Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Forest, Tiger & Me!







“The book of forest has no beginning, as it has no end. Open this book where you will, and at any period of your life, and if you have the desire to acquire knowledge you will find it of intense interest, and no matter how long or how intently you study the pages, your interest will not flag, for in nature there is no finality.”  Jim Corbett.

These are the words I read when I have never ever been in a forest but its these & many such words from the greatest wild-life lover, conservator, writer whatever you call him, (I never liked calling Jim as hunter, not even man eater hunter) which made me to visit the forests &  there is no end to this passion! Every time I visit forests something new I get to see & when I get out of the forest I am a better man is what I feel by myself. Though of late I avoid forests in winters as the age is catching up & hecticness of forest routine makes the body takes toll, especially the winter mornings of Central India! Yet the addiction of those greens is such that rarely I can restrain myself that too when there is a cause like helping to the people who are real guardians of the forests. One such occasion came for touring Tadoba which by now has become tiger hub for all wild lifers, where we keep supporting in our little way to the guides as well guards by various means. This time its donating nearly 250 pairs of shoes to all the guides of TATR as well gate staff at Moaharli which is main entry gate to the park. I was accompanied by wife Ashwini & her collogue yogesh, who works on their own under RASA foundation for forest conservation.  In a cozy function we handed over the shoes to the guides at hands of Director Mr. Ganpati Garad who is a wonderful orator also & in his crisp sharing underlined the importance of role of guides in wild life tourism. That part will come later; also present were officers as well Dy Director Core Mr. Goeakr. What was more heartening, all the guards as well guides gathered for a group snap with us & thanked us for our support to them. It’s not that forest dept doesn’t care or support guides or the guards but then each of us in whatsoever way we can contribute is always welcome. Because forest conservation is not just job of some department or so called govt, as we too are equal part of that very govt! To my surprise there were nearly ten numbers of lady guides also present, which is important aspect as its sign that women are also joining wild life sector which was supposedly a male dominated one!
Though it was late November yet the infamous central Indian winter wasn’t at its best & I was glad for that, for two things, one as I mentioned earlier I myself doesn’t like cold much & second is sighting of not just tiger but other animals too is bit less in very cold weather! Obvious that with less water bodies, summers are always at its best for tiger sighting at Tadoba yet winter has  its own charm on forests, covering the entire terrain with every shade of green & even the animals wear darker & more colorful coats with the season! 

