Tigers, Tourism, Tourists & High Court!

 

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“Forest is not something which you will understand by sitting in the close classrooms & opening your laptops, it’s a school which teaches via your mere presence in that school” … Me.

 

Umred Karhandala; Hon High Court Justice sir, please understand wildlife tourism & then judge it...

 

three days back a video clip came on my cell phone on some group saying a rare sighting of a Tiger with five cubs in Tadoba Forest!! I immediately replied looking at the forest & having a little bit of an update on tadoba that it's not tadoba may be tipeshwar or umred karandhla!!  And then that clip kept coming to me from many people as well as groups with different tags and made lots of viewership on social media!! As usual chaos followed resulting in action on guides, drivers even on tourists & as apex point today, I read a news saying Hon High Court took cognizance on its own and asked the State Forest Head to look into it & give a report!!

 

Hon Justice sir, with due respect I am not supporting wrong wildlife tourism but please don't draw conclusions about blocking the road of a tiger or tag entire wildlife tourism from one clip is what I will request!! As wildlife tourism can't be judged from some reports or photos or clips on social media but you need to travel extensively in the various forests, understanding of facts & difficulties, people, animals, forests & then draw your judgement, is also I will request!!

Fact is this all started due to wrong (with due respect to court) judgement of Hon Supreme Court itself which reduced wildlife tourism area by 80% making only 20% areas of sanctuary’s' & project tiger open for tourism, add in it, tiger-centric tourism marketing of our own Govts tourism dept (check MTDC advertise about tadoba)!! Outcome is, every person visiting forests wants to see a tiger & your own decision has concentrated all tourists in a limited part of the forests, so think on that!! This doesn't mean all is right & perfect as we can improve on many fronts in wildlife tourism, giving proper infrastructure to Forest dept to proper training & a lot! Will write my detailed view on this but visit forests as a common tourist & not as a VIP & understand wildlife tourism if you have got real concerns for wildlife & then decide as its fate is in your hands only now, (more to come) ...!! धन्यवाघ !!

 

Above message I posted on some whatsapp groups, which was my immediate reaction (read as frustration) when I opened newspaper today (7 1 25) & read the news about above incidence! Those who are lucky to afford to remain ignorant about such things for them, in a wildlife sanctuary named Umred Karhandala WildLife Sanctuary in Vidarbha region of our State, a tigress which has five tiny cubs supposedly her way was blocked by gypsies' which are used for safari & clip / video of this incidence has gone viral on social media! Most people didn't even bother or care whether the place is in UKWS as the message went under the name of tadoba, reason is, #tadoba gets more views than #ukws so who cares where the incident has happened, just post it, is the trend! Point is not about clip being viral point is about the reaction which is outcome of such clips not just by social media (netizens) but by the system & as usual at the receiving end of stick were people who I wont say totally innocent but surely are not the only culprits, is my subject of sharing (read as frustration)! On top of it, some Hon High Court Justice on own has got a complaint or whatsoever filed & asked the senior most forest officer to look into the matter & give justification in two days (as per news)! With all due respect, in two days what justification the Hon Court expects, that wildlife tourism is wrong & the tigress with her cubs were blocked or harassed & what? Just because one clip gets viral, the entire wildlife protection system you get under scanner, this is why the forest dept & wildlife conservation at large is in mess & this attitude of our entire system (including media) is the main culprit or say obstacle in the wildlife conservation is my accusation with all my senses alive!

