Tadoba; not just tigers, a lot more!

It’s not what great shot you capture of a tiger in the forest but it’s whether you enjoyed those moments is what matters most... Sanjay

Its mid march morning & the famous heat of tadoba is yet to start, as soon my gypsy entered from moharli gate we hear a barking dear call on jamunzari side & took the road taking turns through haze of bamboos, all four pairs of eyes scanning the thickset around for yellow & black strips which gets camouflaged very perfectly in the forest & suddenly saw a black mass was walking ahead! Hearing the gypsy tires it stopped & turned around; my breath too stopped for a while, as its full grown male sloth bear! Sticking to their weird behavior pattern the sloth bear instead following his track turned around 180 degrees & started walking towards us, a head on shot of male sloth bear was beyond my dreams! Started the click click of camera shutter matching to my heart beat speed; my tadoba trip has started with a bang as what better you can expect when something you haven’t even dreamed has happened! But then tadoba forest always has something first time not for me but for every one, all we have to do is a bit patient & alert to grab it when it comes! The next moment was like making the sloth bear sighting nothing & it came soon!

Friends I am visiting forests since last many years but it hasn’t stopped throwing surprises at me! At pandharpauni, tadoba we were as usual waiting to see the outcome of a call, a unusual chirping rather painful shrill caught our attention; it was coming from a small piece of grass behind us & two jungle crows were fighting over a tiny object which seems to be the origin of the sound! A closer look from the lens told me that its unique drama happening & we focus all our attention to the crows; it was a small bat, I couldn’t identify the specie of bat , was being eaten alive by the crows & the poor chap was making his last efforts of escape which couldn’t happen as jungle crows are devilish predators with their sharp beak! Even the guide said in his fifteen years of forest roaming, he too was seeing such scenes first time, a bat being eaten alive by crows! Cruel it was but then its nature, all we can do is admire it the way it comes to us! All this wasn’t enough so the forest threw one more & real big surprise to us!

Our gypsy was en-route from moharli range  to kolsa range & suddenly driver slowed down seeing a full grown bison laying down on road, it didn’t took us even a sec to realize who has killed it! One lone gypsy standing opposite side frantically gave us lights means the killer is nearby & then a tigress came in frame; what followed was a marathon race of eating the prey as well her full efforts to pull the kill in thickset along the road, so has it will be hidden from eyes of scavengers but it was too heavy for her! For next thirty minutes it was camera shutter sound click click, in pin drop silence, the entire show was dream for any wild life lover though surely not for the poor bison which lay there with lifeless eyes! That’s what tadoba forest is for a wild lifer, making the dreams come true, one need to be ready to see them! Vikram Potdar my friend & ace photographer was with me, who is a far better photographer than me & he too was thrilled with the scene! What is more important is there were three gypsy’s standing opposite side, I could have avoided them in my frame of camera but I deliberately had them in few frames so as let people know that it’s not only professional photographers who gets such scenes but even common first time visitors also can be witness to such memorable sights in forests. Ultimately forest is everybody’s & not of some privileged visitors!

This is what made me to use my own quote to start the sharing as what we see & experience in forest is something no camera can catch & it’s those moments when the time just stops around us & we get engrossed in the scene happening in front of us, that’s the magic I call forest! Well that way each of the trip is full with many such stories & those of us who have visited the forest must have similar experiences yet each of them is different. When I post my snaps on social media like Face Book, there are comments like how lucky I was or how they missed such scenes, well no one is unlucky in forest. All I will say is some are more lucky & again each such moment is different & unique in its own way, what’s important is we need to understand forest is not just tiger but a lot more & this is what Tadoba teaches us!

