installed right of 100' river side road near Mhatre bridge, its not only make the traveling along that road troublesome but its by safety norms also is not advisable to have such hazardous material to be sold in open place like a road!

So many small issues which when collectively placed become a disaster & here is where planning plays vital role i.e. to identify the smaller issues in advance & not allowing them to for a collective effect. As then only our future can be happy & healthy. As the city is growing so is population & so will the problems but that's why DP is so much important for not only the city but for ever citizen of the city & that's why we should try to stand up & express & share our views about the same. Then only we can be proud of being an ideal citizen & can have pride about our 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/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Shegaon & Vani, Our Holly Places !

However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?”...Buddha

I am not much of a devotee when it comes to visiting holly places. Yet its said that when you are destined to visit such place then they calls you & things fall in place1 one such experience it was I visited in a single week two holly places which are far away from each other  & the experience is worth sharing! Both places have very high regards in minds of devotees or bhaktagan we can call & each day thousands of people visit them to pay their homage to the almighty. One is Shegaon which is famous for Saint Gajanan Maharaj & other is Vani which is supposed to be half shaktipith & residence of Goddess Sapatshringi!
Shegaon is a small town rather village in comparison with city like Pune & in Vidharbha region which is water scarce as well poor on most of the fronts by wealth factor. Most of the visitors are poor & public civic facilities were none few years back. Here the committee which looks after the temple comes in picture & what a remarkable achievement they have done, it’s worth visiting just to experience that. The sansthan i.e. temple is not as cash rich as few of the famous places in our country like Shirdi or Tirupati, yet what ever collection they get through the visitors they have set an example the way they have utilized the same. First off all they have a free transportation system to pick up the visitors from bus stand & railway station. As many people come by these two means to the city, Earlier the rickshaw walas & private operators use to loot the tourists to take them from the bus or railway stations to the temple asking for ransom & the visitors also had to surrender as there wasn't any other mean & one cant walk for 2-3 km with luggage in hand. This free bus service is a huge relief for economically weaker segment & it’s through out the day & night after very small intervals. Here you know the first glimpse of what the temple is doing for you!

Realizing the need of accommodation the temple trust has build hundreds of rooms in form of Bhaktaniwas all around the temple & they are made available to the guests at very cheap rate. They may not be luxurious but they are functional & serving the need. Same is about the food at mere 40/- a thali is being served at these accommodations saving the time as well money of the visitors & do mind its as best as the food which you can get at a small place like Shegaon! Medical facilities also are made available in the campus of the temple taking care of any health problem with tourists. At regular intervals drinking water fountains are there along with public toilet facility which is so rare a thing in our country. What’s more important is they are clean all the time & water is available for proper flushing in any of the toilet. Hot water & drinking water have been made available at every landing of each floor in the Bhaktaniwas, so the visitors don’t have to buy costly bottled water. At each point you can’t miss the care & concern of the trust i.e. sansthan people for the devotees & that’s what makes Shegaon temple unique.

To add on the sansthan has built a huge & I mean huge theme park " Anandsagar" over 400 acres of land & it has to be visited as it’s above any words. Its mainly for the Dhyan or Sadhana of the devotees visiting the temple but they have created a miracle over a land which was baron few years early. And now it’s a center of attraction for every visitor, making it’s a revenue generator as well a hot tourists spot in a town which has nothing against its name to visit it for except the temple! The park contains temples, lakes, water bodies, statues of various saints who has contributed in the cultural as well spiritual growth of Maharashtra, vast open spaces & lots of greenery. It will be a habitat for many species with lots of flora & fauna which is rare thing in Vidrabha region where water & greenery are scarce terms. Information charts right from the accommodation availability to trains timings for major destinations have been displayed all over in park, in bhaktaa niwas & in temple also. All this shows the way temple is striving to take care of the visitors & that's very soothing feel, especially in a country where giving service to the visitor lack professional touch.