 

Because in the entire world when the tiger's population was on decrease & the species was near extinct not only in our country it survived but the numbers have increased is a fact on record & this was possible only because of the very same forest dept & wildlife tourism! Today, in the villages around tadoba where density of the tigers (numbers of tigers per sq km) are maximum, way above than averages, has Hon Court ever thought why these people residing among the tigers doesn’t hate the tigers but protects them at the cost of their own lives as well that of their cattles, it's only because of right wildlife tourism! They know tiger bachega to paisa milega aur paisa milega to life sudhregi (please translate on google)! And what's their crime, entire family is dependant on a tiger, a boy works in some near by resort, mother cooks meal in some dhaba or hotel, man in the family is either guide or van-majur or driver of gipsy or helper in resort, some family has a small souvenir shop near gate or on the village road & such thousands of people around project tigers survive only because of the presence of the tigers on the tourists which comes to see those tiger! No, Hon Court Sir, I see no wrong as when people spent thousands of rupees to see a tiger as from that money only somewhere even the tiger also makes its living is a fact! High time you must understand this fact about wildlife as because only if you understand & respect this algorithm of wildlife tourism then the entire system will  understand & respect it, that’s the only way you can  protect tiger, is my purpose of sharing!

 

Coming back to blocking path of a tiger or any animal, that is not right, so find a way & reasons why its happening in the first place! Sir, even in the city like Pune where so called educated & intellectual people live, people doesn’t follow basic traffic rules & these very same people are the tourists which goes to see the tiger in UKWS or tadoba or Melghat & what do you think they must be pressuering to the drivers & the guides of those gipsies, but break the rules & show them the tiger, that’s the problem! Instead of banning or punishing the people in the forests, make these tourists realize why are they visiting forests & what they should not do in the forest & how they will suffer if they pressurise the forest people to break the rules, that's the right way of wildlife tourism, is what expected from you! At the same time with ten thousand traffic police in Pune city alone, they can't manage people breaking traffic rules how you expect with mere some hundred plus staff the forest dept is able to manage thousands of sq km forests & people in them, so beter ask Mai bapp govt to pump money in the forest dept for right infrastructure, that’s is my subject of sharing!

 

At the same time, high time for all the people related & working for the forest (read as gipsy drivers & guides) that if you succumb to the greed or pressure of your tourists then its your future only is at stake! Imgaine, you are a Ola/ Uber cab driver in the city & however in hurry your client may be, will you jump Railway Gate or Red Signal risking your life, under his or her pressure, No, is the answer, then why in the forest you guys do such things, is the question I will ask to you all! As well, while you are in a safari be very clear why you are doing this, to earn some money we all know but that money will vanish if someday the wildlife tourism itself will get banned, right? Rather  speak less on cell phones in the safari, let the tourists see the tiger & all the wildlife naturally the way it comes to them, that’s more fun, make them understand this aspect of wildlife. And to make such a thing happen, Hon Court, see that forest dept ensures proper training of every person related with the forest. There are many good officers in the forest dept who have given their life & sacrificed family  time for wildlife conservation, our system’s such attitude will demoralise them all & that will be great loss to the wildlife, is my subject of sharing with due respect!

Please understand wildlife, visit the forests as a common tourist, meet people living there & feel their problems & then make judgement about wildlife & tourism here! Oh yes, please do something for the road kills of thousands of wild animals outside the forests instead, nobody does anything about it ever! Rather as I said open up all the forests in the country with right infrastructure & let everybody enjoy the real wildlife, that is the way to conserve this asset which nature has gifted to our country with, & high time for the judicially to do it before it's too late or else not only the tigers but many wonderful species will exist on the social media & in the virtual world only, adios with this warning!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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DNP, Beauty of Life in the Sands!

 

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“The rules of survival never change, whether you're in a desert or in an arena” … Bear Grylls

“It’s in the forests you realize, to survive, how less people have”… Me.