To give some background before further sharing, I was in Tadoba with my world class photographer friend Vikram Potdar on a specific purpose & it was to promote the Tadoba! Agreed Tadoba is famous enough already but what we have observed is most of the tourists visit tadoba, see tiger, click snaps, celebrate their tiger sighting & leave, that’s all! What we feel & discussed with officers who are playing key role in protecting tadoba is let the visitor understand the real tadoba & its importance to entire society as well what individuals’ responsibility towards the forests like tadoba is. And for that to put forward the tadoba the way it is, is most important. What has triggered this thought is during my last visit a young officer Gajendra Narvne told us about the story of a guard who has been attacked by sloth bears & was seriously injured & the expense for his treatment was huge. So I casually asked why this hasn’t been put forward to people who visit tadoba as they can surely help for such cause & this triggered of the concept as right now there is no link between tadoba & why tadoba any forest in State & the tourists. Once a tourist left the gates of forest & heads to his concrete city life he forgets everything about forest & the joy it has given to him. If we could by some way be in touch with every tourist then not only they will be able to help the forest issues but they will try to conserve the forests in every possible way around them, was the essence of the discussion. So we discussed these issues in front of senior officers like Mr. Garad, Field Director, Mr. Kalskar  as well Mr. Moi Pokkim, APCCF which in short words is boss of all forests in eastern Maharashtra & they have taken it positively asking us to work on the details of the concept. Our trip inside tadoba was outcome of these discussions as best way to know a forest is to be in it!

In four days we were moving through different zones of the tadoba forest clicking flora & fauna as well topography, habitat & people who are associated with tadoba. We spoke to every segment that is in some way or other associated with tadoba. To maintain a forest of size of tadoba is huge job & needs lots of infrastructure which includes making roads for the tourists too welfare of all the ground level staff such as living arrangements inside forest for guards & forest labors & all this requires money. Agreed there is provision in Govt for all these works but then it should be made available at proper hands & in proper time. What’s happening is somewhere some link is missing between the ground level working team & superior bosses, is what we realized after speaking to many people in forest. Each organization has communication problems amongst the hierarchy but when the organization is forest, the disparity between the living conditions is too much. As I always say, to visit forest in a safe gypsy, click snaps & get back to our safe & comfortable abode to relax is very easy job but to live inside these forests twenty four hours that too three sixty five days in extreme weather where mercury rises to 48 degrees & heavy rains as well cold, then you start disliking the same forests. That’s why in lower cadre postings inside tadoba are considered as punishment is what they spoke to us resulting too much of shuffling at ground level staff. This shows a lacuna in the system as if we want to promote tadoba in front of the world then these things should be straighten up first.  And then like the injured guards story in bear attack there are so many ways outer society can join the hands to help these people who are actually protecting these forests for us! Many people are ready to help/assist forest related issues but if we ask them to pay to govt directly for that, they won’t as a bitter truth is common man don’t believe govt. But if we ask them to pay directly to the services fort forest then they do as they can see the actual result coming out of their money. Like kolsa range needs bore well with solar pump, so we can finalize the agency & let people directly pay to the vendors & get the job done under forest department’s supervision. We can think of a name board mentioning the same at bore well to encourage such donations. Recently in kanha forest we have donated safety shoes to forest labors in kanha, such many activities can be funded from society. This is one more reason we need to market tadoba in front of visitors in proper way!

Actually marketing won’t be a proper term but making people know what real Tadoba is the essence what we wanted to put forward. As right now it’s popular as a tiger land but is it all? Every year thousands of people come, click tiger snaps & went back happily in their concrete jungle & forget tadoba soon!

What we need to do is not only they come back again to tadoba but remains in touch for ever with tadoba. This is for those who have visited tadoba & then those who haven’t ever visited, so we need to make tadoba first of their list of travel plan. We can take tadoba as pilot project & then the pattern can follow for boar, pench, melghat & many more in State forest! Here is what we have proposed on a primary level…

First of all make a separate wing of just two good personnel who are internet & computer savvy & important is a thrust fro top level like Garda sir & Pokkim sir, which is there already. Second is act fast with a proper plan in place. Few tips can be helpful which I am sharing here…

1.    Make a booklet of tadoba, with visuals as well write-up which will make people understand tadoba's importance for the world we live in & not just for tigers. They should know places like tadoba are natural gifts to human mankind but its needs far more than just salaried persons than to preserve this god gift. The booklet will cover messages from all senior forest officers as well illustrate infrastructure tadoba needs to survive & every member’s contribution for that. It will be in very simple language as well illustrations & then images by vikram. This booklet people will carry as souvenir while going back from tadoba & we will make it part of park fees as well schemes like making it free of cost is 3 safaris or more! We will also make one exclusive booklet which we can make available for sale at gate. This exclusive one will be even revenue generating also for the park.

