“A nation of sheep will beget a government of
wolves.”… Edward R.
Murrow.
Murrow
was an American broadcast journalist. He was generally referred to as Ed
Murrow. He gained prominence with a series of radio broadcasts for the news division of the Columbia
Broadcasting System (CBS) during World
War II, which were followed by millions of
listeners in the United States. His team of foreign correspondents was known as
the Murrow Boys & has some of the greatest names in journalism
mostly known for criticizing government for all the wrong doing! His above
quote is one of the most famous in describing the way government works, all around
the world politics & I don’t know about the nation but when it’s our Pune
city or State of Maharashtra, with due respect to our Hon CM, Murrow sadly is
right! And there are many reasons for me
to believe Murrow, latest in the list is Empress garden issue. Thanks to sensitive city like Pune where
few sheep still dare to take wolves head on & indeed the wolves comes with
many names, posts, positions & faces in today’s world. First of all for
all those who still are ignorant about what Empress garden is (especially
migrants to Pune as well west side of Pune who hardly goes there) for them let
me tell you if at all whatever reminisce of so called old historic natural
charm of Pune is left then Empress garden makes major part of it. Spread over
some 40 odd acres, area in digits is not important though, what’s important is
the difference this place brings to the city. Consider Shaniwar Wada or Pravati, would it
have made any difference has size of Shaniwar wada been less or more by few
square feet or height of Paravti would have been less or more by some feet? No,
will be the answer as things like heritage & nature are not measured on the
scale of some measuring tape but the quality of life it has given to the entire
society & over the scale of time! That’s where Empress Garden stood tall
among many monuments in the city & best part is no human hands has build
this monument but nature itself!
Well,
by now you must have understood what is Empress garden, it’s a huge garden spread
on east side of Pune with oldest of the trees as well thousands of plants,
creepers which are home for equal numbers of species including birds, insects,
reptiles & acts a lung of this fast graying (read dying) city which is
buckling under the name of development!
Our
Pune city & its rulers (this covers every that govt organization which has
role in making this city a better place i.e. PMC to Collector to Urban
Development) always make me amaze by the way things happens here out of the
blue & keep people busy in fighting over these issues. The very recent
issue is govt unrevealed its willingness to build some residences for the
senior officers. No harm as even govt employees need homes but problem is the
place which has been chosen for doing so is part of Empress Garden & that
started a war between systems named Govt & Developers against citizens who
think they know the importance of places like Empress Garden! When its development
then as an engineer as well builder by myself I can’t oppose the development
but question is at what cost we will be making this so called development?
Rather have we really understood the term development in first place? Because
if we are considering Fly-overs, Metro (now Hyper Loop too) , IT parks, Malls,
Industries, Townships, Ring Roads & many such things are development then
we are just fools as all these are just manmade structures! As no development
can be complete without nature in it & nature comes in many forms, just the
way we consider development for above mentioned structures, rivers, hills,
lakes, streams, trees, creepers, birds, butterflies, even insects too, are part
of nature & that makes all of them part of our development too! Here is where the
tussle comes in between the so called developers & citizens who are sane
enough to understand the real meaning of development but are tagged as
“Environmentalists”, a term which is used like a curse by the people who under
the name of development has only one motif i.e. make more money at any cost!
We need a system
named govt which is supposed to be keeping control on this tussle or say war
between developers & citizens, as we can’t afford extremists on both sides. We are growing
& the growth has its own needs so structures like houses, malls, roads are
bound to be there but then more structures means more land is space is equally
true. So from where this more land for our structures is going to come from? At
the same time because of our unplanned growth the so called development
essential for decent life style is divided in pockets leaving some pockets totally
without any good infrastructure & some pockets of the city has got every
best thing around. Naturally its land in these pockets which gets premium
demand & it’s here where the developers as well govt eyes their potential
structures, mainly homes as they bring money! Empress Garden is victim only
because its right in the vicinity or Race Course as well Pune’s elite area i.e.
MG road & Cam & no wonder even the govt servants too fell for this
location. Well, by now it’s not still clear that whether there will be houses
on the said land of Empress Garden but because of this intention of govt one
thing surely has come forwards, rather two things, one is govt doesn’t think or
care for nature & second there are sane & aware citizens who fights for
city’s betterment! What I wonder is about why our "Mai Baap Govt",
when it owns nearly 30% prime lands officially, can plan the so called quarters
for the officers on these available
lands but try to do something which will be hailed by all, is for sure?
Sometimes I think govt’s such attempt to do something attierely foolish is a
deliberate hoax, played to divert the attention of citizens or masses as well
of media from major drawbacks the city is having! As look at the scene, entire
focus is on Empress garden saving & then one fine morning govt will issue a
circular that it’s not intended to build anything on Empress Garden land &
citizens will celebrate their victory over the system but in the mean time many
other lacunas in city planning will be neglected & forgotten along in the
mood of celebration!
