Safe City, whose responsibility is it?

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.... Abraham Lincoln.

Each day when we read news about a blast or things like that most of us must be thinking who is next & where? I think generation of this question in itself is a victory of the forces behind such incidences! Nothing wrong about our mind set but important is its each of ours job to ensure for not letting such things happens.

Here I remember a story of Akbar-Birbal...
Once on their routine rounds around city in disguise Badsha asked Birbal, what is the best weapon? Birbal replied the one which is at hand in crisis! Badshah wasn't satisfied with the reply & they continued their walk. Suddenly a small commotion break up as an elephant got wild & making his way from a busy bazar road thrashing whatever coming in its way. Many people were trying to control him with weapons & the tries were futile as elephant wasn't coming under control by any weapon. He was charging straight towards the duo, confused Badshah was looking towards what to use as there was no way to run, Birbal suddenly grabbed a stray dog running past & threw it to the elephant! It hit the elephant straight at head & with this sudden charge the elephant got bewildered & calm down! Birbal just looked at Badsha & smiled! The Badsha has understood the lesson!

Well this was a story after all but when ever we think of crisis management it has a great meaning. When ever we think about such incidences a crisis management consists of two way action plan, one is what we are doing for not allowing such things to happen & second is what arrangements we have after such thing happens? Agreed as Birbal has said the weapon at hand is best but what we will be having at hand & how we will be using it, a little planning does help as not all are as witty as the great wise man! On this background let's see what happening around/

Not necessary that every time there will be a blast there can be earth quake, flooding due to heavy raining, a fire & any natural calamity can hit us! A good city isn't just IT parks or Gardens or Monuments but a good city is the one who assures safe life for its citizens & its high time for our beloved Pune to understand this & do little self assessment on these standards. We do read mock drills by the police at various places but is the outcome really assessed & the lacunas get covered after the post mortem? This never comes to public. I think authorities needs to think on this front. Even a advanced country like Japan can get hit worst which we saw recently but what was not highlighted or studied is the way they have faced that blow. Wouldn't it help if the authorities send their officers there post quake & make a detailed report how they are recovering & reacted & mind, its not just government but role of private segment also as the quake doesn't recognize whether you are private or govt establishment. On this background how many of corporate sector who can afford has sent or thought of doing so how the private sector has been prepared for such disaster & how they have faced it? I don't think at least don't know any body has even given a thought. We visit foreign countries for pleasure but never for this angle! This is what is lacking in our attitude. Simple things like what kind of precautions one should take in our day to day life if we make a questioner & share around I am sure not many will like the outcome as we indeed are ignorant on this front & then we blame everybody from Govt to Politicians!

The city has many areas where we have witnessed the fire pumps couldn't go during fire why we don't have a separate fire water line net work around such developments which can be used at times of fire where the tankers can’t go at crisis & people have lost lives. We haven't yet identified list of such places, to my knowledge & if it is there the list has been never published. Because if we are not even listing down the places where a crisis can happen how we are going to make people aware about the same or make a action plan what to do at such times? Agreed no planning should have been the way some areas have been developed but now when we have accepted the facts, question is what we are doing with what we have at hand? The New DP as well the existing DP which is under making must have such localities marked with different color i.e. zone along with the provision for separate infrastructure at the time of crisis. Especially slums as well gaothns  should be carefully studied & arrangements like fire water lines, marking of emergency escape routes, medical aid & open spaces around should be made available & kept clear always. Same thing about a balanced stock of various things right from blankets to clothing should be kept ready & in all zones of the city, at least some basics which can be used as first course of action after the natural calamity strikes.

Even in new projects now they are making two staircases compulsory for building more than 15 meter heights (well that is a joke as the kind of construction we have in residential building there are very few chances of spreading fire) but at the same time in big complexes as well commercial complexes not only fire staircase but fire ways should also be marked which can be used in calamities like earth quake. Thanks god at least we dont have to worry for chemical calamity like Bhopal yet dont forget about the organizations like HEMRL as well ERDL which deals with heavy explosive material. Long back they were away from city but now with western subarbs developing, thee establishments are now either surrounded by residential growth or on the boundary of it. So one has to be always ready for something which hasn't happened yet!

Last & foremost is the coordination between various departments! We saw few days back when the discharge from the Khadakwasala increased the Bhide bridge went underwater & with all prior warnings from irrigation department yet number of cars get flooded! What bigger mockery then crisis management we need to prove how much improvement is required at this front in the city! And remember it was controlled known flood! Imagine something happening out of blue & suddenly we will find looking at each other. Mock drills are conducted by the Police for Bomb threat or Terrorist attacks but what about such drills for natural calamities & where is the account of the outcome? How many common citizen’s have been trained or given exposure for such times? Sadly our exposure is restricted to Inet & Tv, god bless what will happen when we have to face something in actual. And what is worst part is exactly whose responsibility is this, that no one knows!

