Life at Kanha!

Living is getting knocked down time and again, then standing up time and again, and once more. It's easy to act honorable when things are coming along and all your pastures are green. Plenty difficult when the ground is dried and burned and people have connived to take even that from you....
Nancy Turner.


Each time I visit places like Kanha these words echo’s in my mind by the great writer as it's not just the forest which I visit but it’s the people around that forest also, mainly those who are responsible to keep that forest alive for us & their lives also depends on that forest. Many of them know it & are dedicated to the forest; life is indeed difficult but these guys hold on & keep fighting. Forest has something to offer new on every trip, on every safari we took, provided we should be ready to absorb it. Most of the tourists which visits forest are there to see the tiger & nothing wrong as the animal has a special charm in its personality & by now in my so many trips all around the forest over India, I have seen hundreds of time the tiger yet each sighting has its own charm & thrill. This time also my Kanha trip didn’t disappointed me rather had some wonderful sightings of cubs with their mother, a rare scene at Kanha. Usually the cubs as young as six months of age rarely come in open & to get them so was some experience. Each trip rather safari in forest makes you crave for another & that’s the beauty of forest. One needs enough patience is equally important & what better we can learn from forest than be patient & let nature plays its role as an anchor. May it be tiger cubs or a small bird like blue fly catcher every sighting has its own thrill & beauty, rather to chase a bird is more difficult than to chase a tiger as there are no alarm call or pug marks to guide you towards the same.

After so many tiger sightings I have concluded one thing, to chase the tiger through alarm calls of spotted dear, languor, sambar even crows who are waiting near the kill is more thrilling than even to sight the tiger. It’s a thing to experience how the environment in forest changes with mere presence of one animal; all become alert & change the mode of behavior. I think this is what keeps the tourists & the entire system going. With all regulations after Supreme Court on wild life tourism, yet the national parks are becoming more popular destination & on one side its good sign of awareness of urban population regarding wild life conservation still how many of them are there for real care of forests is a matter of study. Over recent past my subject of interest isn’t just the forest & animals but as I mentioned above it’s the entire system which revolves around forest mainly the tiger. And many die hard forest lovers won’t like it but it’s always better to accept the fact & then try solutions than denying the facts & then looking for solution. Right from the first morning tea before safari at dhaba to gipsy to ticketing counter to drivers to guides, all are engaged in one conversation "Kal kidhar sighting hui?" means yesterday where & who saw the tiger? So the plans of track & routes get decided. Agreed in this zest the main object gets neglected but this same urge for having a glimpse of tiger we can use to make visitors aware about the survival of the specie.

For that we need to make entire system get more exposed to the visitors , so he or she can understand the term forest in larger context & not restricting their role just as a visitor but a participant in true means for the conservation of the forest. And my this sharing is especially to focus this hidden aspect of the forests as right from the "chaywala" i.e. tea maker at the dhaba to the boy working at tea stall to gipsy driver, guides, guards in forest & even senior forest officials like rangers & director; these all are some way responsible to conserve the forest & help visitors to explore the same. And when we visit the forest we need to understand that visiting such places for 3- 4 days is fine but it takes hell of life when we have to face the same days after days for years. For instance look at few of the characters I met at Kanha & you will understand what I mean.

Meet Manglu, age 16 years, he is a tea maker at dhaba near Khatiya gate. The gate opens at 5.30am in morning & the rush of drivers , tourists , guides & forest gate staff starts right from 4.30am, so he has to be up by 3.30am & be ready to make his tea preparations since then with his assistant Snatram, age 10 years & from nearby village. Santram goes to local Zilah Parishad School & as its summer holiday he has taken this job to make some money during holidays. It’s this extra money which will help his family back at village. When all other city boys of their age are holidaying with their parents or just lazying in bed  these two have to be awake from 3.30 am in morning & slog themselves to give hot tea to all concerned with the park & they themselves have never been in forest as they can’t afford the safari charges! They event don’t have decent clothes to keep them warm in harsh winter of Kanha. Its similar scene with number of hotel boys who are engaged in making breakfast at various hotels, who has to work till late night so as to clean up the dinner leftovers from tourists & yet to wake up very early for making their mornings comfortable.