As
PMC, Collector & PMRDA has hundreds of lands available with them in many
prime areas as well in suburbs in the forms of Amenity Spaces &
reservations, which have been handed over to these organizations respectively by
the developers & are lying vacant for years. So why can’t staff quarters of
all govt officers are build on these Amenity Spaces which are already with the
govt & are vacant? And then one more
thing by making various govt employees homes all across the city & suburbs,
let them know the problems common citizens has to face for very basic civic
infrastructure like roads, water & public transport! Or else if you take a
look on any govt servant’s colony, then you will realize its situated always in
such locality where there rarely is any civic problem, making the govt servants
(which actually are policy makers or works executioners for the city) cutoff
from the harsh realities of the city life. Though barring a few exceptions like police
line, all govt colonies are maintained properly as funding is never a problem.
Another aspect is why can’t our govt makes a master plan for all their owned
lands & then execute it stage wise! Rather many govt lands have become prey
to illegal encroachments or have become dumping yards for the garbage is the
scene all around the city. For e.g. Police dept alone has huge land right
within the city at various locations as well around the city but mostly the potential
of all such lands is untapped & while the entire Pune districts police force
is some fifty thousand in numbers but the police staff quarters are just five
thousand odd, in spite having such huge land bank with police dept! The case is
same with most govt depts., so instead using lands like Empress Garden first go
& get the own land for building staff quarters, is what govt should do. And
then when Empress Garden type land grabbing incidence happens, one will surely
doubt the very basic intentions of the govt, is a fact!
And
then whenever such nature blessed lands are taken by the govt for any purpose,
why just houses, then we all have witnessed what was the outcome. Right near MG
road, camp, one big mall has been built by giving way few beautiful bungalows
of govt where huge trees used to shed the surrounding, now exists just glass
& concrete façade, making money for the few! Same is case with
thousands of big old trees which has been cut to make new roads but what
happened to the plantation of new trees along these roads & making them
survive, no one answers this question. Outcome is we are having roads with
millions of vehicles blowing CO2 from their exhausts & zero tree shed or
Oxygen emission anymore. And the story of
tree cutting for our development can be seen all around Pune as right from
Ganeshkhind Road to Sinhagad road to FC road, we have cut down thousands of
huge old banyan, neem & piple trees for accommodating our vehicles (we even
refuse to pay parking charges) & look at present status of these roads, no
words can describe the damage, this we call development? Worst is in this
process of cutting trees we have taken away homes of millions of birds &
insects as we cut down those trees; have we ever thought where they would have
gone!
We
are talking of river front development but what about the already extinct bio
diversity around river rather we will be killing whatever little biodiversity exists
around! And then who has stopped the govt from making the river pollution free as
it’s this very govt only which turns blind eye towards every polluting stuff
getting mixed in rivers & why others, it includes mixing of untreated drainage
also from PMC’s very own effluent treatment plants!
Recently
our Union Minister for Environment is appealing to citizens in an advertising
campaign on radio channels for planting more trees, try to save nature by
individual effort but his very own govt system seems deaf in listening his
voice. As on one side govt spends millions of rupees for advertising on Save
Environment campaign but forgets (read neglects) to do the job which it’s been getting
paid for. As right from cutting trees to polluting natural water sources to
encroaching green zones to pushing the biodiversity around to extinct level,
everything which can be stopped by the
govt, but no such efforts are being done by the authorities is a fact. And it’s
not just Empress Garden, but take a look at river side green belts or hills
(Bio Diversity Parks), neither we are taking clear stand nor we are doing
anything to conserve these places making them perfect target for slums which
eventually will get regularized after few years! And then on one side PMPML Ex
Chief was complaining he doesn’t get space to park his busses, which are back
bone of public transport of Pune & is only key to reduce pollutions around
us, but we give importance to staff quarters at the cost of tree cover! No
wonder it’s this attitude of our govt towards development which is a cause of
concern for reduction of tree cover in Pune district when all around the
country forest cover has increased!
Today its Empress
garden, so what next for govt staff quarters? Parvati Hills, or Shaniwar wada
(it too has huge open spaces inside & around); when we will understand that
by demolishing heritage places like Empress Garden we can’t change the course
of history, let’s not forget this simple truth! It’s high time the
wolves in govt should stop underestimating the sheep in form of citizens as
when united in millions; even the sheep can outrun pack of wolves.
Sanjay
Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..
Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..
Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)
http://jivnachadrushtikon.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Think Green, Think Life
www.sanjeevanideve.com
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Think Green, Think Life
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