A good city is the one which makes the citizens at peace by the infrastructure it provides & attitude of the rulers towards such issues, as in this era no Birbal will be coming to our rescue in crisis! As the great man Lincoln has said, need of the time is to put up the realty to the people! Till then we all have one such Birbal in us, lets wake him up & use it in advance, is the true care we will be taking for our own self as well for the city.



--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

City of Law Suits!

After hearing the evidence, I will record a verdict of natural causes… Joan Owen

Recently all news papers carried news about the Hon District Court passing a judgment in a matter of law suit involving PMC & an NGO. The matter was about making a road from river bed Mutha connecting the west & east sides of city & claimed to be reducing major traffic load from the existing road network of the city. The matter was going on since 2000! Because of which the road work has been held up for last so many years, now the court has ruled against the NGO whose stand was PMC has no right for making such road & the court has even ordered to pay PMC the court fees involved for causing delay in the road development work! Also the court has given a month’s status quo to allow the concerned NGO to appeal to the High Court.

Few days back there was another news about Hon High Court ordering a ban over the Tree Authority giving permission to the tree cuttings in Pune city & asking any body who wants to cut a tree for any cause to apply to the Hon Court for the permission via PMC garden department. Months after the Bombay High Court imposed restrictions on Pune Tree Authority's powers to grant permission for cutting trees, the PTA is all set to appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

It was on May 6, 2009 that the HC had first issued an order restricting the Pune Municipal Corporation's tree authority from granting permission to cut trees within its limits without the court's approval. The order was passed after the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Pune-based environmentalist Deepak Balkrishna Vahikar regarding felling of 1,522 trees by the civic body.

Although the PMC appealed against the order, the HC stood its ground and issued a revised interim order on July 8, stating that the tree committee should first carry out a survey taking the assistance of an expert body and submit its report to the court, after which only those trees that are dangerous to life and property will be cut. The HC had noted that these orders were passed in the interest of maintaining the ecological balance within and beyond Pune's urban agglomeration.  Now, the civic body is set to approach the Supreme Court. It will argue that all its decisions regarding the felling of trees are taken after taking the rules and regulations into consideration.

And one more news which has made head a line in recent past is about Court Stays Bal-Bharati Paud Road Construction! PMC Court on 27^th April 2006 ordered Status Quo in respect of road construction from Bal-Bharati to Paud. Responding to the petition filed by Parisar claiming that PMC was violating several sections of law in constructing this road, the court has ordered Status Quo in construction on various grounds stopping the construction of the very road. The legal battle is on & the road work is at stand still at present.

Strange world we are living in! With all due respect to Hon Court’s authority & jurisdiction in the very matters, because it’s not about what they should decide as once we are in their jurisdiction we have to honor the outcome! It’s the way things are going especially about the development of this very city is a matter of concern!

I have full faith about the NGO’s & their workings but some times is it not equally important to consider the cause from multidimensional & then enter in to legal suit? As once you enter in that zone there is no turning back & the sufferer is not the PMC or any Public Body, it’s the Public at large. Like the river road case is going since last 10 years & it has made the life of commuters miserable because for the first few years its condition was horrible & yet its under use naturally giving a bumpy ride to all those who were using it. Then for few days the statuesque was lifted & PMC paved( dambrikaran) some portion yet its width & other safety measures are not in proper places resulting major accidents on the same. Also the entrance to the very same road is a bottle neck creating havoc for the users as well people residing in the surrounding. And PMC can’t do any thing about it as the matter is in court!

Now as a lay man & citizen of this very cityI have few questions ( with no intention to hurt any bodies intentions as well to doubt Hon Court’s judging powers) such as if the matter was stayed down & PMC was not allowed to even repair the road or its access then why they allowed traffic on the very road? Why the NGO didn’t seek to the court for banning the use of very road,till the final verdict comes? Another thing, couldn’t the NGO whose intention was for the betterment of the city has seen that if so many people are using the road that means people were in need of that road, so if people of the city have accepted the road why the NGO continued with the law suit? Agreed Hon Court cant on there own produce the evidences or statements of the specialists in the field in such matter but cant they urge both the sides to produce all the required evidences about their say & give the verdict on urgent basis to give the faster verdict when the whole west part of city is at stake?

Similar things have been happening on the other two matters. No one doubts importance of trees in the city but even if to cut a single tree or major branches which is coming right in the development, to go & take permission from Hon High Court which is in Mumbai is surely a difficult task for a common man or any entity. We could have a simpler system to analyze the importance of the need of cutting any tree & accommodate that need. This shows what trust Hon Court is having in the existing system, then isn’t the need to change or improve the system is more important than Hon Court itself taking up the task of scrutinizing the tree cutting requests, is what a common man will think! The natural outcome of this will be people will stop taking any such permission for such cause & this you can confirm by the number of applications coming for the permission of tree cutting now & before this law suit! The number of request for tree cutting has been significantly reduced after this verdict & that doesn’t mean tree cutting has been reduced! We need tress but we need roads, homes, hospitals & many more things also. Important is balancing both & not just one entity & the logical approach should be to set up a system which will accommodate both i.e. development as well trees.

