04.25.07
How we can improve Pune
Kerala is nice and green since there is no industry there; and also because Keralites go to other places(like Pune) and work. So if all of us have to go to Kerala on vacation and want it to be clean and green, we need to ensure that we have sufficient jobs in Pune, for Keralites.
That said(how much weirder can I get), now that we have decided on why we need to have jobs in Pune, we can concentrate on other peripheral issues.
More jobs, be it in IT, call centers or manufacturing, means more people coming in. More people coming in means that we need more shops to provide goods and services, more hotels, hospitals, schools, housing. We also need more policemen to ensure that the people to police ratio is maintained, so that the crime rate stays low. Infrastructure too needs to keep up. Power supply and water need to meet the demand. IT companies need and expect 24 hrs of interrupted power and internet lines every single day.
Let’s look at these issues one by one. Let’s start with the roads.
Say the roads were designed for 1000 vehicles to ply every hour, every day. Maybe, if pushed, they can take 1500 vehicles every hour, but not the 10000 that is the current rate. The only way to ensure that the roads do not fall apart and pollution remains within check is to ensure that we have a good public transport system. Unfortunately we do not. PMT is the shabbiest, dirtiest, uncleanest means of public transport. We need to have something like BEST- double decker buses that are well maintained. Or that need little maintenance. We could think of trams and metros and overhead rails, but most of these systems are expensive, take time to kick in and help only a small portion of the population that can afford the high fares. Also the way Pune is built, it’s impossible to have a train service run straight through it. Overhead rails or an underground metro would help, but that really requires some planning and implementation. Buses would be the best solution.
To make buses appealing and take care of maintenance costs, we could have them sponsored by companies that can paint their ads on them. Most cities abroad do this. In fact, the whole bus is painted including the windows, but passengers inside can look through. A quick way of getting people to use this is to have buses well connected and with a greater frequency to colleges, workplaces at peak times. This will ensure that office goers and students are not held ransom by the 8:30 bus that comes every 2 hours.
Student discounts will make this service more popular. This will reduce the impact on the roads and maintenance costs. This will also reduce pollution, which is the main reason for the extreme weather in summer.
Vehicle road tax should be increased substantially, once we have the consensus that public transport is good. Only then, else we will have a riot on our hands. The extra tax will ensure that plying a private vehicle on the roads is prohibitive and doesn’t really provide a value for the citizen when compared to public transport.
Power is another big issue. More people coming in and hotter summers, means that power is consumed to the maximum. Unless we look at this situation seriously, we will end up in a Delhi like ‘power cut’ situation everyday in summer. Solar panels? India thankfully gets a lot of sun. Pune should ensure that it capitalizes on year long solar energy and harnesses this to be a viable power source. All street lights should have solar panels, all water heaters should be run on solar energy. We really need to explore this avenue and be the country’s first solar powered city.
More vehicles on roads mean a greater chance of accidents and road rage. Emergency facilities like ambulances need to gear up to meet this challenge. We need to have a network of hospitals that are geared up to attend to accident victims. This network needs to be well spread, so that victims do not succumb during the long drive to the only government hospital, but can be rushed to any private nursing home close by.
Green belts. With more buildings going upwards, builders are ensuring that valuable real estate is not wasted along the ground. Play spaces are now in short supply. This is not really a big issue since most kids are hooked to television and other sedentary activities. We need to ensure that we have green spaces in every locality and buildings are granted permission only if they promise to plant x number of trees and also pay for some of the nearby infrastructure like the road leading to the complex.
Increase in people, houses, restaurants means that waste generated is a lot more. Garbage needs to be properly collected and disposed, else we could be the next Surat. There are towns in India that have done this well, and ensured that garbage is used to generate fertilizer.
Use bathwater to flush the loo? Or have the bath and wash basin water recycled to water the greenbelts.
Migrant labor too comes into the city with the need for more domestic help or manual labor. This means more people in slums living in closer proximity and a greater chance of escalating emotions in that area. Unfortunately we do not look at this as a problem, or as ‘our problem’. It will be, when the differences between the haves and have-nots really become huge.
At the end of the day we’re becoming more affluent and consuming more resources from this planet and not helping the planet heal. We need to correct this and correct this quickly.
And coming back to Kerala.
This also means that now, with more people with money to spend, there will be more people going to Kerala on vacation. Now that means Kerala’s infrastructure needs to be upgraded. And that also means… Wait a minute haven’t I heard this argument someplace, Lola kutty?
(I’m sure I must have missed quite a few issues here. And there’s more to this problem. Please add your comments to supplement this discussion.)
Pari said,
February 13, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I think this has been quite well thought out, of course more can be done, unfortunately the civic leaders in this city do not seem to have a clue, one of the things one must realise here is that Pune grew this way mainly because its image as a green city. Sadly that is now fast disappearing. It will be well in the interest of builders and contractors, who are so busy destroying the very haven they are selling, to see to it that huge green spaces are maintained in every developing area. I do not mean landscaping but leaving some of the wilderness in its original form without turning it into a dumping grounds for construction and other wastes. Have you seen the state of the river, I am sure you have. If wildernesses are left alone it will at least ensure that the flora and fauna indigenous to Pune will have some chance of surviving. Aesthetic architecture, more in tune with the surroundings and the other buildings would also help create a more consistent look that appeals to the eye. There is much to be done, I hope that the face lift Pune is about to receive for the sake of the games will not be just that; an outer cosmetic change. Pune needs so much more and the sooner the better.