So here are some of my sightings i.e. "ankho dekha haal”…

We reached very late at tadoba after day long drive nearly 1100 km from Pune in one single day, thanks to Toyota Fortuner & with just 3 hours sleep were up for morning ride & still we reached to gate when most of the gypsy’s had been left & probably entered last in forest. There is always a debate about what is good position to enter in forest, while many veteran wild lifers are keen to enter first, logic is as all the night park is closed for tourists & tiger hunts mostly at night so it’s been on move & every chance to get some roaming tiger on road first to the first entrant. And once the vehicles start moving it might go inside from main track, though after visiting so many forests I have come to conclusion that most tigers are used to vehicles & unless it’s a new tiger or young we can say which are bit shy; the tiger cares a hang about vehicles! I witnessed many incidences even in this trip also to prove my logic which I will share eventually. And about entry in park many a times the late you enter there are equal chance of sighting a tiger which just by instinct has moved off-track from the road because of approaching sound of a gypsy & can come out when it feels the road is secure to move. As by now we all know tiger likes to walk on jungle roads than from the foliage or grass as it has soft pads in feet & to walk on road track is easy to walk without making any sound of crunching of dry leafs, which is essential while hunting as well lesser chances of injury to the paws in that way!
So first safari we entered late & best part of the forest is as you inhale the fragrance of greens in your lungs there goes your all tiredness, so did mine on that morning. Yet the sleep deprived eyes were not ready to give-up the sleep & I was trying to take in the fresh cool November air & sun was yet to come, entire surrounding was in misty mode. As our gypsy was taking turns through the bamboos thickset suddenly we saw two of the gypsy’s waiting ahead & people in that waving frantically towards us as they saw us approaching & the sleep has vanished from our eyes as I knew by the waving of those people that there has to be tiger somewhere around! And just when we stopped, there comes a tigress with collar around her neck, Choti Tara, & started walking towards us. By now over the years in forest I have started believing in luck as its hardly fifteen minutes we have entered in forest & a tigress is walking to me, a scene for which people longs days & days & many a times they have to return without even a glimpse of the tiger. Agreed I have seen enough tigers yet every time thrill & excitement is different, especially when such unexpectedly you encounter the animal, then its more! For a moment I felt sad for the waiting gypsy’s as its our vehicle which has got head on shots of the tigers but in forests luck keeps shifting gears, so part of game. And seems that day our luck was over flowing as our guide a veteran Tadoba man, Bandu Mankar, kept a finger on his lips & said “Sir bacchepan aahet” (sir, cubs are also around). In forest most important thing is silence as then only your hearing senses can help you & there you know how useless we are to use our natural senses like hearing or seeing or smelling! First I couldn’t hear anything but then when Bandu pointed figure to a direction in shrubs, I could hear a faint “miyaw”, yes its cubs & they do make sound like a domestic cat! The tigress also responded with similar whistle type sound & those who thinks tigers can only roar, for them, tigress makes a peculiar sound to call her cubs or to instruct them which is not at all a roar! And then responding to her calling, come jumping like toddlers two small cubs of just 2/3 months old, from the foliage on road. Again forest has surprised me as I was longing for such sight for years & let me admit frankly, the more you go to forest the more it makes you greedy for such longings! As however times you go to forest you know something you haven’t seen yet & forest never send you with empty hands especially if you are die hard wild lifer! Here I was witnessing one of the best sight in forest, a young tigress guiding her toddler cubs for outing & making them expose to the forest around, unaware of all the humans around & cameras shutters which were clicking like machine guns!

Real drama followed later, once the cubs vanished in grass land along with mother, we waited for half an hour & suddenly when we thought sighting is over then one of the cubs crossed the road behind our gypsy & again the tigress came on open road from the grass. It was wonderful winter morning, clear blue sky & bright morning sun lighting the forest, a light breeze flowing over the forest & those majestic yellow black stripes walking on red road from the dancing yellow grass with those piercing green eyes looking at you!  I reminded my-self how lucky I am to witness such sight & such scenes which pulls us towards the forest again & again at the same time tells us it’s my duty too, to save such environment! By now entire sleep from the eyes has vanished & it’s like a fresh start of the day.
While we were waiting for the tigress to come out, which is best time in forest as your all senses are alert, a slightest moment or sound you start noticing! And it’s this time when you see many things which makes you realize patience pays, as a tiny colorful butterfly silently landed on a small teak tree leaf near our vehicle & for a moment I forgot all about the tigress watching its wings flutter! The green leaf’s background was like a canvas for the multicolored butterfly & it was enjoying sun bath, unfazed by all the vehicles moments around which are focusing on tigress. In forest it’s not all about tiger but every second something is happening & its here you learn to take notice of smallest details around, a habit which has helped a lot back in my work & in home too!

Later three days thereon we explore tadoba forest & to my surprise even in winter the tigers kept us busy, Here I will share some inputs for those who complaints they didn’t have any sighting even in four or five safaris (which eventually happened for next three days after we left at Tadoba). Well, the reason is before summer to avoid forest fires, forest dept clears the dry leafs & branches fallen all along the forest trails. And numbers of workers are busy in doing the clearing work all day long, so there is lot of human moment in the forest which drives the animals deeper in forest i.e. away from vehicle routes! So while visiting the forests it’s important to get such information about park details. One more aspect is weather forecast as if its cloudy then that’s not good weather for sighting as well for photography. Though forest is best by me in any weather & situation yet for those who are first timers, I can understand their eagerness for tiger sighting & to avoid disappointment of lesser chances of sightings such information is important before you visit any forest!