 

In Balbharti hill road  case which is a DP road shown in Development plan & would be a good alternative to existing over- over loaded Law college road, again & again both parties are fighting with tooth & nails about making or not making the road but who thinks for the alternative source of commuters. On one hand NGO’s stand is to improve Public Transport about which no two minds, but a lot has to be done on that front till then what about the 14 million vehicle holders in the city out of which many of them who have been in cross fire of all this legal war? As they are neither getting a good public transport nor good roads!

The Court’s power has its own importance & this power should be used very balancing way. There are many issues right from the Development Plan of the city isn’t getting sanctioned for last ten years, then why on this no NGO or PMC itself goes to court & ask to speedup up the permission process at the level of who ever has held it up? The new parking policy of PMC isn’t practical & it will only help in generating more vehicles on road, here too no one goes in court & the policy is being implemented facilitating more vehicles on road & we are fighting over making of roads! Instead of opposing just few roads we should hit the cause itself by using the power of court is what I feel. Why no body is going in oppose of Public Body in court & ask them to give exact target & mode by which they will be improving the existing road conditions as well public transport?  Same thing about declairing policy for the Affordable Housing, no one knows how & when? So many whys a common man is having in the city over which the Public body’s are keeping mum & NGO’s or Private entities are not taking cognizance of the same!

 

At last why can’t any we seek justice in any matter instead of celebrating a one dimensional victory? I think there lies the future of our very city! Till then let’s honor the respected Court’s judgment keeping faith in the great man’s quote about the verdict!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Accidentsche Shahar!

No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning.  …Cyril Connolly

A good city is the one which offers good infrastructure to its residents & when we are talking of Pune becoming the next best Metro of the country it's our duty to see that the city stands to its requirements created by the growth. One very much important factor is roads & the safety they provides to the commuters. On the back ground of some recent very nasty road accidents in the city I think this is very important factor in the city image as well real estate. One will ask what relation between roads & real estate is. But remember real estate deal with living of people in the city & no aspect can’t be untouched by this industry which deals with the living of the people in the city. As the quote says a man decides to settle down in a city by considering all the factors. After all what are the expectation from any city, bare minimum good water, good roads are the very primitive & basic needs as rest follows. On this aspect what’s happening in our city? Every day we open news paper & we found some accident news taking lives of a few & leaving injured a many. The death toll in a year is far more than those have lost lives in bomb blast in Mumbai!

Let’s see some of the facts & figures on this front.

Figures from the National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB) 2007 report explicitly mention that in proportion to the city’s population, Pune ranks first in the number of road accident fatalities. The report also shows that in the same year, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of deaths due to road accidents in the country. In the year 2007, there were 3,40,794 such deaths recorded in the country. Out of these, 58,552 took place in Maharashtra alone.

According to the NCRB report, in the same year, Mumbai recorded the highest number of deaths in Mumbai – a total of 8,897 were killed in road accidents.  The state capital was followed by Pune with a total of 3,357 deaths due to accidents reported. This may be covering entire Pune region along with the accidents occurring on Express way, yet the truth remains that we are numero uno here! Other cities like Nagpur and Nashik registered a total of 1,534 deaths and 894 deaths, respectively.

PUNE ROADS ARE DEADLIEST...
Interesting thing is, although Mumbai has the highest number of deaths in the state, when these figures are looked at in proportion to the population of the city, Pune ranks first in the accidental death rate in the country. The report shows that the rate of accidental deaths in Mumbai is 54.4 while the same rate for Pune is 89.4 per lach population of the city & which is the highest in the country. The rate of accidental deaths for Nashik is also on the higher side at 77.6 while for Nagpur, it is 72.3.  

Sure these were 3 years back reports & recent reports would have only added to new high. It's not mere figures but it's the fear in the mind sets of the people residing in the city which also one has to count. I have tried two wheeler driving in the city & can imagine the risk it involves. Now one will say what one can do about it's the people who are driving like crazy & they are paying for it, what the city has to do in it! Well, we need to think as it’s our roads, our traffic & our people who are loosing their lives & faith from the system. Here are some figures about the Public Transport i.e. our beloved PMPML, popularly still PMT.