2.  We have all the data of email addresses of people visiting tadoba. Let’s make a group on Gmail & then we can make an e calendar which will be sent to all these people every month featuring best image of that month in the park as well things happening in tadoba. This will be e calendar as well e news letter. Director & other people also can have their inputs here along with social/welfare activities we conduct. Difficulties we face & how we overcome them in conservation. It will be short but to the point.  This will make the visitors in touch always as now with smart phones mostly everybody is having mail access anywhere. Sending a link of one such e calendar of an ngo..

http://www.oikos.in/pages/year2015/FebruaryCalendar2015.htm

3.  We can also share what happened in tadoba during this month in tadoba on social front as well appeal people what & how they can contribute to the park. As this is important, many people will like to support but they don’t feel confident about their money getting utilized properly. By keeping in touch & updating them about our activities they will feel confident that their money/help is in right hands!

4.  We will make a 40 minutes presentation about functioning of tadoba & highlights of the forest here & its importance for the State, Country & World! It has to be an absolute art piece with lots of visual slides, messages from team tadoba & statistics of flora & fauna as well the challenges park faces to maintain the eco system. We will then send a team of two people in Metros & display the same in schools, colleges. That will be making people know about tadoba insight especially the younger genre. We will start from Pune for trial run & then with help of wild life wardens at each district & magazines’ like Sanctuary Asia’s net work along with kirloskar foundation type ngo's, to reach out to all the major cities in country.

5.  We will make the presentation to leading tours & travels companies like Kesri, Veena World & appeal them to join hands to promote tadoba at world stage through their tourists’ as well international network.

A lot can be done but for that we need to have a good data visual as well written form as well making the same available & being in touch with the visitors is what key. Park is already popular now we need to make people understand the efforts of people behind it as well take it to the next level in minds of every tourist as well citizen of the State first & then country!

6.  Making FB page of tadoba, where people can share their experiences as well images & contributions to tadoba!

7. We can have two categories of guides at gate & guides are link between the forest & the tourists. And with lots of foreigners as well people from non Hindi states visiting in more numbers to tadoba, its high time we provide them with guides who are good at English. We can pay these guides at higher rates & charge the clients so. All over the world its standard practices i.e. to have special languages speaking guides, especially where tourists visit more & language is a problem.  This will also make more & more local boys to get educated & English literate for getting better wages!

8. We can think of short trips of one & half hours covering main road from moharli gate to tadoba lake & en-route telia back. This will be for school kids & via canter bus at very affordable rate & such trips can be planned all day long except the noon time when the park is closed. This will make more & more school kids can see the tadoba as in future these kids are going to be protectors of forests.

9. There has to be an interactive interpretation center with good toilet blocks at the gate. This centre will have space where visitors’ as well professional photographers’ images will be displayed. It will also have display of local village life information with snaps. An open theater with self displaying movies related to tadoba also is a must.

10. A neglected issue especially about tadoba is hygiene of the village moharli, as all the morning rituals are being done in open & along the main road making the entry to park extremely dirty which surely isn’t making any good to the image of an international tourists spot. Same is about the garbage generated around the park as all is being dumped along the road side low laying land & is very harmful for the park biodiversity.

Above are some of very basic things & once we start working on these lines finer issues which will evolve in the process can be dealt with. What is important is the forest should reach out to the people as there are two types of people , one is who has visited forests especially reserved forests like tadoba & other is who haven’t seen forest ever in their life. Again in first category, there are who haven’t seen the tiger in forest & other is who has seen a tiger. It’s easy to make people understand about their responsibilities who has seen a tiger as the specie has that power but aim should be more & more people should visit forests & develop sense of responsibility towards preserving them. Tiger is like brand ambassador of tadoba but there is lot more beyond the tiger in tadoba. Right from smallest of birds too butterflies too color changing ghost tree, forest is full of life & understanding this side of forest gives new vision to us while we look around! What tadoba should give the tourists is not just joy of tiger sighting but a sense of belonging to the nature as once its developed then each of us will be ambassador of the forest & what better thing than this can happen to the tigers of tadoba!