Same is the story of Pratap or Anup who are drivers of gipsy which takes the tourists for safari. The gipsy drivers should also have to be at the hotels to pick up the tourists & make them arrive on time at the forest entry gate, as there are always chances of sighting the tiger in early morning hours. And for this they have to wake up at 3am in morning get the vehicle update & bring the same to hotel, then to collect the entry form of the forest & complete the formalities so the tourists are allowed in the forest. And then drive the vehicle for hours through extreme weather on uneven roads of Kanha with utmost care not to allow any mishap during the drive.

Story of guides like Ashok, Pukhraj, Mallusing isn’t different. They too have to adjust their routines as per the park hours & sat in open gipsy for hours & keeping keen eye around to see the moments of birds & animals around & to explain about them to the tourists. At the same time the guide has to face the enthusiasm of tourist for having a look at the tiger & even face the anger of the tourists if they can’t see one. It’s a forest spread over thousands of kilometers & to locate one tiger in the same isn’t an easy job, yet relentlessly the guide has to do it for the tourist as they think when they have paid  200 rupees for the guide then they own him & it’s his job to show them the tiger!

Then comes the forest guards like Tomar or Mangalsing which includes the one who has to stay inside forest, few of them are on gate & then even mahawats i.e. the one who sits on elephant & keep an eye on tiger as well other animals. All these people are exposing to life threat while performing their duty as its not only tiger that can attack while they are on guard but there are snake bites or even animals like bison or bear that can be dangerous in forest. Also there is always danger of falling sick due to infections through drinking water or diseases like malaria which can be caused by mosquitoes which are abundant in forest. For most of the guards one shift is of 24 hours & for that whole time he has to remain alone at his post deep within forest with his only contact with outer world is a walky- talky i.e. wireless radio. Imagine dark forest around you on a pitch black night & you are all alone, I don’t think even a single tourist can stand to this condition leave apart enjoying it.

The life of senior officers at forest isn’t also that easy as they are answerable to so many things like forest fires too death of any forest animal or attack by them on adjoining villagers. Media has become very sensitive & even a smallest event gets global at places like Kanha & can cost the concerned officer his job!  

And above names are just a few which I came across , there are hundreds of manglus, santrams, ashoks, prataps & tomars who are doing their thankless job at Kanha & for year after year without any holiday as they can’t afford one. Many will say what’s big deal doesn’t all of them get paid for their jobs? Well yes but look at the kind of remuneration these people are getting against the kind of job they have to do? Cups of tea gets sold at Rs 5 per cup & just imagine, how many of cups needs to be sold so as boys like Manglu & Santram could get decent education & warm clothes for them. Ask how a guide can survive his entire family in Rs 200 per trip with rotation system in existence, means there isn’t surety that each guide will get to go for a safari every day, so he isn’t assured about even the Rs 200 a day for entire month! Look at the kind of salary as well infrastructure the forest guards are getting & the task as huge as saving the tiger from poachers to villagers by exposing their lives at danger! I think it’s these questions a tourist should ask to himself than just the usual one about the tiger sighting. As then only we can think about our responsibility in the forest conservation. It’s very easy to book the safari on line, to get checked in a decent hotel, get picked up by gipsy with warm clothes to wear & hot cup of tea along with well packed breakfast, a guide to explain you about the forest & the only job left is to look around & enjoy the beauty of forest!

Friends, if you are like these tourists who come for a tiger snap & go back with it & forgets every other thing they saw at forest, then I will say you haven’t seen the real forest as real forest isn’t having a good sighting of tiger & clicking its snaps but real forest lies in all such people who makes it possible for you to have a sight of the tiger. Its these people whose behind the curtain hardship makes our forest trip memorable, so isn’t it our duty to make their life also somewhat comfortable by our contribution? Don’t ask what you can do for them but ask whether you really have understood this side of forest? As if you get the answer of this question then rest things will automatically follow.  

The story may be about Kanha but it’s applicable to all the forest or parks around the country & many such Manglu’s & Ashok’s need a helping hand so as they will realize that they are not alone in the fight of surviving forests! And as Nancy Turner says, ground has been burnt for these people, it’s our turn to make it green for them, then only we deserve to enjoy the sights of forest or else we will join the wagon of forest destructors by not doing anything for those who are doing their share to conserve this treasure for us!