Keep sharing your views maybe someone somewhere will sit up and listen
Best Regards
Pari
Naveen said,
May 31, 2007 at 6:57 pm
well, I completely agree with the original article and also the comment .. infact when I was reading the article ,..at first I thought its me who has written this !.. I must say .. u read my mind !. the concept of asking the builders to plant trees and pay for the approach road has crossed my mind several times. Even the concept of putting some kind of charges for people who prefer using their private vehicals to public transport !..
Some of the developed countries has a concept ot ERP, which is electronic road pricing !. what happens here is that there is a gadget installed in every vehical which has a cash card and the moment the vehical passes underneath the ERP system , it deducts some minor amount like a few cents or during the peak hours it may be around a few dollars. ! I think this system not only ensures that people pay for the roads as and when they use it .. it also reduces the congestion in some of the crowded places during the peak hours. Beleive me it works !.. and its completely automated and no human involved.
It might take us sometime to have such a system, but I am sure meanwhile we could have some other way to collect funds from every vehical user in small amounts and collect large funds soon !. just a rough calcultion says that if pune has 1 million private vehicals and if everyone pays just 1 rupee per day we would collect 1 million rupees everyday !. if that doesn’t sound realastic ..it could be categorized.
One of the other thing that I have noticed is that the roads in pune sometimes are quite broad but they are not equally surfaces and there is no lane markings .. which results in only 1 lane traffic moving on the road while the road is capable of easily supporting 2-3 lanes. I have been to a lot of other asian countries like malaysia , thailand and singapore , I have noticed that even the remote areas have such roads which are properly lane marked and this really helps in moving the traffic faster !.
Guys, should “WE” do something .. can we list down the points properly and have a way to present it to the PMC or even get it printed somewhere like newspaper ? I mean all of us here are talkin the same thing .. but how do we make a difference . what should we do ourselves at a individual level? I am really keen in doing something at my level !. could you suggest ?
Prajykta Patil said,
June 1, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I agree Naveen. This needs to go in some newspaper. We need to circulate this through our company intranet sites. I will post this link to all my friends and seek a reaction. That was a good long post
Swaroop Bhide said,
June 8, 2007 at 8:59 am
1) The traffic police & the traffic department in general , should
discipline road users (including pedestrians) with very very very harsh measures
2) The traffic police should use a whip (literally) to discipline all
‘road offenders’
3) The traffic police should deflate the tyres of offenders’ vehicles
instead of charging fines
4) The traffic police should redefine the term ‘road users’ to include
‘pedestrians’ (as even the pedestrians do not have the sense to cross or use
the road especially at squares, mind you that pedestrian is a person whose mode of locomotion on the road is ‘feet’ , be it a Tata , Birla or an Ambani who has just got out of his car )
5) The traffic police should concentrate on severe punishment and & not
on earning revenue through fines & create the fear of God in the minds
of road users
6) To hope that traffic situation will improve if everyone follows
rules is utter delusion . This is like saying ‘the world will become a
better place if everyone becomes a saint’ The question to ask is ‘Will
everyone follow rules by self-motivation” The answer is an emphatic
“NO”
7) road condition & traffic discipline have no direct relation. One
simple example is if a road condition improves , the traffic becomes
wild in the extreme. So the root cause is the mindset of the road user
and the need of the second (not need of the hour as it is too late now)
to attack the mindset head-on.
situation to improve or else where will they get their revenue ? That is
why I put the entire blame on the traffic department for not being sufficiently HARSH and in turn worsening the situation.
Swaroop.Bhide
M S Tanna said,
July 17, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Yes, Kerala is very nice…now I know the real reason.
I also know now how many people are stuck with property they bought thinking that Keralites will continue to come and keep buying houses
in Pune forever. Thank God the property boom is over. Suddenly you have started finding that rates are going down, builders who did not have 1BHK and 2 BHK flats have only them now and are giving discounts.
There were no plots available about 3 months back - now there are plenty.
The lucky one will SELL when the prices are at the peak others will lose out.
Who is bothered about Pune anyway. We are here for business. Bought a flat at rock bottom prices about 3 years back and sold it at a neat profit before the prices go down further.
Thank you Pune. Good Bye.
rajendra pawar said,
February 20, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Naveen even I am eagre to go to Kerala to keep it green and plesant, while you find jobs for them in Pune.
thank you, bye
R.K.Pawar
Naveen said,
February 25, 2008 at 8:24 pm
well, not quite, I think the readers are missing out on the real point here.. neways .. don’t know what would really happen though ..but i did start doing my bit by ensuring atleast I follow the tracffic rules , I don’t throw rubish on the roads , I plant trees whenever I get the chance, I use electricity and water carefully , I take a walk or public transport and try avoiding the use of my car as far as possible , I care for my city and I do feel that this is what education has given me.