At ending note sharing something very personal about my tadoba visit, at the gate there stood a canter i.e. an open bus in which tourists moves in the forest & on that bus poster of a snarling tigress was put! It looked extremely familiar & then I realize it’s been clicked by me only! Well how one counts happiness? Simple, one don’t count it as it’s not just some figure which you can measure on any scale but it’s a feeling which one has to feel by oneself! Was very happy to see that image of a tigress I have clicked was being displayed on a bus for tourists at tadoba! Such small things gives us great joy & I think that’s why we must keep doing small things however foolish they might look & nurture whatever we like to do & outcome is sheer joy! I think thats best gift places like tadoba gives us & for that one needs to be there!

--

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2015/02/story-of-toilet.html
http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/
Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

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Union Budget & Dream of Affordable Home!

A budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it…William Feather

William A. Feather was an American publisher and author, after earning a degree in economics; he began working as a reporter for the Cleveland Press. In 1916, he established the William Feather Magazine. In addition to writing for and publishing that magazine, and writing for other magazines, he ran a successful printing business, and wrote several books. The quote indicates his authority on the subject he has earned a degree as well as an author too! While the country is yet to come out from the usual discussions about the financial budget this quote I feel best to start the sharing. Every year we get budget & as usual celebrities reactions cum comments about the same. Every year the faces, names also are same to whom similar questions are asked & even the reactions are also same. Never have I remembered that someone has said excellent budget & it’s going to change the fate of a particular business & analysis of why so! May it be real estate or automobile or white goods, no one are ever happy with the budget. There was a joke on whatsapp which recently is like a face of the society, saying “It’s only the drunkards & manufacturers of alcohol are the people who accept any budget without any complaints, despite the fact each new budget is loaded with added burden of taxes on the product!” Joke it may be yet it speaks about the budget outcome; as no industry is ever happy with what they get in budget, is what common man in me thinks when he read all the usual post budget tamasha!

Agreed no one, even the Gods can make all the people happy at a time, & especially when the people are our beloved Indian lot, yet some where fact remains how can no segment is happy with the budget & why? I always like to read the reactions of the common man rather so called common man about the budget as I wonder how many actually understands the terminology & the figures reveled in the budget. Why can’t it be a simpler & free of terms like surcharge & repo rate etc? Why it can’t straight away speaks about what type of discounts a person will be getting when he will go & buy a particular product? Why the budget is always in code language of an economist which no sane common man can understand even with his common sense? Leave apart a common man, even a common businessman like me also don’t understand what my business has gained or lost due to the new budget, such are the budget presentations. Agreed I don’t expect something like simple new read but then just as a thought white paper like thing can be also prepared along with the main budget document which will put the basics of the budget in a language which common man will understand! Till that happen we all have to depend on media or the so called experts to know what pinch or smile the budget has given us or the best way is waiting till actual effect happens to the prices of the products we buy!

For now put such dreams aside & let’s see what the budget has given to real estate; here real estate means keeping the end user in mind who is a simple home buyer from middle class, is what I mean! Many as usual will say why to give relaxation in taxes or anything to real estate as builders & all related to that business has enough of money, so let’s understand, real estate isn’t some bunch of so called Ray ban goggle & gold chain wearing guys but it’s the end product which we should think of! And with all due respect I as a common man plus builder found nothing at least that’s what my prima fascia understanding is from what I read about the budget. Though it’s too early to comment as many corporate bosses have said its very good & long term planned budget & that’s has been reflected on share market the way it has reacted with high tide. But then does really share market can represent ground situation in any particular market is what I always want to ask. And sadly at least the real estate in Pune the scene is all together reverse than what is being seen in share market. The land rates are still sky rocketing & flats rates whatever they may be there is no taker is the scene which not many will acknowledge but off the record yes! May it be a thousand flats town ship or small single standing building all the developers are bleeding & the biggest joke is even the clients still are blaming the real estate industry for high prices of homes! Everyone is speaking about affordable homes but no one knows where they are?
It’s this subject which hasn’t been touched by the budget is what I feel. The Hon Prime Minister has earlier mentioned about prioritizing housing that too housing for all segments of the society so the expectations were real high from the budget but seems PM has different plans as not a single special policy has been announced which will lead the way to make houses affordable & that too the end buyer if not developers! For e.g. when we want to make any product of a particular industry affordable means a bit cheaper or easily available then the first thing it should get reflect in its taxation mode & second is making easier as well cheaper finance available to buy that product! Both things haven’t been happened on real estate front in the budget at least no one has said that it’s been done in this way. 