( Btw just sharing as somewhere someone can take more initiative after reading this. We at Sanjeevani are always trying to share our responsibility for the cause & this time

we have provided rain suits to kanha forest guards. In past also we have been doing this by providing safty shoe, winter clothes to forest staff. We are working of doing similar support things for guides of kanha also.)


--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

MSEDCL (Power) Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2013/01/identifying-good-builder.html


Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

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

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USA , dream land's lesser know side!

America is another name for opportunity… Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In the minimum words the great writer has described the nation about which one may have any opinion but most of us have a fascination for it is a fact. From all over the world people have come here for making their future & more have aspiration to do so or get a chance to come here. Least of all most have a wish to visit the country & see the way the nation has raised to greatness, people are curious about size of development the country has achieved & why not, right from Disney Land to Casino’s in Vegas to Hoover Dam to Empire State each structure here has been a landmark for generation too come. I am lucky enough for being visited the country a couple of time & for a long duration but this time it was very different. First the cause I went, its illness of my wife who has been admitted to Buffalo City Hospital during her pleasure trip with my kids, second I have visited last nearly 15 years back, third this time I stayed at single place that too in a comparatively small town like Buffalo for 15 days & fourth is more important as now no more America is a wealthy country especially its going to one of the darkest patch when measured on economic scale.

All these things does made my more interesting tour though the mood of the trip wasn’t cheering due to the cause I been there but I took it as an opportunity to look at the real American life more closely. Another important factor was Buffalo doesn’t have any so called American tourists delight thing i.e. no casinos, either any monumental historic buildings like Boston or Washington are there nor any grand tourists attractions like Disney land or Universal studio. Niagara is close by but with hundreds of hotels there now hardly any one stays at Buffalo for visiting Niagara. So it’s just a typical old city with a get way to Canada from America.  It has retained its charm through miles of calm & quite roads with Victorian houses aligned all along the roads & trees making it very scenic & cozy town. There are few sky scrapers in down town & a fantastically designed city hall building by famous architect Sullivan which is center of the down town. What was important is there are number of churches or various size & style but immaculately maintained, making me remember condition of our heritage structures back in Pune.

As most of my time I needed to spend in hospital & the chilling wind at 2 degree temperature made it impossible to walk in mornings I used the gym of hotel for my walks & right from there I started to have exposure of manners or American society. Many of us know that in USA everybody even unknown persons greet each other when get crossed in lobbies or lifts & they courtly inquire with “ Hey, how are you doing? “ type question with a smile. And there is exchange of some humorous dialogue about weather or the day or even the job at hand. Very simple & small thing but it keeps the atmosphere of public places alive. And on the stark contrast back in our country we don’t even smile to our neighbors in the lift in our own building where we reside. The hospital exposure was also some experience, the surprises started right from checking in Hilton Double Tree Hotel which is right across the road of Buffalo City Hospital; when mentioned that I am here for medical purpose of my wife’s illness immediately the booking clerk informed I will get 60% discount on the room tariff & he directly gave it to me without asking for any confirmation from the hospital. At the same time he charged another checking in customer with regular room rent who was on business trip & what’s most important thing was neither the customer objected nor he said I too am here for medical purpose! It’s this transparency & self discipline which I was about to witness for next fifteen days. Not only that after that every day when I am returning to hotel the staff on counter at lobby used to enquire about how my wife is doing & give our wises to her type greetings! Then next thing I encountered was civic sense, in gym when I was waiting for a guy working out to get down from treadmill, he first wiped out all the treadmill by his napkin to clean it any sweat from his workout & then allowed me to use the treadmill! I just remembered at the soaked in sweat equipments back in my gym & people just leaving them that way after using. I always wonder who taught the common man over there such manners & how come it’s been in everyone around? And why we can’t cultivate such things in our society as it doesn’t cost any money. We can’t keep even our public toilets clean & here people are taking efforts to keep the cleanest places more cleanly! At the same time I learn something new also about the manners while moving around; I was awaiting my taxi outside of hotel & was leaning on a car parked by, the doorman politely asked me “Is it your car sir?” I replied no, it’s not mine, on that he suggested “Sir then please don’t lean against it as the owner may not like doing so!”  And here people does scratch mark on the cars parked alongside the road instead caring such small things about others property. Same is while photographing even pets like dog in public areas. You are supposed to ask for the permission about clicking the snaps of a cute dog with it's owner. To which most owners happily agrees but to ask before you click is important manner.