One thing which stands above all is Cleanliness; the guys there are obsessed with it! Most rare thing to see is a piece of garbage in open& that to at a place where thousands of people visits from all class of the society! All around the clock a team of Swayansevak i.e. Volunteers is busy in keeping the place clean & not a single garbage bean is allowed to over flow such is the punctuality. Knowing our love for tobacco & pan, yet you won’t find a single tobacco chewing stain & that is remarkable achievement. Really not only other temples but even the municipal corporations & private sectors also can learn a lot as here is the display of what a governing body can do if they decide to do good! I think at least to experience this cleanliness one should visit Shegaon temple & Anandsagar! And there isn't any entry tax or toll to enter the city of Shegaon, again a rare thing!

On this back ground when I traveled to another equal highly regarded pilgrimage i.e. Vani which is situated near Nashik, the contrast in the up keeping of the place was remarkable. No signage, the temple is on up hills so from the bottom of hill to the temple one has to use private vehicle or climb up. The place with all due respect of the Vani sansthan isn't clean but garbage & drainage overflowing on narrow streets. No proper parking places for the vehicles neither arrangement for accommodation or toilets of the visitors. Whatever little accommodation over the place is, it has not even drainage line & the whole drainage has been laid in open. In peak time water is scarce commodity as there isn't any permanent source of water supply has been created & with all these lacuna's we have to pay entry tax which makes us wonder why we have paid it?

Another major aspect is using natural resources, at Shegaon right from Bhaktaniwas to Anandsagar solar water heating plants have been used as Solar energy is available in abundance in that locality. Similarly Vani could think of the same as well wind energy as it’s at much higher altitude. With all due respect to the sentiments of the devotee's & agreed we visit for the goddess a question surely crosses the minds that if Shegaon can do it why not Vani?

Recently I read in a report that over 50 million tourists visited our Maharashtra state last year & most of them for pilgrimage & look what we have to offer them as facilities at such places & what image they must have been carrying back home about our holly places! At both places i.e. Shegaon & Vani, the local governing bodies are dumb in compare with the temple bodies. They are just doing nothing when actually the city is getting benefited by so many visitors to the respective temples. Not even proper roads or road signage going towards the temple from railway or bus station is there at Shegaon, leave apart the parking facility or a proper information center. Same is at Vani the Ghat road has been done yet a lot needs to be improved & this is job of the local governing body only. With all efforts the temple management is doing to keep the premise in clean form at Shegaon, the area outside of the temple premise says the same story which is at Vani or at most such places in our state. Saddening is nobody speaks about it neither complaint! May be people think they earn more Punya if the darshan is in tough conditions but what we forget is no God will like to live in such conditions & especially when they are man made!

Like the great Buddha said, I think instead paying random amounts in danpeti or doing abhisheak, every visitor should try to contribute on this front then only our prayers will be with meaning to it & reach to the God!

--
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/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Konkan, fogotten treasure!

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not… Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Some times reluctantly you go on a holiday & it turns out as a best break you could have even with all the planning! Some what my experience with my recent Konkan trip with my badminton group was one such. I am a forest lover & most rather all of my free time in vacations have been in forest but this time when the trip is planned for Konkan I was a bit reluctant as what’s there to see, was my approach. Agreed many will wrinkle there nose over this question & I too have heard as well read a lot about Konkan's scenic ness yet like the ad of one liquor brand " Have I made it large?" my mind was asking " Is it worth? " But the outcome was more than what I have expected, its not only worth visiting once but repeatedly yet it made me sad seeing the poor infrastructure as well lack of enthusiasm of govt as well local bodies who neglects this immense wealth of nature & have failed to en cash the same!

