Pashan area, Pune: Once a small time village, now a thriving part of Pune with construction giants pulling the most Elite and sophisticated crowd. But what's the strategy to pull sensible and really educated people here? Because no matter how highly qualified they are, they still do not know how to turn their vehicles using the the Circle. They have not been taught that India is a country where driving is done on the left side.

CYG blessed us with huge four lane roads, but unfortunately did not leave a pamphlet or booklet that would teach us the rules to be followed while driving down them. So, the residents made their own rule book -

1) Coming from the wrong side proudly flickering the upper light and honking is a norm that has to be followed or else you will never reach where you have to go. 

2) Cutting before the circle rather than go around it saves you two rupees worth of petrol as does the drive in the fast lane from the wrong side.  

3)Making groups and chatting is what the Elders in this area teach their kids so learn and spread the message.

4) And the Prominent personalities with big butt cars teach how to stop exactly at a turning so that people who want to take a turn are inconvenienced.

I wonder which school all these people went to? And these are the same people who say that us youngsters have no respect for the law and the country and blah blah blah..... And where may I ask is our beloved Traffic police? There happens to be a police station on pashan road and Chandani chowk so I guess they are busy fighting whose jurisdiction area should handle this.

We have the Headquarters of the CBI, for crying out loud, on the onset of the road towards Pashan from University. If this isn't crime, can someone please explain the exact meaning of it? Because I went to a school that has taught me the exact opposite of what goes on around me and if I have to survive, I need to know the real rules of this godforsaken world!!!

 On Wednesday, 10 June 2009 Pune Mirror Published an article "GenXcellence"about the Young Entrepreneurs of the City. It felt great to see the young generation doing some extraordinary things but at the same time felt that why the media took so long to expose these jewels. All the guys were under 25 and most of them had already had setup their own business.

The community of Pune startup will surly help these startups at their initial stages but what about the later part. Its not that they can not grow on their own, surly they can but if the media exposes such startups to the world the time required will be little less. Instead of running behind actors/actress and sport persons for some silly gossips, they should put a column for such startups, where every week they can showcase new startup.

The article that published on 10 June made some impact. On the same day one Fm channel (S Fm) took a small interview of one entrepreneur that was in the "GenXcellence"article. And today (11 June 09) another Fm channel (Radio City) took the interview of two young entrepreneur Rohan Dighe and Sahil Khan. I even came to know that some political parties contacted some of the them (Hope these kids don't enter don't get involve in politics).

A single article have given them a big exposure. Hope the media exposes (not a sting operation) such startup and bring them in front of the world with their innovative ideas.

I am sure with the death of a 12 year kid by bus several people will come on road blaming the BUS operators, trafic police for there mis management of traffic and control the bus system, blaming PMC for roads and traffic conguction.

But has any one thought, is this child have enough knowledge to drive on roads, do he understand the road signals and rules. He is capable enough to judge the speed of upcomming vechile?

We have law for drivers on busy roads, it does not seam that because you are on cycle you need not need to understand the rules of driving.

Basically parents should undertake such responsibilities and should not allow them to be on road In other countries you are not even supposed to take your cycle on main streets unless you attend a specified age limit. But there is nothing done on that front.

We always start blaming traffic and bus management authorities but lets also think are we doing correct to allow these small kids taking bycycles on busy roads.

Parents neither bother about is the size of these bycycle good enough to be driven by there kid. Shame on that parent part

Your PUC has expired 15 days before.You have to pay fine of Rs 1000/- , What is your name,Where are you working bla bla...The only motive for these traffic constables is how to extract money from the poor guy.

No one bothers, how much is the PUC limit.How much authentic it is. As the driver is very much surprised by the fine amount , he easily agrees for giving bribe.

The question is why not police stand with the pollution check instrument and fine the real culprit. Another point is this certificate can be made easily without testing the vehicle itself?

Is anyone observing this daytime robbery by the Police?

I generally claim to my friends that I stay in one of the highest apartments in Pune. And that is also true! I stay in Kondhwa which is itself amongst the highest areas of Pune above mean sea level and then my apartment is on the 11th floor.

When I came to Pune, last monsoon, I would tell people that I get a breathtaking view of the entire city. I can see a long distance, up to the airport on one side and up to Sinhagadh on the other.