The Buffalo Hospital is a different world by itself; the massive 16 storied building has thousands of rooms treating all type of patients across the globe but no where you can see the regular chaos of big public place especially in the hospital. The environment along with the decor & colors is surprisingly jovial & cheering than a regular gloomy one at our end. There was a big stature of Buffalo made of clay in the main lobby at ground floors & it has been painted by various visitors & some have even drawn ECG's on it! In each floor lobby there was a board where patients & their relatives can share there experiences about the hospital in words or even in from of sketches too. I too write a letter to entire ICU staff where Ashwini was admitted & put it on her room wall from outside & not only here nurse read it but she made all the staff to read it & they all thanked me for the kind words I have used for them! Very small thing but makes the whole affair homely & interactive & from where I got the idea but from the hospital! Disciplined the system is, as everyone follows the rules of timings of visiting hours without having argument with the monitoring staff, making their job easy. Here in USA the law which I came to understand is the hospital has to treat any patient who comes for admission & once admitted the patient is in their custody. The doctor decides what to do & when to discharge the patient & human life has highest priority. At the hospital premise every public toilet block had separate arrangement for patients, visitors & staff, to avoid delay for the needy ones. Same was with arrangement like lifts & no one was using other categories facilities was more important! There we can’t meet doctor on our wish but there is a fixed time & that to in a conference room where only the doctor in charge meets the relatives of patients & answers their all questions about the patients health. The timings to meet the patient are less & that’s in interest of the patient only, so as he or she gets total rest. Though we managed to bypass some of the rules under the cover that we are coming from all the way from India & our patient isn't used to keep isolated, which they did accepted. No advance payment or things like that demanded ever during entire treatment was one more sweet surprise. The staff was over supporting & there was a separate team for guiding us what to do after discharge & things like accommodation, which helped us to find a guest house nearby to cook food needed by Ashwini's diet standards. Only sad part was there nobody visits the patients even in ICU unless its weekends. It’s so saddening to see patients lying all alone day long without any visitors. Agreed they should get rest but the visitors who are friends, relatives do boost the moral & spirit of the patient is also equally true. And the entire ICU staff was amazed with our presence all the time around Ashwini & they did used to mention her that how lucky she is  for having so caring family. This was mainly they knew we have come from so far & just for being with her, an act which is out of their imagination.

While moving around in spare time, the huge malls without customers was a sure sign of economic slump of the country & surprisingly Indians are being respected with much wider smiles as by now they have realized our buying power & treated as potential buyers of even costly goods. In front of most of the lovely bungalows signs of "To Sale “or "To Rent" were there, yet another sign of down fall in real estate but even their recession has a grace & the gap between rich & poor is not as wide as we have. And they are facing with smile the recession with a hope that it will pass on soon. The city sleeps very early by our standard & it was a tough time for us at night to search a hotel serving food after 10 pm.

The entire experience made me compare our day to day living & theirs as here no money was involved. We don’t need money to smile at the passerby & to greet him, neither we have to spend something exorbitant to keep our own surrounding clean, all what matters is an attitude to make my environment somewhat better. That’s exactly we are lacking day by day. We don’t mind in peeing on empty footpaths or spitting on clean pavements of public places leave apart cleaning them. How rich or wealthy a country is, isn’t decided just by terms like GDP but by the behavior of the people in that country as civilization is nothing but the way we treat each other’s & our surrounding. I have decided to clean my treadmill after I do my workouts when I come back from Buffalo, at least that’s a start towards a better me. After all when we say seeing the world, it doesn’t mean visiting popular places & click the snaps & post it on FB to prove that you have been there but it means what difference it has made in our behavior after visiting the world & that is what decides what we have actually seen! And as Emerson has said even our own country too can be turned in to land of opportunities provided we learn to see one!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

MSEDCL (Power) Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2013/01/identifying-good-builder.html


Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

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

Think Green, Think Life

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Drought of Water or Will Power?

In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference... Rachel Carson.