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls OBE is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. And when the subject is about desert where survival is the thing around which entire life revolves, the above words from Grylls came to my mind as men like him have experienced living in such surroundings which is life for many! And another is words which came to my mind when I put myself in the position of Grylls though with much more comfort zone (not actually) & fun is mine & Grylls’s words may be bit different but feelings are same & so is the first thought which came to my mind when had my first full sight of DNP, how can people live here! Its December 2^nd week & famous winter of North Eastern Rajasthan was knocking on the door, my first ride was in the noon so I didn’t realize the cold much, though I was well aware of it but at 6 am in the morning when I get-up for the safari the only thing I noticed was cold everywhere & from every direction, telling me, welcome to Desert National Park winters! Well, before I share about DNP, let me tell you a bit about it which you won’t find on Google & that is how its ignored by the tourists which were in thousands of numbers just some thirty kilometres away from DNP’s gate or the place where we were staying!

Since long I knew, read about DNP but two things were reframing me from going there, one its bit odd location, thanks to Pune’s weird connectivity with other cities via flight & second my intolerance (or say weakness) with cold. First aspect somehow, we managed by taking a flight from Mumbai to Jaisalmer but second aspect is the best season to visit DNP is winter & Rajasthan may be famous for summer but its winter is equally hard to face, especially in this period of the year i.e. mid December! But I knew if I want to see GIB (Great Indian Bustard) as well feel the real wilderness of DNP then I have to visit the place in winters only, finally the wildlifer in me won (as usual) & I was in the gipsy riding through sands, shrubs, dry grass & cold which I can’t explain!

Two things hit you hard when you enter DNP through Sam village side which is its main entry, its endless expand & the chilling cold! On the surface everything looks dead, covered in the yellow shade of sand & dry grass but slowly as the red orange sun rises in the sky you start seeing rather feeling the life around, that's DNP! The sky is like a canvas of red & orange with flocks of birds painting it with black & grey, music of their chirping fills the air, there is sudden swoosh of wings with an eagle flying up high or a laggar falcon diving down to catch its prey which is invisible to our human eyes & you realize how much alive the deserts can be!
Indeed life is hard in every corner of the world & comfort is for a very lucky few yet in places like DNP where weather also is ruthless in compare to most others places i.e. mercury shifting gears from four degrees to fifty degrees in winter to summer, every day is fight for survival, for humans as well for wildlife! And in such habitat survives some of the most endangered, near extinct species like Great Indian Bustard, Desert Cat, Desert Fox & many such making this desert their home! It's our duty to contribute in every possible way to protect these last breathing habitats which are Homes for the animals who have been keeping these deserts alive by their presence!

As I said life is hard for the animals & birds & its equally hard for the most evolved species i.e. the humans also, with very less sources of income from farming or from domestic animals & extreme weather conditions is worst enemy to confront! I was staying at homestay by Musa khan, with limited resources a moderate stay facility & in that winter at 4 am in morning the boys who were working there used to wakeup & make tea for us, it was so heartening to see that, Ismile was name of one of the boys who worked there & I admire his ever-smiling face in such extreme living conditions & ready to assist all the time!  The problem with such establishments like Musa’s is with uncertainty over the visitors trips they can spend much on upcoming or making the stay place like a resort & as the place is not at part with resorts tourist (may) refrain coming here exception of hardcore wildlifers! My word of advice if Musabhai come across this sharing is, you may not give five-star luxury but toilets & eating place area must to be kept in clean & good condition if you want to promote the place. As well the food must be in tune with city people, a bit subtle on spice front! Yet its people like Musa who dedicatedly are working for the DNP in their own way as its not easy to dare to remain in a profession like wildlife on the dependency of fewer tourist giving up more lucrative way of earning such as focusing on fun or entertainment tourism such as desert safari or make just a relaxing staying place types & full marks to Musa khan & his brother Sikandar who are dedicatedly taking wildlifers in DNP for a long period now! One more advice to all wildlife tour operators, please speak less on mobile with your new booking clients while you are on safari with some customer as not only it disturbs a lot to the real wildlifer but it makes you deviated from the things happening around, as I understand importance of revenue in business but there is way to conduct your business, that’s called professionalism! This thing I have observed with many guides as well drivers, all across the country’s forests as they are too much involved in attending calls for new bookings right in the ongoing safari, not a good thing for the tourists who are with you & wants your attention for which they have paid you, all those concerned who are reading please take note!