Few years back there was income tax scheme by name 80IB which assured no income tax for the projects which have a certain sizes of flats as well the land size should be more that one acre i.e. nearly 44,000sft.  This scheme was abandoned suddenly the way it has started. Again though I am no expert on such matters but by me there were many lacunas in the 80IB & the biggest was no system was in place to assure that whatever benefit the developer has been given by charging no income tax has been passed on to the end buyer of the homes neither any such benefit the other segments related to the real estate got via this scheme! As in real estate it’s a myth & some what extent a truth, that only land lords & the builders earn rest all just run! And this is where the 80 IB scheme lacked most in achieving its success of making the homes affordable! By me that was the last attempt made to homes affordable to all segments of the society as then after no govt came up with any scheme which was aimed to assist real estate & its segments!

I don’t know what is corporate tax but seems it has been reduced & that too by one percent for each coming years, in gross five percent. Well, how many corporate companies are there in real estate? Rather the industry lacks corporates' & most players are local as well partnership firms, so I doubt reduction in corporate tax will do any good for real estate. Then come the famous capital gain tax which hasn’t been touched again, keeping investors away from the market. For those who are not aware of capital gain tax, well land or home must be the only product where this tax is applicable. It means govt decides how much profit you should earn in buying & selling of a real estate property, residential more precise. In no other industry this is applicable as how much money I should make must be left to market & why govt needs a cut from that profit I always wonder? Again the profit which you have earned from selling your flat which should be at least three year old to avail capital gain provision. So this money you have to put in other property or bonds which gets locked for three years at very cheap interest rate! This is something we need to work on if we want more investors to come in real estate. I myself don’t know if this is good for end users as investor seeking only profit may again damaging to target of affordable homes but at the same time every industry needs investors for growing is a fact. So there has to be a tax structure which will balance between end user as well investors, which apparently hasn’t been done.

Another aspect is making cheaper rate finance available to the real estate developers, as even if you are building a five star luxury resort then also you get red carpet treatment from banks & soft loans but no such thing for a builder! Here in first place you don’t get finance to buy land which is major investment in itself & then real estate is a non priority segment means have to avail loans at highest interest rate! There are loans available for a flat holder at mere eleven percent & up to eight percent of deal value but at the same time developer has to pay as high as eighteen percent & more than that to private financers for land, so ultimately making the end product burdened with all the high interest rates! This simple math a non banker like me can understand but not our finance minister!

There wasn’t any policy for construction material’s rates or any special facility for their production. Every year right from cement too steel to sand, all rates are hiked by the manufacturers as govt seems to have no say in it. Also the service tax has gone up means every service of consultants like lawyer, architect & structural designer & many so has become costly. Why they can’t reduce service tax for professionals related to affordable housing but for that govt has to define what is affordable which they haven’t bothered to do!

Our Hon PM speaks highly about use of unconventional source of energy & its use to be promoted in housing but on this front also the budget is silent. Where we lack in eco housing is at R & D; and on this front budget could have made provisions for setting up R & D institutes on the line of National Chemical Laboratory type establishment in form of National Environmental Research Lab! As we need to find our replacement for age old construction techniques involving huge natural resources like sand & khadi, which are creating lots of problem to the environment such as river bed erosion or hill/ mountain cutting. And for that in depth study of alternate materials as well construction practices is a must, which we are not having anywhere in the country expect TERI, to some extent! At the same time if we want to promote solar energy in homes then these products should be subsidized & that effect of energy saving has to be given while calculation use of conventional electric energy. A nationwide common policy has to be made for this which is missing right now. Also procedural delays in obtaining hundreds of NOC’s for building a building has to be streamlined. Every city takes its own time in very basic thing like making development plans; this has to be time bound or else applying financial charges to the civic body by state or central govt. At the same time efficient programming of DP’s should be rewarded by financial prizes to the civic bodies so they will be on their own get such planning things done in time.
For making affordable homes the most important front is infrastructure of any urban development & a separate fund has to be created here as well schemes to attract more investors in this segment. As no home can be affordable if there isn’t any proper transportation, water, power, drainage, education, public health like facilities around the home. And on this front every city & town lacks very much. Even in Pune if we have a holistic look then what we see? The villages which have been merged or to be merged in Pune Corporation have town ships mushrooming all over but without any of above infrastructure. Under the name of affordable housing we are making concrete slums & govt seems to turn blind eye on this front!