The famous American Marine Biologist most of whose life has been spent in water has picked the nerve in few words which are perfect when we see the present drought scene in our State. In recent I attended two conferences on the subject which is talk of the State, both has been organized by reputed media news publishing houses. And let me confess I am neither an expert on water management nor an agriculturist yet I had been there as an engineer & representing urban developers who creates homes & water is inherent part of any home! The agenda was common though the scale was different. Many speakers were common & so was the issue i.e. Drought of 2013! A lot has been talked as well written on this by now & still news papers are carrying the stories of drought hit areas. Sad part is on one side so much is being published yet those who have it in abundant are either deaf or blind or all senses have been dead. I am making this statement in context of the people who live in cities as well for rulers who make the policies & supposed to work on them.

Some where we are repeatedly failure on certain issues related to basic infrastructure of the society & they are affordable homes, traffic, good road, water, hygiene or public health & education. Out of above all list the failure wasn't that strongly taken or reacted by the common man as we can do without roads, education, public health & even home of our own but when it comes to water there is no substitute! Here I remember a dialogue from a famous old movie Wakt...
 " Samay suabse balwan hota hai, har kisiko ek satahpe le aata hi, uske same koi jada ya kum takdwar nahi"  i.e. "Time is a great leveler & it makes all feel equal as no one is more powerful than time!".  Well here water has taken the place of time, making all segments in society equal by not being available to any of them, such is the situation in many districts of the State. However rich a person may be but he too has to search for a gallon of water in the same way like a poor guy has to, is the fact & as usual right from Govt to media all are reactive. Why we fail to be proactive is a question which always haunts me.

Take the present drought situation, it hasn't happened in single night, we all know that most of our rural are depending on rain fall for agriculture as well drinking purpose & rain fall is something only Gods control. All we can do is utilize whatever he gives us to the last drop. This is very basic of water management may it be urban or rural & one need not have to be an expert for knowing this. Then what are we doing all year long when we have enough rains is my next question? The failure is there as drought is a fact so whose failure is this? Govt, Politicians, Media, Bureaucrats, well to me it’s every bodies failure. As well all have been neglecting our responsibility towards the cause & end result is a worst drought of history. As everybody is pointing now the difference between other earlier droughts & this one is, there is enough food around as well jobs & money but no water! Its single point drought i.e. scarcity of water & which is being reflected on issues related to it such as food for animals i.e. grass & the next effect is going to be more long lasting & that is reduction is production of crops. Also many questions are still unanswered like this is just end of April, the full fledged rains starts after mid June so what till then & what if the rains are not enough this year too? We are really totally off guard on this front & have paid for our negligence.

There are departments like Irrigation, Water Supply, Environment, Rural Development, Ground Water Survey, Agriculture, Revenue, Forest & Urban Development & equal number of authorities for running these departments show but no single control on the subject as important of water especially its conservation & use. Why can’t be there only one authority to decide the policy of water management & works related to the cause. Here all above mentioned departments are some way or other responsible for present drought condition & now nobody is taking responsibility of the situation. Sending water tankers & building "Chara Chavnis" ( grass shelters i.e. providing grass for the cattle's) is not accepting responsibility neither giving package to drought hit areas is, rather that's patch up on the wound. We need to take proper measures which will be long lasting & full proof. No one is saying that Govt is responsible for less rain fall, though some where deforestation & loss of green cover is surely has its impact on rain fall but major failure is because of not making a proper policy for utilizing every available drop of water & executing the policy accordingly that too till root level.

Drinking water for the Metros like Pune & Mumbai is a major subject as all around urban population is increasing & this population need lot of water for their daily use & no one denies that but who ensures that the water supplied or reserved for this population is being utilized judiciously as we are unable to make a metered water supply like basic thing in these cities? Rain water harvesting or water recycling, these terms are just on paper as even PMC's drainage treatment plants are not functioning to their fullest is an accepted truth. And the condition is true all around the State so why blame just builders or common man for wastage of water? The rivers which were used to run even half full few years back now either running dry or so much polluted due to Cities on up-stream that it’s the nuisance for people on down streams to live along them. Who is responsible for situation like this is the question?