Coming back to wildlife at DNP, well, first you don’t see any animal here for which most forests are known in this country i.e. tiger, leopard, rhino, elephant or even some rare monkey! Rather at first sight you don’t see anything but sand, thorny shrubs, dry grass & sky, not even a water body! And as Musa’s expert eyes helped with binocs starts showing you things then you realize the fun of wildlife here! And if there are 3000 plus tigers in the entire country then there are only 200 (yes you read right, two hundred) GIBs’ left in the entire country & maybe in the world which is why DNP is special!  And the tiger is a 300kg weighing, 12ft long animal while GIB is 5 to 6 kg weighing bird with wings & 1/10^th of the size of tiger, now you can imagine the hard part in sighting a GIB in comparison to a tiger in the wild! And this too was my one more motivation as to see a GIB before it becomes a Dodo (please google) with due respect for the great efforts by Rajasthan’s Forest dept, yet the threat is not over on these few surviving GIBs here, is a fact! I saw huge windmills & power lines right on the fringe of DNP which is a direct threat to GIB as these are low flying bird & due to their heavy body-weight they can’t fly long & add poor eye sight in these odds & you will realize these power lines along with windmill blades are death traps for GIBs! Joke is, the concerned dept (power or whatsoever) has spent millions & added reflectors on these power lines to divert the GIB & other flying birds through these zones only adding to the misery as the reflecting sun rays cause more confusion in the flight plan of these birds is what locals said. At the same time GIB lays only two or three eggs in a year & on open ground so the eggs are vulnerable to all sorts of damage/ threats making conservation of these birds more difficult! Barring GIB there are many raptors i.e. eagles, falcons, harriers as well grass-land birds, its heaven of birds actually! And there is desert cat, again an endangered species because of loss of habitat as well desert fox & many such!   What I wonder about is, on one side our govt spend huge money & manpower to save species such as GIB & tigers & on the other side the very same govt erects obstacles such as power lines, dams, canals, railway lines, highways & mines right around habitats of these animals, what’s this joke & is our Hon PM going to look in this aspect of conservation where saviour itself is a destroyer of the wildlife!

From DNP’s entry gate Pakistan border is hardly some 50km away, Dhanana is the last village/ settlement on that road where Border Security Force has their check post. I visited that place & gave some goodies to the soldiers at the check post, who were happy to accept & chat but politely declined to have a photograph with us for security reasons, though they allowed us to click our photos at the check post! Beauty of DNP is, it stretches in to Pakistan also & birds, camels & all such species cross the border often making us realize nature has no borders, its we the humans who has created it & suffer because of our own creation; I said adios to DNP with this realization with a promise to visit soon!

Here are some wonderful moments I came across at DNP, you can watch at the link below...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72177720322741433/

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

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Right Home Buying in 2025 !

 

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“Home is where you feel like going every day after you are done dealing with the world”…

As I said, just google & you will get hundred thousand of quotes for the term Home but what I have written above is not a quote but is what I feel when I think about a Home! And that’s why I used it to start my sharing which you can say as advice for buying a home or say buying a property ahead in New Year i.e. 2025! That way, I am a non-believer of new year or such date related things as for me any day is good (read as right) to start a right thing & when it's about buying a home or  real estate or property then every day gone without deciding is day lost! If you are thinking what else can be expected from a builder who earns his living by selling homes or offices then you are not wrong as the client is never wrong, lol! But then why go by what I say, take a look in the past & tell me had your parents bought a flat in some decent location or a piece of land in outskirts of Pune then, would it have been a wrong choice that they waited for their son or daughter to buy it some twenty/thirty years later, which you are doing now or you are buying at wrong time, even today also, & why not wait for you kids to do it by themselves & you can continue to live the way you have been living for now! Think over & tell if my words about timing to buy a home are right or wrong & if you are ok with my opinion, then read ahead (that’s sarcasm)!