The total number of buses is much less as compared to the needs of the city. Transport experts recommend at least 40 buses for 1 lakh population, so Pune should have at least 1200 buses, whereas the present number is 850. Even of these, just 650 are on the roads. Nearly a hundred buses breakdown every day. This number is so high because
of the poor quality of the spare parts. And the buses in running condition are also in such a rickety shape that only those who have no other alternative travel in them. Because of all the above reasons, the frequency of the bus service is very poor; on top of it, the buses run late, very often they get cancelled too; consequently, bus users have to spend a considerable amount of time waiting at bus stops; finally, when the bus does come, it is often overcrowded! Worse, inefficiency for the reasons well known, have made the bus tickets very costly, so that for the poor, even the public bus system is no longer affordable when compared to other city's public transport! And so the number of bus users has been coming down and today just 22% of the city’s population uses the public bus service. There is propaganda about projects like BRT but except in few patches the system isn't a success is a well known fact.

Growth of Private Vehicles...
Because it takes so long to go anywhere by the PMT, whoever can afford it buys a scooter/motorcycle or a car. The result is: Pune’s become swamped by private vehicles. The number of vehicles in the city has crossed 14 lakhs, and is increasing by the hour. Every day in Pune, more than 450 vehicles are registered – 13,000 a month, 1.6 lakhs a year. And
even this huge growth is increasing every year, at a whopping rate of 33%! It is evident that this growth rate is simply unsustainable. Urgent steps need to be taken to curb this increase in the number of vehicles. Otherwise, Pune’s roads, already heavily congested, will get totally clogged.

And here is where the main key lies for the other outcome arising from this ever increasing number of vehicles on the roads? Road accidents will increase which we are all experiencing all ready. Not to forget the emission of N number of gasses due to combustion of various fuels. Let’s keep them away for some time but the main question remains, is the city going to make the residents safe on road? And what concrete plans we are having for the same? First and fore most is to make the conditions of road proper as that itself will help in avoiding accidents of two wheelers. As many a places we see the road has been dug & no proper signage is there or the chambers covers of drainage line are not in level or the tarring work is not in level & the edges of the layers cause the vehicle slip & the list goes on. And as a responsible citizen we too should not just blame the PMC but try to inform the authorities in the best way we can, as we are best at criticizing but worst to do things at our end. Even as a developer when ever we have to cut the road or make some such job then we should be keen on making the road back in proper shape. Even the cycle tracks & footpaths are not in good shape making commuters impossible to use them & this leads to mix traffic on main roads causing more accidents. Stringent & strict traffic rules implementation along with helmet is a must & I still can’t understand a learned /educated city like Pune has worst traffic sense! Here we have to teach ourselves & make us think for not only self life but others who are using the road too!

Another important factor which nearly ever NGO as well media has tried to put forward is improvement of Public transport, as this has no substitute! We don't need any scientist to tell us about the importance of Public Transport as the more people will use the same the lesser vehicles will be on road & obviously the fewer accidents there will be. And a good public transport system is life line of the city & unfortunately we are cutting very own of ours.

The side effects are pollution, cutting of trees and forests to make new and wider roads to accommodate more vehicles is going to make pollution levels increase at double quick rates, because trees are pollution sinks. The quality of life in the city will also rapidly worsen, as open spaces and gardens get used up to build parking lots for cars.  When we speak about growth of our city it's not just IT parks or Education Institutes we have but the living atmosphere we provide to so many of residents which have migrated here for good life. No two minds about need of the time as we need roads & parking spaces for the existing vehicles as strengthening of public transport isn't one night job but let’s not forget that the trees & human lives are more important than the cars. And it's all of ours job to make the both survive & grow in safe environment. Then only we will be real proud to call our self a real good Metro City of coming era! Because then only more & more people will choose this city as their home & contributing for wellness of the same!






Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Road cutting & the city!

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress... Martin Luther King

When I read this quote it make me remember a news saying MSEDL i.e. MSEB earlier, has decided to move back on laying over head power cables because of heavy road cutting charges demanded by PMC for laying the underground cables! After this news the authorities woke up & then it’s decided that the rate per running meter length for road cutting of MSEB cable lying will be approximate Rs 1000/meter. Though this rate is also too much but all other purposes it is still Rs 4000/meter! Means if a person has to lay a cable for MSEB say 300 feet then he has to pay nearly Rs 4 lacs to PMC for road cutting charges when with any logic the amount don’t come more than 1 lac to do the road of best quality for this length. Actually in first place this is infrastructure work & is supposed to be done by MSEB only but as they don’t have enough funds it’s agreed mutually that it will be carried out by the person/ institute who is in need of the supply. On the top of it one has to pay 15% as supervision charges to MSEB for this work. Now if the MSEB is laying the cable they are charged at rate of 1500/meter but if the same cable is laid by private person then it’s charged more than 2.5 times! Why? No idea! Leave apart power cables or telephone cables, the same rate is applicable for water line development or drainage line development which actually is part of PMC infrastructure! Does all these departments pay such amounts to the road department when they carry out the work, is the question common man will like to know! Many a times when the drainage line or water line is passing through the embankment where paving isn’t done yet the same rate of road digging is applied.