After tadoba, though my plans were to return to Pune yet I got a call from a friend in Pench, MP & in spite my uncomfort for chilly winter of MP, I couldn’t resist temptation to visit there as pench forest is at its best in winter! Many people who have been to pench do like the forests but often comes empty hands on tiger sighting front. But my case is reverse, every single time I had been to pench I was gifted with some unique tiger sighting & this time also pench didn’t disappointed me! Here I will share a classic experience especially those who complains about not lucky about tiger sighting… We all long for just a glimpse of tiger when we go to forest but have we every thought what it takes to locate one single animal in the vast spread of the jungle? As per my experience, tiger sighting is mix of luck, patience & experience! I had just two safaris at pench & on evening safari when we were wandering on lesser known parts of forest, we came across a lone gypsy which has got a flat tire & we stopped for help. The guide of that gypsy said he thinks he heard tiger roaring in lantana bushes across. Our guide was a veteran named, hemraj said its territory of legendary collerwali tigress & she comes on road approx 5 pm, so we thought giving shot & wait. There were languor’s waiting & chitals herd grazing nearby & some fifty feet stretch of grass after which thickset of lantanas starts. Nearly 45 minutes waiting during which even the earlier gypsy left, suddenly a languor gave its typical scratchy alarm & the chital herd sprang away, means both of them have noticed the tiger & seen it also! From the lantanas the legendary collerwali tigress stepped out in the grass & with most stylish strides gave us a classy look, crossed the road & went to water hole across the road, drank water & vanished in the woods! The tigress has recently given birth to three small cubs & in total nearly 26 tigers she has gifted to Pench MP, till now; what a contribution, she was radio collared for safety of her cubs’ earlier, so she got nicknamed as collarwali tigress!! This is where experience & patience can make the difference in tiger sighting as well even knowing the forest better, as hemraj the guide has used his knowledge of memorizing the moment area as well time of the tigress & used it. This is what is expected from the guides especially with the tourists who are not regulars to the forest. At the same time the guides should use their expertise to make tourists understand finest details of the forest like behavior of other animals when they notice presence of tiger as all these things creates interest about forest in the minds of the tourists. Also the tourists should keep patience & trust in the guide allotted to them as many thinks guides & drivers are making time pass to save petrol, when they stop at one place after hearing alarm calls!

After I come back in Pune & posted few snaps on FB groups & there are real good groups like Sanctuary or CLAW or Tadoba Wild Images by Atul Dhamankar; this is very good platform of sharing information, knowledge about Indian forests. On one of groups some person has posted snaps of vehicles traffic jam type situation & frenzy of tourists to sight a tiger. I won’t name the park but I feel this is outcome of restricting park tourism areas by Hon Supreme Court. As take example of Tadoba, with all good officers working hard for park management yet the routes open for tourism are less, making whatever vehicles are in park coming at same spot again & again & especially if tiger moment is observed then more the reason. The route from Moharli to Kolasa range is closed so more vehicles moves in same zone. And you can’t blame tourists as they come all way round just for tiger, so whenever one sees a tiger everyone wants to have his piece of cake. Here the role of guides as well gypsy driver is very crucial as they have to satisfy the tourists’ demand of showing them the tiger yet it should not breech peace of the animals movement is to be observed. With due respect towards sentiments of all wild lifers & every species in forest, I personally feel every first timer to the forest should get to see the tiger! As that is what makes him come again & again to the forests & then he starts understanding how wonderful place forest is! And then only we can cultivate the seed of responsibility towards conservation of forest in him, so first step is tiger sighting! This aspect of wild life tourism should be bought to the notice of Hon Supreme Court to open every single piece of forest land to the tourists as its these people who will later help for conservation of the forests, only thing is the tourism should be controlled in such way that enjoyment doesn’t becomes botheration & that is possible by more forest staff & awareness. Closing down major part of forests or restricting tourism by stringent rules isn’t the solution as it’s these tourists which are eyes, nose & ear of forests. Many a time a wounded animal has been reported by the tourists before forest department comes to know about it, such is advantage. As well it’s in a way continues vigilance, so poacher’s movements also gets curbed; rather we can think of night safaris to avoid poaching which happens mostly at nights. And we can think of giving special license to regular tourists with entrance test like we conduct for driving license & then only allowing them for night safaris!