People are buying homes despite the poorest infrastructure because they are helpless & in need of a shelter. Millions don’t have their own home is a fact & they adjust with whatever comes in their budget without complaint but is it a good governance? It’s high time the real estate industry should ask themselves about their role rather responsibility is proper word in making a budget of a country where most of the population either lives in slums or in fields. This year is gone for the budget part, but there is next year ahead & if we the people in real estate don’t think & act for our clients then like the famous  “Shaikhchillie’, who cut the branch of tree he was sitting, we all will end up same way. And do mind our fall will be from such a height that our recovery will be impossible!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.in/2015/02/story-of-toilet.html


http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

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

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DP or Rambo Circus?

Bureaucracy is the death of any achievement… Albert Einstein!

Well the words have not been said by me but by a name whose intelligence & dedication towards achieving new heights in science, no one can deny & so I am safe in quoting it at the start of this sharing. There are very few names which need no introduction for any genre & Einstein is one such. So let’s go ahead as many will be curious especially my many friends from the bureaucrsy that why I chose this quote & where it’s leading to? No need to guess as we live in a city which always gives enough food for our brains, provided we are ready to use it & this time it’s the DP i.e. Development Plan of the existing city or old city or whatever you call it! 

To those lucky souls who don’t know what DP of a city meant, it means every city is required to make a plan for its future development. So it’s a detailed plan with rules & regulations with which the civic administration is supposed to control the growth of the city in planned way. It consists of mapping all the land under the city limit & sees that it’s getting utilized for proper purposes which are essential for a good city. For e.g. we can’t have all the land under reserved just for residential purpose however high demand may be for housing. As just houses won’t  survive on their own, agreed housing is at center of the planning but all the basic infrastructure such as office spaces, commercial spaces like shopping & malls, public health, education, public transport, water supply schemes, drainage & garbage plants, recreation & many such utilities also need to be in place & in proportion of the houses. At the same time there should be public parks & play grounds for social infrastructure & while planning all this we need to conserve the nature i.e. biodiversity in form of flora & fauna in & around the city. The later part means rivers, hills, forests & biodiversity i.e. numbers of animals & birds species living in city. As all above collectively is what makes a good city. Also just making provision of land for all these purposes won’t work but you need to draft some basic rules to make this possible in realty. Such as how much sq ft of area can be build in form of housing on a particular piece of land or what should be height of a building & what precautions to be taken for taller buildings. Road widths of access roads & their relation to the nature of buildings & thousands of such conditions while sanctioning the plans of individual building needs to be drafted, considering every situation in future. And the DP should held good for at least coming twenty years, so it should accommodate future challenges like increase in population & its needs which the city will face. As the roads today may seem serving properly to the existing vehicles; many will laugh at my statement but trust me I am just giving example, that the same roads won’t stand a chance after five years if we don’t make a provision for good public transport as well plan in a such way that citizen will have to make minimum travel for their daily rituals like work & school & recreation type activities! All this planning & rules & policies are what called as Development Plan & DCR i.e. Development Control regulations, which is talk of the town & our topic!

Failure to do this is what we are experiencing all around. The DP which has been made earlier have miserably failed to estimate the growth of the city & that’s why the traffic chaos & the inadequate services is the outcome. Every day the roads are being dug, even newly made roads too! Reason may optical fiber cable or gas pipe line or MSEB’s power cables, we have failed to make provision for the services while planning roads & entire city is suffering. Very basic essentials like Garbage Depot i.e. place for dumping & treating garbage were not provided in earlier DP's & we are depending on one single Phursungi Depot for years after years. The city lacks on public lavatories like essential services & there is no provision in DPs which have been made earlier. Neither there was provision for Transformer stations which are required for power greed all around the city making MSEB network go week in huge part of the city. These are just few examples to show what happens to the city & citizens if the DP is not properly made & which has happened in past.