One will think this is typical builder's cry (like Crocodiles weeping) as it's them who is getting pinched here & what matters if they have to squeeze out some money for city development? Well, point taken but then from whom the builder is going to recover this money? And this is why I keep on pointing out towards such issues which on surface looks like harmless enough for common man but in actual all such things makes an home un-affordable for him! Nobody is against the charges but there should be some yard stick & they should be reasonable, not less or more! As every single rupee added wrongly on any new construction is making the home costlier for the citizens. I repeat its not that this is the only reason for making the homes costliear, there are other factors but unless we consider each & every factor & dealt with reasonably we won’t be able to reduce the cost of production of the homes!

No doubt again the roads should be maintained in roper condition & digging does make them sustainable to damage by wear & tear but why we require digging the road repeatedly this question also the local body should ask them self! Fact is the standard procedure of having service lines on both sides of the road & proper crossings at regular interval has not been followed along many roads in the city. It’s ok, we were developing & all good things don’t happen over night but why the new development should be punished for this lacuna? Here I will suggest something about this issue which is in a hot seat for few years now. Since last 5/6 years time & again the point has been raised about the road cutting charges, what I feel is keep a separate table with fixed rates per running meter for different road categories. We can work out the rate by sitting across with the road department engineers & settle this issue once for all. The present rate are high or low isn’t the issue lets work out the actual costing involved & freeze it for a year as well the simple & faster procedure for the same. As any delay in such clearance is going to delay the infrastructure setting of the city. What is happening is either the works are getting delayed or getting costlier or there is unauthorized road digging going on rampantly all around the city, making the city loose huge income, just to save the huge charges involved in road cutting is also a fact.

We can also allow the developer to get the road work done & get NOC for the same through the same person who is analyzing road cutting charges by charging 7-8% supervision fees of the estimate. As it has been observed even after paying the charges yet the patch of road remains undone & that's not the result we want. If we allow the concerned person then for his interest at least he will get the work done fast & immediately after the digging is done in a stipulated time span. Or else charge him the fines. Because timing is also important issue as we can’t allow the digging work going on for months & causing inconvenience to the other users just because permission has been sanctioned for the same.

 Another issue is we should acknowledge a fact that whether its power cable/drainage/water line/gas line/rain water drains all these are for strengthening the infrastructure of the city only & in ideal situation no consumer has to be required to dig the road at all, such should be the condition. But as we have yet to reach that stage to provide such network the consumer has to dig the road. Actually he is doing the job of the govt, so considering this aspect we should decide the road cutting charges.

 In no case we should allow overhead cables for whatever purposes it may telephone, internet or power as the losses are more & we are already short of power. Also no doubt about the maintenance costs incurred for the same are much more than underground. Aesthetics of the city is yet another issue for the overhead lines as we all know how the sky line looks with the number of power lines/cables crisscrossing our sky. Also the poles needs stays to keep it balanced & they are major obstructions on footpaths & cycle tracks, becoming the main cause of accidents as they are literally invisible at night time.

Here role of every body concerning to the city is important as its not for any community we are talking about but the rationality in the system so right from the elected members to public servant to NGO's every one has to speak out what they feel & stand behind the right way of charging.

Sanjay Deshpande

Chairman ,Envo -Power Committee,PBAP.

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Hon Environment Minister Sir…

Dear Mr. Jairam Ramesh,

Hon Minister of Environment & Forests, India.

First of all let me congratulate you, for completing 1 year at Environment & Forest Ministry, that too as for the 1st time we have got a minister for such a sensitive dept who has enough knowledge base to handle it & the passion too! I am writing this after going through a news in which it’s quoted you saying “To take the forest cover to 33% i.e. the ideal figure is impossible because of increasing urbanization”.This was said at Green Earth Summit 2011 as per the news. Then there was another news, very recent, about elephant entering in city like Mhysore & making havoc, indicating something is very wrong in our Development policies & we are unable to strike the balance between Cities & Forests!

Sir I am an urban developer as well a resident too! Urbanization is a fact & housing is need of the time, we try to strike the balance between Concrete jungles & a Natural jungle is all I can say. We have formed a cell of Environment at our builders association level as to make the developers aware is the imp task along with the customers. Eco housing is something very important aspect for any city & I try to do as much I can on any of the available platform & that's why when I got this mail id I thought of writing u, though I even don't know whether this will reach to u ever! I think we need to take more effort about this right from school level as Environment is one subject which one may read in books but have to learn in field! I have worked for forests, military & each experience has become a case study in itself.