Remember each of us has a role to play in conserving the book named forest, at-least my forest trips have taught me that much & that’s what even legends like Jim Corbet also has been telling to us over the years! High time for all wild life lovers to get united on this conserving future of forests, forgetting about the status i.e. govt or private & act united. Because forests are habitats of millions of wild species of which tiger is at apex & if that gets vanished then with it will go charm or very purpose of our living, is all I know!

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

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Monday, December 12, 2016

Growing Up, a Journey is On!





“Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”… C.S. Lewis.

Clive Staples Lewis was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist & the person who wrote book like The Chronicles of Narnia! And who better than him can say words like above when it comes to aging & fairy tales as it’s the fairy tales like Narnia which keeps us in childhood mode always! That way now writing though not fairy tales, has become part of life & when I visit my own blog “Vision of Life” & see the number of articles has gone now over two fifty & the page views touching to sixty five thousand i.e. that many times my blog has been read, then I have to tell myself this is real! Earlier the subjects were mostly related to real estate or environment, then wild life joined the topics & then right from buying my son Rohit his first bike to letter to Hon Prime Minister, no subject was barred! And when December page opens in calendar I realize of getting one year older & then it’s time to write “Growing Up”! While starting the journey which started from Khamgaon, never had I thought will reach so far especially in a big city like Pune & will make myself some space of my own here!

Though I was or I am never able to write decidingly yet when it’s your birth-day, I take it as writing something like page of the diary or balance sheet of the year gone. Somehow for me birth-day is always like a mile stone where you stop for a while & look back at the journey completed & gather-up your own self for the road ahead. As one by one mile stones you leave behind & start thinking about the ones ahead, you realize what you have lost & what you have gained. For e.g. not very long back game of badminton was part of everyday ritual & game prone injuries were also part of those rituals yet a sprained ankle or back muscle used to get back to normal in a day or two which isn’t is case at forty eighth mile stone. Today also the game is equally dear to mind but body shouts back, “man no more torturing”. So the game has become alternate day from daily & now a back spasm takes even a week to get back the body to get normal! Well this indeed is a loss in the balance-sheet of life but then a shot missed or silly mistake from partner makes me laugh now which earlier used to irritate & shout; this is a gain in balance-sheet! If on one side physic has taken toll of the journey till now then the mind has learned to live instead just flowing along with the rituals of life! The bruises of the body are taking time to heal but mind has become more resilient & adoptive to mental agony, which I am realizing is more important. Just few years ago I used to drive my kids to movies & before I realize now I am no more in driving seat but either of kids who are now taller than me drives me to movie! I look at them & it’s in them I see the years I have put behind!

One more aspect of growing-up is reaction time; earlier anything against my wish or will was immediately thrown away rather rejection was the first reaction. But now the years has taught not to reject even the most non acceptable proposals, take your time & then decide yes or no, is what the milestones I left back tells me! Long back my best friend Vijay has told me, “Sanjay, if you want to say some good words to any person then say them five minute early but if you want to say some bad words then wait for twenty four hours”. Well, back then I even didn’t understand meaning of those words but now I try hard to practice it though yet to master it, I must admit! Rather as I started practicing this concept I realized maximum problems which we see around are because most of us are losing the habit of saying good words about others or we hold them back precisely when they are needed! While growing up what we leave back is innocence & that generates this attitude of holding the things for monitory gains as observe a child, if it’s angry it will show its anger & if it’s happy it will immediately hug you with a big smile! Learning to hide our emotions or what we feel, is a curse the years we put behind gives us & growing up is reversing that curse & be a child again, this I understand now!