First & foremost, good news is, this is best time in comparison of the past to buy a home (here after read as commercial space or any property which you want to use & not just buy & keep), & not because of rates or availability or boom ahead, no, nothing like that but because you have options & you can afford to wait! This is where mine & most other’s “best time to buy,” terminology differs, is my subject of sharing!

We are entering the second quarter of the 2000's & the last twenty-five years have seen a sea (rather ocean) change, not only on the sky line of the Pune city but on the social front also. First it was Millennial Kids, the its  Gen Z & now its Gen Alpha & if you are thinking why I am enlightening you with this gyan.com instead speaking about your home then first understand your home & a home unlike any product is directly related to the social & environmental aspect that’s why to understand the Gen z or Alpha things is a must which many people forget & eventually ending with wrong home! This Gen Z & Alpha are in range of 15 years to 30 years zone & their requirements from their home (read as life) are way different than ours (read as those above forty age) & when you buy home then if you are thinking for next generation also which most of us do then you need to take in account their way  of thinking before you finalize your home for your family of which Gen Z & A are part. Same thing is applicable for your work/ office premise as your team members (read as employees) will be mostly from this age group & their thinking about the place matters a lot! This genre isn’t worried about owning a home or are ok with rental homes & can shift the place as easy as a cat because their commitment is only with themselves & not with the place or company or such old school things as their comfort level is above everything! This is why places like Baner/ Balewadi/ Wakad can fetch property rates more than some of the central parts of the city! Here is where we come to the point (finally) about buying a home in 2025 as no more the real estate is only location driven by some age-old notions of Deccan, Camp, Peth (please google) types addresses nor it can lure the buyers with club house , swimming pool type amenities & definitely it doesn’t go just by rate per sft discount offers! No, you can't fool the clients by all these things, if you want to buy a BMW or Merc then you don’t ask milage of the vehicle or its resale value & if you are buying a Hyundai or Maruti then you don’t look for luxury but milage & resale value, that’s the attitude of real estate buyers also now! This fact, the builders have yet to understand but as a buyer you must make it realize to the builder, you are dealing with, is my subject of sharing! At the same time from all around the Country & State, people want to come to Pune for job, for education & they will need homes as well work spaces, space will always be in demand, it's only about knowing where & when & at what rate!

For those who want to buy a home or office, I will suggest (not advice) keep your eyes open & senses too, as well be patient, don’t run behind the “big savings” figures in the offers. Understand your needs, study the growth pattern of the city & then take the decision of buying a home at the right place & with the right builder. At the same time just the way you don’t buy a Merc or BMW but lift yourself from Hyundai or Maruti to that level the same way you can think about buying your Home or Office. As gone are the days that these were one time buys for most buyers, now supply is abundant, options are many at the same time no more Pune is about some Peth or few suburbs like Kothrud! With Swiggie, Zomato, Instamart, grocery also comes at your door step even at midnight, so choose your destination of home & type wisely! Metro will be here by the end of this decade in full functional (hopefully) & five years is hardly any span for a product like home, so keep this aspect also in mind. Accessibility of offices or a shop near Metro route will be a major issue in near future as fewer people will prefer their private vehicle to commute. At the same time, you can have a choice of buying a home in a suburb like Sus in the west or Fursungi in the east or Wagholi in the north, even if your work place is opposite, thanks to Metro. And this makes your choosing of location easier as well as wider , this is why I said the right time to buy a home!