Sir, right from the tree cutting issue, to river pollutions in the cities to alarmingly increasing imbalance of biodiversity ,many issues needs proper policy & not just emotional decision for which our rulers are famous for. Right now there isn't a single body which governs or takes responsibility of environment in the city. And on the front of controlling all these things we have Municipal Corporation, Collector, State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board, Irrigation Dept, Jeewan Pradhikaran (controlling water), Cantonments, Urban Development, State Environment Ministry, Central Environment Ministry & what not! My my! It’s like a school with number of Head Masters! And then there are State Electricity boards for power supply who are interested in securing their interests than just power saving as they are now private company!

We need to decide that who will exactly control the Environment along with the Urban Development & it’s out come & how we are going to make the number of homes that too affordable for the urban poor or we can say all segments of the society, so as a balance is made between the two demands i.e.  Environment Conservation & need of homes!

Many of present policies regarding the housing in Metros are mostly out dated or designed on the assumptions that all the developers are thief's (true at some extent) & to avoid development than to make a proper balanced development. Similar situation about forest dept, so many obstacles that when I was working in Ranthambore forest the concerned officer in charge over there was afraid of digging even a boar well within core area, when that was the only source of water to make the animals around survive in hot summer.

Our country is large & probably the most diversified, speaking along scales of Geography, Geology, Culture & Economy. And all these four factors decide the faith of environment of a locality. For example you cant have the same rain water harvesting techniques which you will use in Rajasthan where rainfall if 5" to 6 " per year, in city like Pune ( where I reside) which has rain fall of nearly 29" per year. Then we need to consider their years of life style of using water & economic conditions to sustain the systems we will be using for treating or reusing the water! And this is just one issue of water we are talking about, there are hundreds of such to dealt with, region wise. When we talk about any Metro we just think about Public Transportation, Water & Cheaper Homes & Slums! Is that all? A city isn't just human beings around, it’s the every animal who lives in & around & trees too. Agreed I myself am a builder & know the importance of proper housing, but are we restricting the word housing to just human beings? Then who will take care of all the other living species around! As a city doesn’t mean just human beings within, it’s for all those who reside within, even the trees! The trees are bound to give the way for homes but then who will give way for new trees & how? Today literally ever Municipal Corporation have different ideas but same DC rules & the change takes so long that the cause vanishes till the change in rules come. For e.g. the development plan of my Pune city, it’s nearly 8 years now it hasn't final, then how one can assure proper Environmental control if we don't have the Development plan itself! Now, people will ask what the connection between D.P & Environment is! Well for the very basics, we can start planting trees categorically along the proposed road from right now so when the traffic will increase we could have the trees grown & ready to absorb the emitting CO2! Similar situation about the power ( electric) demand of the city, till we don’t know which area will be under what use, how we are going to plan the power network in the city, which again usually laid along the roads! As well the receiving stations & substations space allocation for proper distribution is must & which is part of the DP. These are just few smallest examples. And we are not being able to do it is a fact.

About forests also, it’s the surrounding people's approach towards the forests which is going to decide the faith of that forest. Sitting in Metros we won’t be able to decide the policy about the Tigers which are reducing each day. The issues of individual forests, like any urban city has to be planned region wise & a draft plan with dead lines to follow has to be prepared. Right now we have Tiger Task Force since last three /four years but what’s the actual outcome? I don't doubt the sincerity of the task force members but repeatedly Tigers are reducing in numbers is also a fact; rather the force seems to be focusing on Tigers & not jungles around the tiger. As the tigers only are not going to survive, it’s the whole chain of species right from its preys to human being around i.e. tribes, which needs to be preserved then only the tiger will survive. And this chain deals with habitat conservation so again we end up at square one of Cities vs. Forests issue & who rules what! 

And again it's not just Tiger, as today it's the tiger who is taking the leash, tomorrow it will be Panther then even the Lomdi or Fox will get vanished. Ultimately they don't have hordes of Karyakarta's running the rallies or Neta's to take care of their interests, it’s people like you & me who have to look after them.

I know we can’t have all the solutions overnight leave apart the results but at least try in systematic manner & let’s go the root level & with wide open view. It's situation around any city in our country & we need a single controller at this front. Any assistance from our side will be at your service is all I can say.

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Don't blow it- good planets are hard to find...PaoloCoelho.

In tune with the great author,World Environment Day (WED) is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and public action. It is on 5 June. It was the day that United Nations conference on Human & Environment began. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from 5–16 June 1972 in Stockholm. It was established by the United Nations Assembly in 1972. The first World Environment Day was on 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5 June. World Environment Day is in summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. World Environment Day is similar to Earth Day, but with wider concept, covering the issues which are related to human as well other species. Each year different theme is adopted & its lead by different country. Last years theme was "Forests-Nature At Your Service". Forests cover one third of the earth’s land mass, performing vital functions and services around the world which make our planet alive with possibilities. In fact, 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. They play a key role in our battle against climate change, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere while storing carbon dioxide. Thousands of activities were organized worldwide, with beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events and much more. Similarly 2010's theme was "Many Species, One Planet, One Future”, was the theme of 2010 Earth Day. It celebrated the incredible diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. This year's global host, Rawanda– a country of exceptional biodiversity that has made huge strides on environmental protection – leaded the celebrations with three days of keynote events.