Lastly it’s all about the people who have been part of your journey as with age what we lose is ability to make new friends! So to hold on the people all along, who have made your journey wonderful should be true outcome of growing up. And it’s not easy as while you age & gather more years under your belt along with increases your ego too. And that ego makes taking a step back very very difficult as when you were a child or even a teen then making up with a friend after a bitter argument was easy. All you or him has to do is say, “chod na yaar, tere liye kuch bhi” or “yaar I missed you being around so much” & that’s it! But now to say one small word “sorry”, you need to make herculean effort that too should come from within. As “sorry” is something the opposite person should feel & not just hear like other so many words! So while I grow up I am realizing importance of the people in my life who cares for me, may be silently & in their own way yet it’s these people who has made me understand life better & I owe them a lot. And it’s for these people I learned to say “sorry” by meaning it! I think that’s the best gift the people close to you can give you, to make you understand the importance of word “sorry”! Growing up is to understand how to hold the people around you, who has make your life more lively & wonderful!

In this year many things happened, some good & some bad but as they say, the game teaches you both ways; when you win & even when you lose! When you win the game teaches you take the victory with humbleness & when you lose the game teaches you go back prepare hard & come back again play with more determination to win; same way all these good/ bad things has their own impact on me, making me a more better person! The passing years have told me to share what I feel as that makes you to make people in your life to understand you better! And with gift of technology now sharing is at your finger tips & I use it extensively. 

One such small incidence happened very recently which I shared via Whats-ap & FB, will share it here to conclude…

“Blind's Lesson:

Hi frds, something happened with me just now, today & felt like sharing..

After a hectic day i was walking to deccan for another meet & was in foul mood due to so called irresponsible behavior of people on work front & was thinking that today seems a bad day for me. After nal stop near garware college i came across a blind boy walking on footpath with his stick, towards kothrud direction & he looked confused. I stopped by him & asked where he want to go? He said he wants a bus stop; on this i said beta, bus stop is right here, where u want to go? He said he want to go to deccan side but dont know on which side of karve road he is, so got confused! Those innocent words got tears in my eyes, as here i am with all senses fine & working & a car & driver waiting ahead for me, yet i think its a bad day! And this boy cant even know which direction he is going & had to be depend on some unknown person for simplest of thing like locating right bus stop!
I made him sit in bus to deccan, thanked him for opening my eyes & walked to meeting with wet but opened eyes… and suddenly the bad day wasnt now that bad rather has turned wonderful for me!!
frds u too think over hereafter whenever will feel its a bad day!! So shared…

Now analyzing what I shared above, the very same incidence had it happened some twenty years back then at that time I wouldn’t have been walking in first place as then thought I don’t have time to walk, such was busy state of life or at least I used to think so!
Had it been happened some fifteen years back then I would have gone to walk but wouldn’t have noticed the blind boy waiting for help on my walk, so lost in my own world I was then!
Had this been some ten years back then I might have noticed the blind boy standing in mid road & would have make him sit in the PMT bus & then resumed my walk, without paying any attention to what he said to me!
But today not only I listened what the blind boy said about not finding the bus stop & losing the direction sense, which got tears in my eyes but made me think about how lucky I am for what I am & I think that’s what means growing-up! As its has made me more keen observant of surroundings, just like a tissue paper, an ability to absorb everything around me! As unless you have kept that innocent boy within you alive, you ever won’t be able to feel innocence around yourself! Finally we all are going to age every passing day as that’s something nobody can’t stop but we can definitely learn to live with the age in better way & the process is on ever! This is what C S Lewis meant, no age is too old to read fairy tales again & fortunately I still love to get lost in fairy tales especially that of Disney & now I am finding out time also for doing so! Lastly its friends like you who have made my growing-up a wonderful experience, this is the time I must say thanks for it! Like the word “sorry”, “thanks” too is a word to feel than just to say or hear & I mean it for you being in my life!

Sanjay

-- 


Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
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Monday, December 5, 2016

Pune, from Peti to Khoka!