This is the right time to buy real estate because builders are in mood (or read as forced to) negotiate also with many players in the market but don’t look only at the price tag you are getting discounted, look for quality of the home on different scales & then only close the deal! Go for the planning aspect of the project & the flat, as that’s something which doesn't get reflected in any 3-D view or brochure, if you are going for a home in making.  Even a ready possession flat you buy may give headache on many fronts such as maintenance, change in the outside view to commuting to parking to legality to neighbourhood to basic needs like water & many such if not chosen wisely but only on rate per sft aspect! At the same time, you will be part of Pune’s culture by buying a home here & what you will behave (read as your lifestyle) will decide the fate of the culture of this city, never forget this basic fact! Also do look for the recent (past five years) growth as well development of the surrounding of the project you are thinking about for buying your home.  Last but most important, keep the aspect of conservation of nature also alive while you choose your home as this is how you can conserve future of your next generation also & this is applicable to redevelopment seeking societies also, ask your builder question about his or her efforts in conserving nature aspect, that’s your duty towards the city! Ask yourself a question, why you left your home-town or shifting from your existing location & tomorrow your kids should not need to do the same by your wrong choice today, & only then finalize your home, that’s wisdom, adios with this note (warning), Happy Right Home Buying in 2025!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/pune-while-entering-to-2025.html

 

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below...

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

 

Pune, While Entering to 2025!

 

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“We expect too much of new buildings, and too little of ourselves.” …

“Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of American communities.” …

Both quotes are by the Goddess of Urban Planning i.e. Jan Jacobs & when the subject of sharing is Real Estate & our beloved city Pune then she has been always there to rescue me from doing the bad job i.e. to criticize! Its end of one more year, a significant year it had been for Pune as not only the Covid wave has gone away physically but even from the minds of the masses too & we have new govt (well, old new govt we can say) in Country & State for next five years, so everything is set on policy making level! Though hardcore Punekar will smirk & say, what difference it makes to us as our problems seem increasing every day, whichever govt it may be anywhere & I don’t blame them! But the best part of Punekars is when it's about boasting about their city they are at the top of the list but when it’s criticizing their city, they don’t need anybody else to do the job, that’s being Punekar!

Interestingly when my journalist friend asked me to write about Pune city ‘s journey ahead in 2025, on the very same day two things happened. Firstly, I met my friend Amit Karode who is a Punekar but resident of Dubai for the last twenty-five odd years (yet a very much Punekar at heart) & we were discussing about difference between the two cities, and the attitude of the citizens of the respective cities! Simple things like not following traffic signals or parking under No Parking Board, cleanliness or even getting in & out of Metro, indiscipline is an inherent part of our life making others as well our own life stressful, is what his observation about Pune of-late & he is not wrong! He said he can’t dare to ask his friends from Dubai or Europe to visit Pune as what they will think about us the way things are happening around on the roads, again he is not wrong! And second thing was when I opened today’s newspaper, all I could read was fatal accident on road by a dumper taking many lives, smoke-fog-dust filled morning image of city, a news showing Idrayani river (one of the three rivers flowing through city) fish got dead because of pollution & right in December itself suburbs of Pune facing water shortage!

I understand this is not something to start when you are supposed to write about a city & how real estate is prospering here but it's high time for us to know about the hurdles the future is going to throw at us when we are marching ahead as only a fool walks on the path without studying the road ahead, right?  As now, no more Pune is a town-city which used to start from Peth (Pune 30) & end at Kothrud, Aundh, Camp or Swargate but it’s a region which consists of two Municipal Corporations, Cantonments, PMRDA & part of town planning with total population touching one crore (unofficially)!  And we are already facing the heat of this One Crore population with first signs of traffic jams & water shortages even in the centre of the city! Just two decades back we used to proudly tell people that we can cross the entire Pune city in thirty minutes maximum & abundant good quality water is the core strength of this city along with the culture! Indeed, when we compare ourselves to many other cities in the country, we still are way ahead but then if we want to improve then we must look at the cities which are ahead of us & not behind, is the core of my sharing! Unfortunately for the last two years civic body’s (PMC/ PCMC) elections are at hold thus the entire working of the city under bureaucracy & if its boon on one side then problem is whom to complain about working of those who are in control of everything!