On the back ground let’s see what’s happening at our end? As in any Metro the scene is same here may it been Pune or Mumbai or Chennai. Our country has now clearly been divided in Urban & Rural & no two minds that needs to conserve the environment more! With more & more people tending to live in Cities it’s obvious that the balance of nature too is shifting as we live on Natural resources & with more people living in lesser area the problems are bound to happen. Right now we are consuming all the natural resources right from Water to Fuels like the world is going to end tomorrow only!  Most of the cities are facing problems of Water & Power shortages, Sound pollution & Air pollution are at peak & Green Cover is rapidly decreasing along with the bio-diversity around. Public transport not only within the city but even connecting the cities is also very inadequate. If you don't believe me then go to any railway station or bus station & ask for the ticket of next train or bus connecting to another major city! You don't get it; the reservation charts of railways gets full within the minutes of the booking get opened! We are heavily depending on our own transport leading to use of more fossil fuels i.e. Diesel/Petrol leading to more emission of more carbon dioxide. We are unable to breech the gap between poor & rich & that's giving avenue to more slums. Now many a will say what it has to take with Environment? It’s the disparity which makes a man to forget about the Environment & chase his basic needs which again loads the deteriorating Environment. For e.g. a person living in slum don't have basic infrastructure like drainage, so naturally he choose an adjoining river or open space for the same & the result is known to us. Well, what is Environment Conservation after all? Its nothing but to protect & conserve natural resources right from the air we breathe to the water we drink & to keep the surrounding we live in livable for a common man along with other species from sparrow to smaller trees!
And what we are doing instead? We have forgotten about maintaining biodiversity i.e. that there are other species also on this earth who belongs to be here with us & we run Save Tiger campaigns by sitting in our Living room & via sms's or logging in some web sites to show our support for Save Tiger movement & think we are caring for Environment! We blame on Govt & ever other entity for every wrong thing happening regarding Environment & don't bother even to segregate dry & wet garbage of our own house! Cool, Ignorance is the bliss, is what wise men had said & I found it true when I look at such attitude of people in cities! So, what right we have to even read about WED? I think answers do not lies somewhere else but within.

Instead for waiting for some other agency & provide us better Environment there are so many things which we can do by our own self & then only we can expect assistance from others. Here many a will ask what as an individual I can do on such a huge problem? Exactly there lies the answer as the efforts starts from this very understanding i.e. the search of this question! First of all try to focus on your own daily life & how you can contribute on various aspects? Basic issues are very simple & short in numbers. You need clean & fresh air to breath, clean potable water is a scarce commodity & how you can save it? Garbage is the biggest threat to every town & city & you can think how you can reduce the generation of garbage at your end as well assist in treating/recycling what ever has been generated. Agreed public transport isn't in your control but you can think of going a step forward & ask them for car pool for your work travel or even for jointly sending your kids to school by one of the neighbors car by turns of each one saving on time as well fuel. You can think of trying to utilize rain water in your premise & reduce water wastage in your complex. You can think of using solar water heating system & reduce use of electricity, also think of using less power consuming utensils as well maintain them regularly by proper servicing of the same, so as they run on optimum power. Try to plant a tree by your self & make it survive. Let’s decide that you won’t be honking the horns of your vehicles & wont burn fire crackers along with the banning loud bands in your family celebrations. Try to share with those who have no access to many good things in life such as sponsoring a trip however small it may be a nature trip for a poor boy when you are taking your own kids to a summer trip. This will not make only the poor boy's holiday but will give him exposure to the things which otherwise are difficult to teach by mere words. And we can take lead for making aware our fellow members if living in a society thus not restricting our keenness to save the Environment to our own self!

Last but not least try to support the people who are doing something positive about the Environment by knowing their work & then by associating your self with them in any way. This we can know while buying a product right from home to a small bulb, which may be a bit costly in compare to other bulb but ends up saving your electric bill. And don't wait for somebody else doing this job for you as unless & until you don't consider as it's Your Environment ,you are not entitled to celebrate the WED i.e. World Environment Day in real means!


--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life

Sky bus to Sky Walk... What next?