The resort which we had been visiting claims to be an Eco- Savvy & on the coastal road from Alibaug to Murud. It runs all along the virgin beaches mainly because all the properties adjoing to the sea are privately held. On other side of road are the ranges of Sahyadris with thickest forest with all shades of greens & amongst one such hill the resort is situated. As most of the properties are private the sea shore isn’t accessible to the public at such places. There are advantages as well disadvantages too, advantage is the beach remains much cleaner in comp air to the public beaches but at the same time it becomes restricted to guests or limited visitors! All along the trip I was looking for the Eco- tourism &announcements by the govt about which I have read in news papers & media but unfortunately I couldn't see even the glimpse of the same leave apart the exhibits of it! We say we have a tourism department & with all due respect if its there then it don't know what they are missing! First of all the horrible road conditions, the distance from Pune to Alibug-Kashid must not have been more that some 150 km & it took us nearly 4 & half hours plus a constant fear that any moment the vehicle may get damage. A good road condition is a very basic & primary demand of the tourism which we seem to have forgotten. When we expect people to visit us we should see that their journey to the destination is simple & with least bothering, which is completely missing. There are no proper signages where to go for your destinations neither any information available about the locations which you can visit around any of the places. You have to be dependent on local’s advice or relay on some one's opinion of the place who has visited earlier here. Why can’t we have booths at regular intervals along the mains roads giving such information with proper maps & distances mentioned? That will ease away much of botheration for the visitors. I am not expecting recreation centers like we get in Europe or US where not only the info but the tourist can fresh up with the facili8ties like toilets ,fuel stations, restaurants but simple plain information should make available. About the road condition why can’t the tourism dept raise a hell over the concern dept & blame them for the loss of revenue because of such conditions of road as that does reduce the repeat customers & the delay in reaching time to the destination does make the visitor wary of the place!

There are guest houses lined up along the road where the localities have displayed boards saying MTDC (Maharashtra state tourism dept) affiliated but that's it! They don’t have basic infrastructure like telephone or list of popular places around! Hygiene & cleanliness was never our strong point yet it’s high time that if we want to really convert visitors in repeat run as regular tourists then we need to maintain a certain scale of standards on these fronts. A good & clean toilet is a very primary need at such places which is missing from most of the places. Same is with the information available about the surrounding places as the hosts themselves are ignorant & unable to guide the tourists properly, thus making a negative impact on them.

The coast carries probably the best & thick forest line for which the Konkan is famous for. But the unfortunate part is it’s neither advertised nor the govt depts. i.e. forest & tourism has done anything to explore the same. Except the Karnala bird sanctuary which is along Goa highway all other forests have no means for a tourist to explore them. Here forest & tourism department should have jointly worked up about the facilities being provided to the visitors & it could have a great revenue earner as well making people aware about the coastal forests which are so rich in biodiversity of various species. Look at the way other states like MP or Karnataka or Uttaranchal have projected their forest assets via Kanha, Bandipur or Corbet parks! It’s saddening that with so much of on platter yet we fail to deliver & this richness remains away from the tourists. No where there is any information how a visitor can see or explore these places neither there are any trails made for the same. All one can admire is the thick green cover on one side of road & occasional glimpse of a fish eagle coming out of it & circling the sea shore. Forest dept should take lead & open up this treasure for all those visiting Konkan & let them know about the nature around. Had this spot been in any other country like Malaysia or Singapore, I can’t imagine where they would have taken the same in terms of developing as a tourist hot spot!

Another disheartening factor is most of the tourists don't take any effort to keep this serene surrounding clean & add on there thrash which includes liquor bottles to water bottles to plastic carry bags. All ready the infrastructure of most of the local bodies is poor & this additional garbage is real burden on them, making the road sides as well the public beaches open garbage beans1 this we should remind to ourselves is the area is popular destination because it offers something which our urban life don't have & that is the clean pure nature around. If we forget this then lets understand we ourselves are killing our treasures & have no right to blame the govt for not offering good infrastructure! As Waldo Emerson has said, after all nature doesn't asks us anything from us in lieu of the joy it’s giving us but to keep it as it is!



--
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/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Eco friendly Ganpati ?

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders….Abigail Van Buren

Come Ganpati & I remember the festival in my childhood days at my small town Khamgaon, which is a very tiny place in Vidarbha. No big lighting or huge statues or big mandap’s  but the charm was different. The festival was a social gathering in real terms with programs like orchestra or popular Hindi movies were shown & various events from debating competition to plays which were performed by the Galli gang & applauded by the entire Mohalla adults who were the spectators! The festival was a good platform for the youngsters to give exposure to there various skills & give them stage daring which in later years becomes there big asset. I myself stared giving speeches on different subject for prize of  mere Rs 5 in front of mixed crowd & it has helped me a lot giving presentations to much different crowds in my growing age. Some where in the back of mind those stage performances always have very high regards as its those times which boosted the confidence in a village boy who when come to city like Pune has them as the only skill along! That’s what a Ganpati festival to me!