Ticky tacky box-like buildings in the city and lush green hills on the other side made my heart sing. Come winter and all that was to go.

 The greenery faded away with the increasing atmospheric dryness. Decreasing temperatures meant that SPM (suspended particulate matter) would stay closer to humans longer.

The visibility reduced drastically, from a few tens of kilometers, to a few hundreds of meters in the mornings.

First I thought it was fog. Now the winter is over, and the fog just won’t disappear. Every morning when I wake up, I see this dreary image.

 A real image. I feel terrible. I feel chocked and suffocated at the very sight of what I see. I wonder how I will breathe if I go down in the city…
Pollution levels in Pune are rising at an alarming level. In a city that gives shelter to almost 4 million people, there are almost 1 million vehicles that run the streets every day.

A city, that was once known as a hill station, where people would run away to on weekends for relaxation, has now become just another dirty city of India.
Boom of software companies and the good number of good educational institutes in Pune has greatly increased the expat population in the city.

This has led to an enormous increase in housing construction everywhere. This has also led to a massive increase in the number of vehicles on the streets. Add to that a pathetic public transport system that forces people to go and have their own vehicle.

 The mild cold climate of the city only helps the smog to stay suspended in the air for a longer period. It affects everyone. People do not realize this, but average lifespan will fall rapidly if things do not change soon.

Pollution levels in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad have fallen in the recent years. Mainly because of better town planning and public transport systems.

Here are two photographs, of the same part of the city that is very close to where I stay. One of the pictures is taken in August, in the middle of monsoon. The other pictures are taken in March, in the middle of spring.

This is suspended particulate matter, or simply smokes! That comes out of the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that ply all day on the streets of Pune.

 Especially those who use bad fuel, or have not got their catalytic converters corrected, or those that have a fake PUC certificate! Would you send your kid outside in this atmosphere? How many years will your kid survive healthy before his lungs fall prey to the blackness your car has emitted?

Here are just a few tips for the citizens and the corporation to make this place a better place to live… not just for you but for your child, and your child’s child…

• Rectify the catalytic converters in your vehicle, especially old vehicles.
• If your vehicle emits black or grey smoke, treat it as an alarm with utmost priority.
• Plant trees. Have plants in your home and society.
• Avoid the use of vehicles whenever possible.
• Avoid driving a car if the only person in the car is you.
• Start car pooling.

For the corporation / government:
• Carry out extensive landscaping in the city. Fill all dry and open spots with greenery: plants, trees or even grass.
• Drastically improve the quality of public transport.
• Introduce environment friendly public transport like metro rail, electric bus, monorail, etc.
• Implement stringent procedures to check Pollution Under Control certification of vehicles and impose heavy fines on vehicles emitting gases beyond safe levels.
• Restrict goods carriage vehicles like trucks and tempos from entering city limits.

These are just a few tips. At the end of the day, it will be your judgment and consciousness that will drive the change! I sincerely hope to see this place become a better city to live in. I hope… I sincerely do!

Note: None of the photographs are photoshopped.

 

Dear Concerned from Pune Mirror, I would like to bring in your notice that yesterday i bought Mazza Bottle from one retailer from Pimpri. Today, in the morning when I tried to open the bottle, it busted.

I am fortunate the i did not hurt in the same, but all the Mazza juice is spilled all over my room (walls / floor/ carpet/ roof).

The intensity of sound is that much that my maid servant working in first room come running as if the cylinder busted.

Requesting you to please visit my place, so that we can take appropriate action against the agencies who are selling sub graded products in the market. Even my flat is stinking like rotten egg.

If possible please contact me @09049999379 or give me your contact details so that i can bring this problem in your kind notice. Regards Rahul Kaul 

In a small town, a family named Kumar lived happily, the head of the family had a small business, with their only son and a small bungalow.

Behind the bungalow lived his driver called Rehman, he was little arrogant but honest and kind hearted and dedicated to his master.

He was always interested in baksheesh from his master but never received one. The place where he lived was a little garage with his three little daughters.

Rehman used to take master’s son Chinto, everyday to school and back home and treated him like his son. Rehman used to take Chinto to parks, and playarea every evening.