We are in 2013 & in thousands of village or hundreds of towns there isn't any perennial water supply scheme is a fact & we call our self advanced State! Who is responsible for this? Why can't we make a module first in each region categorizing the areas as per average rain fall as well geography & study this as a proto-type water model, study its outcome & then repeat the module all along the region in time bound program. As this problem doesn't have a single point answer like Crosin tablet works on any headache! Rather water is not the problem, water is the solution, problem is our attitude looking at this solution is what we need to understand. This drought is just tip of the iceberg is what I personally feel as if we don't wake up & act then the real drought & its aftereffects are yet to be experienced. Already there are fights over the water amongst the people in adjoining districts & towns who were happy neighbors for years! The day won't be long that these fights get converted in to riots all around the State & then it will be too late for everybody. It’s high time to check our attitude towards use of water & responsibility is more with those who are fortunate to have water in abundance. Here the needle points to the Metros who have perennial water supply schemes as well the dedicated source of water.

Lastly let’s understand that we all have a role to play in this war against the drought. Helping in any way to the drought hit people is just one side of it, but not letting such situation arise should be the main goal of each of us. At least if we learn this much then the God will be happy that some wisdom is still alive in the so called wisest specie he has created! As it’s not the drought of water but of will power to fight with it!
--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.
MSEDCL (Power) Committee, Credai, Pune Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2013/01/identifying-good-builder.html


Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/
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

DP, deciding fate of the city!

All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work...Calvin Coolidge

How important these lines are especially when we are defining or forecasting development of a city like Pune which has a long standing history & culture which very few cities in the country has. Obvious the essence of the statement is the DP i.e. Development Plan of the city which has been published & open for suggestion/objection of the stake holders. Many will say whats they have to do with it? Isn't it like a cricket or football match which has been already fixed by builders, politicians or civic body officials? And apart from it what difference it makes if whatever DP gets finalised? I don't blame these remarks as I have seen them coming even from educated ones also. Rather most are not even aware that any such procedures are followed where any citizen of this city can suggest his ideas about provisions made in DP or object whatever has been published! Even those who have been going to be affected are ignorant about the DP & its making, such is the scene of this so called education capitol of the east & its people about the thing which is going to define the future of their coming generations!

For this we have to understand what is a DP? DP ie development plan & is a process carried out after every 20 years  which defines the course of the growth of the city for coming 20 years. It covers basic infrastructure like public transport & roads, drainage, water & along with many other things which are a must for a good city life. Such as recreation which includes theaters, parks, gardens & public health, eduction & the list goes on. It is a plan as well agenda in actual to execute the plan & the span expands over the coming 20 years ie a generation to pass by during its tenure. And that's why whatever we will freeze today will be faith of the city for coming 20 years. These 20 years are very important as in last two DP's ie in approximately 40 years the city has sen many changes; from the identity of pensioner's city & bicycle's city, it has become IT hub & now the travel will be towards becoming Metro. But in the process a lot has been sacrificed & we all have witnessed it. The needs of the city have changed & bicycles have been replaced by two wheelers & four wheelers. Gone are the days of calm & quite mornings & equally calm evening, now its all chaos & rush to reach work place, schools right from early morning hours. The streets are never empty except very late hours & night & hardly for 2-3 hours that too. The population has been increased in multi folds & still growing. We need to accommodate all this & coming new migrants. Despite all such problems the city still draws thousand each year as they feel there is prospect here & its true. The city offer probably best education in the country & jobs are there. From IT to automobile to education & service industry , they all need good technical man power which is the backbone of growth of real estate of the city.

This all is very much dependent on DP as that's what is going to make city better. The city as I have always said, its the life which the city offers decides the city is good or bad, so its very important to plan the city for coming challenges & that work can be done through properly drafted DP only. However technically competent people may have engaged in making of DP yet they are not God neither they claim so. Obviously there can be many dimensions the DP can be improved in & these dimensions are expected to come from all segments of the society, that's why suggestion objection are being called from citizens. Unfortunate part is most of the people are ignorant just like they are about the voting & even the affected ones are not bothered to study the contents of the DP. Its been put on web site pf PMC as well large size printouts are being displayed in the PMC main building for viewing of the people.