Coming in 2011 though a lot has changed, still Ganpati festive times are probably the best days in this very city of Pune which at a times is even bigger than Diwali! As the whole city gets ready shrugging the monsoon drops away & possesses a new fresh look giving signs of festive mood ahead & which continues till New Year ! The nature also has changed of the festival about which a lot has been talked, the budget along with the programs have soured to new high. No longer it’s just a stage for the Mohalla or the Galli kids but now its celebrities & big banners which define a mandal. Now the Ganpati mandal is mentioned by the set & not by its programs or participation's in the same. Even look at the immersion procession i.e. the Mirawnuk & what we see? Walls of speakers, members of the mandals dancing with all zataka mataka, loads of Gullal & heavy lighting on statue carrying vehicle! I wonder by which definition it can be called as Eco friendly! Some mandal's may be exception but this is in general scene, not just in Pune but mostly in all cities around us. Also the common man is drifting away from the festival except to visit the different mandals as spectator of the sets they have erected. Its no longer is seen as a platform where all classes of the society share the stage & perform, giving room for each others skills to grow. Since last few years come Ganpati times & we find numbers of write ups & appeals for making the Ganesh festival Eco friendly! And we find the competition for Eco friendly ganesh mandal etc. No doubt its need of the time but are we understanding the practicality of the issue rightly or its just one more fad of applying Eco friendly tag to everything we do?

Ganesh festival is probably the best platform to make people aware about various aspects of environment. Eco friendly Ganapati doesn't mean just to curtail noise as well river pollution by not using hi peach speakers or not using Gulal or not submersing the all nirmalya in river nor  just avoiding use of Plaster of Paris or Thermokol  But it means using this platform at fullest for the cause of environment. We are thinking of reducing the damage but we are forgetting to use the power of this festival to reach out to the people for spreading the message about environmental conservation.

One can always display the posters/ banners about biodiversity conservation in & around the pendol. We can arrange various programs about environment instead going for DJ's or some conventional programs like orchestras. Also we can display CD or sound clips about awareness regarding environmental issues in & around the city at background for ten days in the pendol instead some loud music. Give pamphlets to the visitors about Eco awareness & various means by which we can participate in the cause. There are hundreds of NGO’s, Institutions which keeps on doing better things for the society but very few are known to the common man, using the platform of festival we can share this information with the people. Right from printing such information in Warshik Ahaval ( yearly report), instead photographs of celebrities to print their names & works on the back side of receipts a lot can be done. A simple information like names of Sarpamitra i.e. Snake friends in the locality can be printed as many a even don’t know what to do if a snake is seen in the house & whom they should call. Many a times I get call from my friends about they have found an injured bird in their back yard & what should they do to save it? Then I give them Katraj snake parks authorities’ number & things move. Living in protected urban life we have forgotten our exposure with nature & this festival can be a good tool to give us back that exposure.

The mandal's can arrange various competitions right from debating to painting with focus of subjects around nature & biodiversity & try  to involve as many school/college students we can. These paintings can make a good display in & around the pendol for creating awareness amongst the visitors & a good exposure for the artists who have painted them. Similarly we can arrange for photography competitions with photographs covering various problems around us in the city which can include right from the road pot holes to reducing tree cover around.

We need to revive our earlier days & make the festival a real mass base & try to get along as many segments of the society we can, making it a real social event. After all what we mean by Eco friendliness? Its a life style where all segments of the society can enjoy the event at peace & real joy & which one needs to adopt not for just the ten days but all around the year! And this is what a Ganesh festival should make us experience us then only we can call it as Eco friendly! And for that as the wise man has said we need to make our self aware about the cause then only we can make our genre next more responsible for the same! The day we will be able to do that I think that day we will be more proud & deserving to welcome the Bappa !



--
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/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com