Transportation spending is a win-win proposition…Tim Bishop

Now days the news paper should get levied by the entertainment tax for the kind of entertainment they provide by the various news especially about the new announcements regarding our beloved Pune city & the Pandora box that opens after the news! Many may feel exaggeration about my statement but see this sequence of some news about public transport of our city! Some 7-8 years back there was news about Sky bus which is claimed to be successful in other cities & even a demo has given & people started dreaming about one. Then suddenly some sky bus got accident in Goa & silently the proposal scraped up. Then there was BRT which is still making news but mostly for its failure though the try is on! In between there was Mono rail & the Metro, about which no body is speaking when & how? And now Sky walk! One day a news has come about standing committee clearing Sky walk  immediately next day there are columns of news that how the parties are opposing & claiming the Sky walk has been wrongly approved & is for some individuals benefit & things like that! And then a news come that the same people who have agreed up on the Sky walk proposal has given refusal about it! I don’t doubt their intentions & respect it very much regarding the genuinely towards the citizens of the city! Yet for a path breaking decision like going for Sky walks isn’t it a short time to accept the proposal & within 48 hours turn away the same? Agreed as per the quote of the great planner Tim Bishop, Transportation spending indeed is a win-win situation but for whom, is the big question here?

Well well if after so many examples still you doubt my statement about entertainment tax on news? At least if our rulers can’t save us from buying petrol for our vehicles at 70/ litter yet they are making us to smile for some reasons! I always wonder whose job is this really to ensure that to make such sensitive proposals which are supposed to be in the interest of the city & then only put forward for approval instead every time ending up with mockery of them? Have we not some capable personnel or we don’t want them to be involved in such proposals? In one of my recent write-up I have said affordable housing is everybody’s responsibility & one major step in making a home affordable is try to save on other expense & right now petrol expense is the maximum after education for any middle class family. Every family has minimum 2/3 two wheelers & a four wheeler for week ends. Today you go for interview of any job first they ask you about having two wheeler rather at many organizations that’s a must condition for the job & it’s indeed a need too! What does it indicate? It indicates common man's distrust of the public transport of this city & people prefer to spend on buying a private vehicle & keep its tank filled rather than to wait for a public vehicle which no one trust that will come in time & take them to their destinations. Many will think what it has to do with affordable housing but every rupee spend on petrol could have been saving which eventually could have been used for buying a home. After all affordable housing is not something coming from the Gods wish but it’s a thing which you & I have to do! When we say something affordable means like a cup of tea which a street worker can get at 2/-, a middle class person can get at "amrit tulya" (tea shop) at 5/- , a higher middle class can get at Vaishali at 15/- & a top class guy can get at 100/- plus in any five star joint; in nut shell each can have a cup of tea as per his requirement & capacity.

Can we say something like this about Public Transport? Ask any citizen of the city & he will say the first problem is commuting within the city & here every body have to try for their own solution as no option have been there by the system is a fact. Naturally all have to spend more than what public transport system could have done & here we start making the ultimate product i.e. the home costlier. We are unable to provide proper education at cheaper rate neither we can make a system which assures the people to keep their private vehicles at home & yet to reach their destinations in time in cheaper way & we expect them to have money to buy home & for the loan installments! To whom we are fooling? Our own self & nobody else!

Now we have come up with the idea of Sky walk, why it hasn’t shown in any of the development plan yet neither who are going to use them? Who has finalized the routes & on what basis? Why can’t we first get the existing footpaths in proper shape & make them free of encroachments first? Why it’s always insisted that PMC wont have any financial burden? What’s harm if the city pays for its own infrastructure? So many questions even a common man can have in his mind which we underestimate! Why don’t we just focus on one system of transport & let it run to its fullest? PMT is there & still so many of the people believes in PMT may be because of sheer monopoly but yet they use it. And so many of bus stops even don’t have shade to make their wait comfortable in rains or in summers & we are thinking of their walking comfortable! I am not commenting against Sky walks, just trying to remind the concerns that nothing can be executed by words of mouth & remember we can’t fool for a longer time to the crowd by making just popular announcements!

Long back in our childhood there was a prank in which one guy used to ask other " Tula Kapuskondyachi gosht sangu? (Shall I tell you story of Kapuskonda?) On which when the other guys replies “Sang (Yes)", then the first guy use to say “Sang kay mhantos, tula Kapuskondyachi goshta sangu?" (What yes? shall I tell you story of Kapuskonda?)And the teasing goes on, at the end the other guy used to get irritated & realizes that he has been victim of a prank as there was no such story of Kapuskonda! When I read such news every day about new promises by our rulers to the citizens about infrastructure I remember this story because here it’s like a prank being played on us by announcing each day something new especially about the Public Transport. Yesterday it was Sky bus, today its Sky walk, I wonder the day isn’t long where we will be told Sky Choppers i.e. Helicopters are going to be introduced to solve the traffic problems!

Let’s realize the pranks friends or else it will be too late for us & then nothing we will have left with us except the hefty bills of our daily needs which we only will have to pay!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blog to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16939159@N05/sets/72157625491480779/

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Think Green, Think Life