Now again many will ask what difference its going to be? Well, my answer is why you vote for? This is your only chance to participate in your own city development & its worth giving a try. Many things are there which we can do. Those whose property or existing buildings have been affected by some reservation can suggest alternate or if you observe any reservation for public use which was there in earlier DP & now been omitted or changed the purpose then you can object. Similarly what has been observed in this DP is mostly all existing roads have been widened  & agreed that will make more space for ever increasing traffic but at the same time it means destruction of large number of trees which are presently along the existing boundaries of the roads. And we all know once a tree is cut its rarely replaced by new tree & apart from it a new tree takes years to give the shade & greenery which the existing tree is giving now. A threat is this will make the city baron! And if we don't cut the tree then whats the use of widening the road. Basically is it required to increase all road widths, I feel only the main & major roads should be increased as its not true that just increasing road width the traffic scene will improve. We need to strengthen the public transport which will be the proper solution. Instead at many places the PMPML ie public transport's reservation have been converted in residential zones is the information. Similar things have been happened about educational as well garden & play area reservations which are equally essential for the city.

As a common citizen one thing I couldn't understand is there should be increase in numbers & purposes of the reservations instead omitting the existing reservations as then whats the use of existing DP if we are not going to follow it. As it also means that after 20 years reservations shown in this DP will also be omitted if not executed accordingly! So whats important is whatever we are proposing in this DP should be made rational so it can be executed with our resources. It has been now a fact that the existing DP has been executed only 35% , mean in last 20 years we could hardly utilize the reserved places which has been proposed in the DP just 35%. Imagine the city is living on hardly 35% of what is essential & coming years will be more difficult with increase in population & same space for this population as we cant increase the land. The DP should be backed by proper land acquisition laws & at times forceful acquisition powers should be utilized for reservations. As no person will like to surrender his/her land for any reservation but then if he is getting enough compensation for the same why he will object? But if that's not going to happen the the land acquisition for the reservations will be a big problem defeating the purpose of DP. For example in Patwardhan baug area current plat rates are nearly 7000/- per sft & if we say are giving TDR i.e. transfer of devlopment rights, to the land-lord whose land is coming under some reservation, he wont agree as TDR rate is 3000/- per sft, so why he will accept the TDR? I think the administration should think of such cases. 

Similarly in Green belts which are lungs of the city there only 4% build-able is allowed that too if the plat is more than 40000sft, making it non viable to maintain the land for the people who have smaller size plots. in such cases they are going to start miss use of the land like illegal structures or godowns or parking type uses which will be defeating again the cause of making the land green.

There are so many such cases & you need not have to be an engineer or town planner for understanding such things, as these are common sense. One more thing you also need not have to be actually affected party for suggestions or objections as you are very much party to the DP by being citizen of this city & its high time that we all should understand our responsibility in this process of city planning. Or else in coming years we will not have any moral right to criticize for the down fall of the city. Just the way the Superstar Rajnikant says, " Mind It !"


--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2013/01/identifying-good-builder.html


Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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How Many Lives We Need To Curb Illegal Constructions?