The Kumars were doing well in business, slowly everything grew big, the house, the kids, cars and the driver’s garage too. Kumars were very gentle by heart so Rehman’s big family got extended garage and the family remained happy with master’s kindness.

The whole family got dedicated to Kumar’s service. Still Rehman was expecting baksheesh from Kumar family, which he did not get.

One day the grown up Chinto, driven by his driver was stopped suddenly in the middle of the road. Rehman asked him "Master never gave me baksheesh for my loyalty till date". Chinto looked up and said keep driving, you will get it.

Soon it was marriage time of Rehman daughters and he did not have any money for the huge expense, but Mr Kumar gave lumpsum of amount for each daughter and got three daughters married off happily.

It was old age time, Chinto took over the control of the business, and Rehman was quite old to drive, Chinto asked him to retire and stay at the garage.

Few years later daughters used to visit their ailing father in the garage, Chinto took care of the loyal driver till his death. After his death he named the garage as Rehman Manzil, which was the big baksheesh given to Rehman after his death.

The story sounds fictional, but this relationship does not exist nowadays.

Well it was sweeping win for congress party this election season, to my surprise; I was expecting a hung parliament this year. But I think Gandhi family has played the magic again, and I too have high hopes with Mr. Rahul Gandhi and other young politicians, Also full marks should go to EC chief for free and fair/peaceful election, except incidents like Mr. Laloo running after press people with his gumcha during his voting time.

The voting was very low this time, major reason being names missing from the list, summer heat, people not interested in voting, and terrorist attacks has wounded the people badly mentally and physically. But Indian Democracy is not stoppable, congress has done a great job beating all the odds and silencing the opposition. Criminals are thrown out by people and they should be back into jails, cooling their heels.

Let’s hope the new Govt will start implementing held up reforms and do something new for an already battered economy. Rahul Gandhi still is raw but this five years will certainly geared him up for taking a PM position in next 10 Years, other young MP should contribute a lot to hope so our super power India. Right now it’s too early to predict something good it’s always a wait watch situation and certainly we do have positive signs of a stable Govt, with left thrown out in the Bay of Bengal.

In Maharashtra it was congress win because of fight within the local giants and poor campaign by other powerful parties. MNS got quite few vote packets, but they are still in baby feet stage in this huge democracy dome. Shiv Sena needs a change in leadership with much more powerful orator rather than just doing campaign in rural Maharashtra, they should boldly put their election agenda before people, because now Maharashtra would suffer with not a single Marathi manus in Delhi. Best way is patch of MNS and SS, making it stronger for next general election.

Mamtaji also played her cards wisely taking Singur issue in fore front, but if she keeps her motto like the left’s the progress of WB would again remain an issue. She should really put WB on progress track Best luck and happy fishing.

Well there is fresh blood from North, South, East, West of India next five years would certainly be fruitful for our economy with Mr. Manmohan Singh heading the super fast train.

http://virujay.blogspot.com/ 

 

Is BRTS a failure or is it TOI?

In Tuesdays Pune Mirror it it said to be proved that BRTS is a failure because it has been given an unrealistic part of the road space available. But this conclusion is based on an analysis of moving vehicles not people. The figures given are probably correct but the conclusions are all wrong. If you consider how many persons there are in each vehicle the buses should carry less than 20 persons per bus to be carrying the equal amount of persons as the 2-wheelers, the 4-wheelers and the rickshaws together. How many persons are the buses carrying in average? That is the question TOI failed to analyse.

It's a relief that the rickshaw walas in Pune are on strike. I reach my office 10 minutes early, the road is safer, the traffic is less and most importantly there is less polluted air to breath.


But this is just one side of the story, the strike is convenient for people like me who have there own vehicles, but what about the people who don’t have here own vehicle or cannot drive or tourists or people traveling.


The problem doesn’t get resolved with a week's strike, we need a permanent solution. The need of the public transport cannot be denied. We require more city buses that run on correct schedule with proper frequency. This is the same old demand, we need city buses, we need metro rails or something and bla..bla.


But strikes and buying two wheelers is not a rational solution for the common man in Pune. Cabs are too expensive and our roads are pretty small to accommodate them.


Proper public transport and proper roads, more than one approach road to every place is mandatory. Roads like S.B Road need a flyover. May be Metro is a dream but can Punekars not even have a proper city bus system?