On all such backgrounds yet Pune is growing in leaps & bounds on all fronts but, like an orphan which feeds on everything offered to it, by anybody & if you think I am exaggerating then let’s read ahead! Here we have Sassoon like a public hospital which has excellent doctors but poor infra yet its way better than any medical establishment available in the State. We have a railway station which is hundred plus years old & yet its handling millions of passengers everyday but we need more trains connecting to other major cities is a fact as on any given day you won’t get a ticket on a smaller duration of dates! We have three rivers, five dams & yet we have water cuts & water tankers on the roads is a common scene because we need the right distribution system & funds for the same as well reducing groundwater levels is a red alert too! In this year the number of trees falling in rains is the highest in the last five years & reducing green cover in & around the city as well as the heat island effect is a matter of concern. Education is the backbone of Pune but affordable good quality education is the key which is missing & its directly getting related to increase of participation of the youth’s numbers in crime incidences! Pune traffic & public transport, well I need not have to comment on it as just google & your PC will get hang with the information you come across, we have Metro but all around the country its in loss barring few cities such as Bangalore & hopefully Pune will use Metro for its best! Last but least coming to my bread & butter i.e. Real Estate (read as homes & work spaces)! What Pune needs is a strong leader who will understand the city's needs & take the city on the right path by balancing nature, culture & growth as that’s what urban planning is about!

Here, in Pune region scene is frightening as every day hundreds of new projects are being launched at the same time you don’t get land (clear title) in many areas & the piece of land which is available, comes with Ritu Kumar price tag (google it plz) yet after few days you come to know it got sold! Same way, if this is scene in suburbs then on redevelopment front the picture becomes scarier as just a decade back when you could get redevelopment proposals by offering mee 15 or 20% extra to the existing residents now the ratio has gone double or even triple times more area to the residents! So, the city's real estate is in demand, is what you can tell from the land availability, point is, how many new home & work space buyers we will need & can they afford the finished product! At the same time from all around the Country & State, people want to come to Pune for job, for education & they will need homes as well work spaces, key is striking balance between need & affordable supply for that need. If we won’t do it in right way, then the outcome, we are already looking at i.e. rampant illegal construction all around (and within also) the city on which we don’t have any solution!

For those who want to buy a home or office, these are indeed good times but I will suggest (not advice) keep your eyes open & senses too, as well be patient, don’t run behind the “big savings” figures in the offers. Understand your needs, study the growth pattern of the city & then take the decision of buying a home at the right place & with the right builder. At the same time just the way you don’t buy a Merc or BMW but lift yourself from Hyundai or Maruti to that level the same way you can think about buying your Home or Office. As gone are the days that these were one time buy for most buyers, now supply is abundant, options are many at the same time no more Pune is about some Peth or few suburbs like Kothrud! With Swiggie, Zomato, Instamart, grocery also comes at your door step even at midnight, so choose your destination of home & type wisely!

This is the right time to buy real estate because builders are in mood (read as forced to) negotiate also a bit but don’t look only at the price tag you are getting discounted, look for quality of the home on different scales & then only close the deal! Even a ready possession flat may give headache on many fronts such as maintenance, outside view  to commuting to parking to legality to neighbourhood to basic needs like water & many such if not chosen wisely but only on rate per sft aspect! At the same time, you will be part of Pune’s culture by buying a home here & what you will behave (read as your lifestyle) will decide the fate of the culture of this city, never forget this basic fact!  Last but not least, do keep the aspect of conservation of nature in the mind while you choose your home as this is how you can conserve the future of your next generation also & this is applicable to redevelopment seeking societies also. Ask why you left your home town & shift from your existing location & tomorrow your kids should not be needed to do the same by your wrong choice today, that’s wisdom, adios with this note (warning), Happy Home Buying for 2025!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/01/choosing-your-home-along-with-future-of.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2023/02/blog-post.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below...

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/