Common sense and history tell you that rewarding illegal behavior will only encourage more of it....Ric Keller
Put in very simple way by the Republican Party's USA politician about making laws for illegal trade practices. And they are applicable Globally & not just for any single country as after all law may be different at places but definition of the term illegal is same world wide. Problem is at our end we not only neglect illegality but rewards it most of the time by our acts & its not just govt or politicians but the entire society seems to be victim of the trend. Recent example of Thane building mishap is a classic example of this attitude. Now when the building has collapsed taking more than seventy lives & numbers of injured there is  a race to prove how every individual or organization wasn't part of the illegality of the building. What's shocking is the first reaction of every concerned was, may it be Municipal Corporation or Forest Department or Police or Local Politicians, that its not their responsibility. Nobody was saying yes its his or his organizations responsibility & they will try to do whatever best they can to help the victims & see that there will be no more such mishaps or illegal buildings! Here I cant stop praising USA & the way they learn from their mistakes, though the example of 26/11 of fall of Twin Towers isn't applicable here but after than in last ten years there wasn't a single terrorist attack in USA is a fact. And look on that background situation here in our own State leave apart country, each time such mishap happens Govt organizations cry over each others, media unleash their attack on everybody including politicians, municipal authorities & builders, few more such structures are demolished with lots of publicity through well organized press conferences. The State Govt promptly pays compensation to the victims & in few days every thing settles down like the dust of the fallen building!
One thing I always wonder after reading this compensation thing that had the Govt paid these people when they were alive then surely with that amount they could have bought their home with some legal developer saving their lives! Well but in our country we all value life when its put out of the body & this Thane mishap wasn't exception to it as immediately Chief Minister's office declared some lacs of rupees to each victim as well injured. Whats use of this money to them when they have lost all of their life's savings? .
Once again as usual Municipal Bodies all over the State got shaken awake & the Chiefs were busy in conducting meetings of their concerned building permission as well encroachment departments & a big drive was taken up against the illegal construction & we all read the news about it. So the show of action against illegal construction is on. Now nobody is asking question whose responsibility is it or the land on which such buildings are their comes under jurisdiction of Irrigation Dept or Forest Dept or Municipal Corporation! Well for a while the scene looks real soothing for common man's eyes but we all know how much time it will last, hardly a month & then again we all we forget illegal constructions till the next building cracks up & again there will few more deaths! Exactly how many deaths Govt wants to finally clear the issue of illegal construction is the question people & media should ask?
Long back in my school days in Chemistry I have leaned about a thing like byproduct i.e. its a outcome of chemical reaction in acquiring some main product. On similar concept all along the country especially in so called growing & prospering state like Maharashtra Urbanization is very fast & illegal construction is like a byproduct of this growth & prosperity. The Govt or the system which governs or boasts themselves as cause for this prosperity have been a complete failure to curtail or tackle this byproduct of the growth.As the outcome was urbanization that too at very fast rate making land prices in City's & Metros shot like rocket so whatever land is available becomes the gold mines for the people whom media & common man may call builder but I wont. As these are not builders but persons at par with gangsters or terrorists as no sane builder who wants to make money will go & build on any land available not checking its legality or status & build something in haste over here & the sell it to the ignorant people & fly away with their hard earned money. This is act of a criminal & should be named as criminal only not builder or developer & the punishments should be also accordingly, then only next time no person will dare to do something like this under the name of the developer!
Now coming to the main question why the people book their home in such buildings & come to live even after seeing the way it has being constructed, risking their & their dear one's lives? Well by me, need is the only answer to this question. As the population of cities growing our Govt is total failure to accommodate this population. At Govt level there is a housing department for name sake & so is urban development but what they are interested is in making the rules so stringent that no developer can build the building on whatever little clear title land is available & then the product when gone through number of NOC's get so costly that hardly 1% people who are in need of home can afford it. The policies seems to be for those 1% only but we are forgetting the target should be making the homes available for those who need them & not for those who has just buying power at market rate. I always wonder whenever I read the news about regularizing the illegal buildings made on Govt lands may it be forest or irrigation , if a private person can encroach them & build a building & sale then why the Govt on its own build buildings there & sale to the needy ones , making it legal? There we need all the procedure & documentation & red tape process but for encroachment the very same system just become blind & only opens the eyes when we loss lives of innocent people! I think the concerned departments should be working on the ways to make more & more unused land come under used for building homes & make policies to see that these homes get delivered to people who cant afford to buy a home in some real builders project. For this we need to have a detailed information all such lands & get them marked on site & take in proper protected possession & for any illegal encroachment their should be shoot at sight like laws. As the problem is not with any criminal getting hold of such lands & build illegal building over there, the problem is he knows he will get client for such illegal structure & get away with it. As any building whatever fastest way its build cant be done in over night, so what all the agencies are doing till this time we all know that. Rather illegal building construction has become a big money earning business not just the so called builder but its racket  involving number of Govt organizations as well political people is a known fact now. And its this systems protection which makes the criminal named builder dare to do such act.
Its high time even the developers who work genuinely should unite & join the social forces for the fight against illegal construction & the whole real estate is getting blamed for the acts of these kind of people who plays with the lives of needy people under the name of being a builder. The job is not just Govt's but every body's & its high time to look at the price we are quoting our product & margin of profit. Agreed every business is done for making money only but how much that money should be , its the time to decide it & act. This must be the only trade or business where the lower price of selling is fixed by ready reckoner which is like a MRP for homes. And joke is while all other products are sold below MRP by law here in real estate we cant sale below MRP, making sky is the limit for land price as well flat price! Its job of Govt to control land prices as then only the finish product which is home can be make affordable to all & that's the solution to stop illegal construction as if ever one is getting home by his capacity in legal way then who will go for illegal home? If we don't act fast then today there are few people who are encroaching the lands & buildings buildings over them tomorrow there will be millions of needy people who will be doing that & then there will be no real estate like industry is a writing on the wall. --
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.
Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2013/01/identifying-good-builder.html


Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/
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