Now the more enlightened souls will ask what is DP of old or existing city? What is meant by existing city? Didn’t the entire city exist since long? Well, that means boundary of PMC i.e. Pune Municipal Corporation which came in existence in 1950 & its boundary was same till some fifteen years back & then eighteen surrounding villages were merged in PMC which is called as new city & the earlier i.e. city within old boundary is called as old city. Now please don’t ask what’s this joke of making two separate DP’s for old & new city as I doubt not only me but even if the God also has answer for it? Anyways that’s different topic of discussion about why two DP’s of one city, so presently we focus on the issue of old city’s DP as now you are much better enlightened about the entire “DP nama”! So with lots of debates & discussions a DP of old city has been prepared & made public as it’s mandatory to get suggestions objections to this DP which is called as draft DP from the stake holders which is public or citizen in more sober words! And living to the name, Punekar’s responded with whooping near eighty six thousand suggestions to the DP! So a committee of seven members, three of them appointed by PMC & four by State Govt is set to take hearing about these suggestions from various stake holders & the work went for over four months! Right from changing of road alignments to cancelation of reservation of respective plots (which is obvious), all the suggestions & logic behind them was heard & the committee was supposed to give their opinion in form of a report to the civic body! Up to here all was well & the real fun beguine when it was time to deliver the outcome of the hearings! The committee came up with two reports i.e. the expert members appointed by State came up with different set of suggestions about the DP & the PMC appointed members have their own! Wow this can happen only in Pune as now what? Shall there be one more committee to choose between the two reports outcome? And the common citizen will get lost about the fate of the city, such are the statements in Media by everybody associated with the DP. The experts are saying they have not been provided with basic details such as detailed maps of city or river flood lines or hills contours & many such! And most of the suggestions are for de-reservation from individual lands or canceling the proposed road widening & even few of the experts have claimed that the pages have been changed from their report! This is serious allegation & no one from the administration or civic body has been denied it strongly! If there was no proper information about the DP then why committee members continued with the work of hearing of objections! Also how the civic body or the authorities accepted two reports instead asking the committee to sit together with their heads down & come up with one report? And the differences are serious as one committee is saying give three times FSI all around the city & other saying just along Metro track! If the views on so basic issue like FSI are so different then gods save the city & few of the experts have quoted in these very words that if this DP is implemented then the city is going to be doomed!  

Well well, if we can’t decide the FSI like basic thing then land use, dying condition of river, disappearing biodiversity & ever increasing traffic with road jams at all hours of the day, garbage depot & many more, all such civic issues are sure going to be for a toss! Recently there was a news which get unnoticed that this year’s Metro budget provision has been used for some flyover work; if the news is true then why even make budget as well DP? As what we plan we can’t follow & the budget we make we use it for other purposes than planned, making mockery of entire city planning! As presently by a common man’s angle the existing DP is gone so it’s dead & new DP hasn’t been yet final & no one knows when it will be final, so right now there is practically no DP yet development is going on! So who is responsible for all of this damage to the city? I always wonder when it said by elected members which are our rulers in actual that administration didn’t provided this or didn’t responded or administration is ineffective, even media commonly uses this phrase many a times. Why don’t they pin point names or posts these so called administrators holding? So let real culprit get pinned & then take action against the individual. If the opinions of the so called experts are so negative then either scrap the DP & make a new one or appoint another committee & take all hearings again! As either the experts are right or they are fool, in both cases the outcome can’t be accepted which is right now happening! Frankly to a common man like me all this seems to be a game like the jokers plays in Rambo circus, hitting each other with hollow bamboo i.e. bass & just making sound of hitting! Unfortunate here no one is even acting like getting injured! And no wonder as the city whose citizen refuse to wear helmet even for their own safety, never follows the road signals unless there is a policeman at signal or throws garbage in their own river right under the board saying “keep river clean”, they deserves a circus only & not “achhe din’!  

Its said the tree will bear the fruits of the seeds which we sow only; & what we have sown is carelessness towards the city as well shamelessly selfish attitude! So we ourselves are responsible for death of the city which is written all over the wall but with the designer eye glasses we are wearing we think its gates of heaven while in actual the gates of hell we are opening for ourselves! Unless we put aside the glasses & follow the right path & make our rulers deliver for what we have chosen them, hell is what we deserve & so we will!

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Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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