I asked the residents yet another simple question. I asked them where they lodged a complaint in case of a power failure. Again, they were clueless. ‘Lodge a complaint? Is that possible?’ was their reaction. Suddenly I felt immensely proud to be a Keralite and of the fact that KSEB is a very ‘efficient’ organization. Down south, you swear the moment the lights go off. You call KSEB all the names that you have learnt since childhood. But, at least, you have some system in place and the fact that people are well informed makes all the difference.
Yes, India is not self sufficient in meeting its electricity needs. Fine, but what is required is action and also information regarding the same. The citizens must be well informed and must have clarity in such matters of concern.
Another shocking discovery during my initial days in Gurgaon was that you don’t have any public transport system. The only mode of transport available is overcrowded autorickshaws in which you hang on to the autorickshaw as though in some chase scene in the climax of Priyadarsan movies. Including the driver, 16 people travel ‘comfortably’ in this super carrier. And, you don’t have ‘those kinds of autos’ as you find elsewhere, where 1 person can independently hire the auto for his or her private use. It is totally unknown and unheard of in this part of the country.
Forget about buses. Apart from a few that you can count with your 5 fingers, you cannot find buses plying from one destination to the other. Even those few buses run in a straight line route between two destinations. To go to places located in various sectors, either you hire the cycle rickshaws or walk or have your own vehicle or even worse, beg for a lift.
If you take the officials of the transport department of the Haryana Government to cities like Calicut, Cannanore or Cochin (to Kerala for that matter), they would go crazy seeing the huge number of buses plying between all possible destinations. No wonder if they go on to ask, “Why the hell do you have so many buses? People need to have their own vehicles.”
Traffic jam is assuming its worst possible forms day by day as people resort to own vehicles even to go to the market to buy a needle or a packet of milk. The affordability and showbiz is so high that people do not prefer to drive a bike to the market, but rather show case their most expensive cars. Result-Lengthy cars-difficult to maneuver-more traffic jams.
Come rainy season (an annual event that lasts for 7 days), things get an added flavour. Even after the slightest drizzle which has less intensity than a child peeing, you may be tempted to believe that you are in flood-affected-Mumbai. You will have to literally wade through water that would get stagnated within minutes for want of drains to flow into. I think text books of civil engineering taught in engineering colleges of Haryana do not have the chapter pertaining to drainage and sewage disposal systems. That might be the reason the PWD engineers are not aware of the fact that you need to drain water after it rains or you need to have good waste water drainage system.
Even for a single day, if it rains with the same intensity as it rains in Kerala or Karnataka, trust me, Gurgaon will be totally submerged. It would be a good option to put the PWD civil engineers on a training program in one of the towns in Kerala so that they can study ‘Effective methods of disposing water’. One week of training during the monsoons would be more than sufficient.
The Haryana Government is supposed to be one of the richest state governments. In spite of that, the performance and fund utilization is pathetic and condemnable. Only if the people react, will be situation get any better. And also, they should not commit the mistake of electing under performing governments for consecutive tenures as it is in the present situation.
I welcome you all to have a taste of this unique ‘Gurgaon experience’, after which you will have more respect and pride towards the city in which you currently reside.
Welcome to the Millennium City!!!
Yes, India is not self sufficient in meeting its electricity needs. Fine, but what is required is action and also information regarding the same. The citizens must be well informed and must have clarity in such matters of concern.
Another shocking discovery during my initial days in Gurgaon was that you don’t have any public transport system. The only mode of transport available is overcrowded autorickshaws in which you hang on to the autorickshaw as though in some chase scene in the climax of Priyadarsan movies. Including the driver, 16 people travel ‘comfortably’ in this super carrier. And, you don’t have ‘those kinds of autos’ as you find elsewhere, where 1 person can independently hire the auto for his or her private use. It is totally unknown and unheard of in this part of the country.
Forget about buses. Apart from a few that you can count with your 5 fingers, you cannot find buses plying from one destination to the other. Even those few buses run in a straight line route between two destinations. To go to places located in various sectors, either you hire the cycle rickshaws or walk or have your own vehicle or even worse, beg for a lift.
If you take the officials of the transport department of the Haryana Government to cities like Calicut, Cannanore or Cochin (to Kerala for that matter), they would go crazy seeing the huge number of buses plying between all possible destinations. No wonder if they go on to ask, “Why the hell do you have so many buses? People need to have their own vehicles.”
Traffic jam is assuming its worst possible forms day by day as people resort to own vehicles even to go to the market to buy a needle or a packet of milk. The affordability and showbiz is so high that people do not prefer to drive a bike to the market, but rather show case their most expensive cars. Result-Lengthy cars-difficult to maneuver-more traffic jams.
Come rainy season (an annual event that lasts for 7 days), things get an added flavour. Even after the slightest drizzle which has less intensity than a child peeing, you may be tempted to believe that you are in flood-affected-Mumbai. You will have to literally wade through water that would get stagnated within minutes for want of drains to flow into. I think text books of civil engineering taught in engineering colleges of Haryana do not have the chapter pertaining to drainage and sewage disposal systems. That might be the reason the PWD engineers are not aware of the fact that you need to drain water after it rains or you need to have good waste water drainage system.
Even for a single day, if it rains with the same intensity as it rains in Kerala or Karnataka, trust me, Gurgaon will be totally submerged. It would be a good option to put the PWD civil engineers on a training program in one of the towns in Kerala so that they can study ‘Effective methods of disposing water’. One week of training during the monsoons would be more than sufficient.
The Haryana Government is supposed to be one of the richest state governments. In spite of that, the performance and fund utilization is pathetic and condemnable. Only if the people react, will be situation get any better. And also, they should not commit the mistake of electing under performing governments for consecutive tenures as it is in the present situation.
I welcome you all to have a taste of this unique ‘Gurgaon experience’, after which you will have more respect and pride towards the city in which you currently reside.
Welcome to the Millennium City!!!
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