Be warned, excessive use of exclamation marks!! I am an advocate of citizen responsibility, I feel citizens need to fulfil their responsibilities and do more where they can. That being said, these planners do everything in their ability to breed citizen apathy and they just suck out my positiveness at times and I don't like it one bit!!
Don't try to understand the city planners!
The more you try the more unbelievable the state of the city seems! But I seemed to have deduced this much - each one (the bureaucrat and his sidekicks) when rotated to each department have a target amount to make and plans for the changes to the city accordingly. Why else in this city that overflows with experts in each field (water, town planning, garbage, traffic management, etc etc) do we have one big mess all the time? Deaf ears - whoever must have coined that phrase definitely had these characters in mind.
Just do a Google on something like "pedestrian safety" ...... you will find articles from the 80s and 90s with the same issues, same suggestions .... the figures for pedestrian deaths are shameful for a city like ours - on an average 40% off all traffic related deaths in the past decade!!! Those who know me now know I have a good reason to be a terrified pedestrian!
Garbage!! call it what it is - why say solid waste management when all that is done is remove it from one persons doorstep and dump it on somebody elses'? This happened in this city even when I was a baby, I'm sure they even had "white paper" "road maps" "brainstorming" (wow! how advanced for government agencies to be doing something like this!!) even then to plan for the city's garbage!
Traffic and roads, I guess the lesser said the better! One day they build something that looks like stormwater drains, calls them "magic boxes", build huge road humps, calls them "flyovers", spends crores on them and now are breaking them down (in a span of a couple of years, if I may add) to build an "elevated highway" .... in the name of smooth traffic flow they make roads one-ways, cut trees to widen roads (which eventually end up as a bottle neck further ahead) and then go and allow parallel parking .... spend money on auto lanes, elevated pedestrian crossing and pelican lights, only to do a Houdini in a matter of months ... go on! do your things people, its not your money you are spending anyway!!! .... this is "lesser" said.
There have been a few agencies where good has been done. One day when I am feeling a little less catty and the claws are sheathed, I will definitely mention them (I also try to keep the blogs as short s possible :)).
I am not too fond of these city planners (I know! it is so obvious), they make me spew venom because what good could have been done little by little for my Bangalore over the years has been made one big Everest in each sector of city management. More opportunities for the next set of you-know-whos to come and make "plans" and their buck of course.
Looks like for the time being citizens sit back and watch. For those who believe prayers might work, lets begin with, "please give those planners some brains or even a hearing aid"!!!