“There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” … Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs was an American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist best known for her influence on urban studies. Her influential book The Death and Life of Great American Cities argued that urban renewal did not respect the needs of most city-dwellers. Jane Jacobs undoubtedly one of the top authorities on urban planning of cities; I remembered here this quote when my veteran reporter friend Sunil Mali asked me to share my views for Sakal News Paper's Wardhapn Din edition about Pune region’s proposed population, which soon will be touching to 10 million i.e. one core in our Desi language! Somehow the term million doesn't excite we Indians, yes its figures in lacs & crores which makes us interested! Though there is one more terminology about lac & crore which I will revel at end of my sharing! With Pune & Pimpri Chinchwad, more commonly known as PMC & PCMC together we are already approximately fift plus lacs & come Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority i.e. PMRDA, we are soon expected combinely to reach magic mark of one crore population city or region whatever you may call it! 

As Jane says it’s the people which makes the city & obviously it’s the people around which the entire planning should be planned but is it happening so? At least the past of Pune region doesn’t indicates planning around people neither the present, as all we think about is traffic, roads, water, drainage & things like that. Agreed all these aspects are important but these things are materialistic, they don’t define life in totality! I personally feel a city should make people at peace & be energetic with their positive vibes & that may be a bit vague target to achieve but all we need is little bit understanding of people’s needs & their life style. One can be at peace in a city by cohesive effect of physical as well social infrastructure i.e. things which I mentioned above like roads, water supply & then right from gardens to play grounds to cultural platforms as they too count most if you want to make citizens at peace. And social outings are the best outlets for citizens’ positive energy, look at Paris, Mother of Arts & not just a tourist place! Most importantly the city should offer its infrastructure to every citizen in equality & not just by his or her paying capacity or status!

So let’s see where we stand on all these aspects & expectations, as I remember my first exposure to dear Pune way back in 86, as a young boy from rural of Vidarbha I got down by Maharashtra Express on a rainy morning at Pune station. For me then also everything was like from story of Gulliver’s voyages i.e. journey to an island where every scale is ten times bigger. Have never seen so big railway stations as my home town has just one platform & a single rail with three coaches connects us to main line. What was more amazing that I haven’t sat in an auto rickshaw as then still in most towns of Vidarbha its man driven rickshaws which were common. But then there were tangaus too i.e. horse cart as well double bus which is called as “Joad Bus”. My first journey on Pune streets from station to my college, MIT which was on Puad road, was by tangua.  And trust me it took so much time as we crossed Nal Stop & then paud phata, buildings started thinning & I thought I am being driven out of Pune! Later on also till nearly 90’s the city used to end by chandani chowk & it’s just once in a month we use to cross river & go to MG road & camp. Traffic was much more then also in comparison to Amraoti or Nagpur but still you can cross the entire city in thirty minutes max! While going to my home town in vacations which is on Nagar road side, once the S.T bus used to cross Agakhan Palace we get to feel Pune has left back! This might seem story of a different era but that was the scene just twenty five years back! Pimpri Chinchwad I have never gone then neither knew that it’s like twin city of Pune as even khadki-dapodi were the terms to call somebody as less sophisticated in compare to Punekars!

And when I roam now for my work from Kiwale which is west side end & to Wagholi i.e. eastern end of city, I don’t believe myself this is same city where I started my career! Now no more one can identify PMC & PCMC separately, the khadki-dapodis are center now & road to my college is all aligned by buildings. One requires more than two hours meeting two ends of the city & all roads are buzzing with traffic till late night right from early mornings. Every young boy graduated from rest of Maharashtra wants job in Pune, even from other States too, is this we call development or progress? PMC & PCMC authorities trying hard to match the living needs of this ever growing city & now there is PMRDA because with sudden rise on education facilities as well jobs in Pune region the next thing is housing in entire country! When I say housing it’s not just homes but as I mentioned earlier homes with basic needs & then affordable to all those who wants to set foot in this city! Since 2000, the city saw rise to new specie i.e. IT’ans, & all thinks money is in ample to IT industry jobs which isn’t true anymore. Ample may be in compare to other industries but the so called progress has also raised expense bar on every front for the resident in Pune region. Right from fuel costs which are huge, thanks to poor public transport to education, health care, entertainment, everything costs here. Gone are the morning show Rs 5 tickets’ of movies, now a family going to movie has to shell out minimum thousand rupees for a movie outing is a fact. And balancing this life style you have to match EMI’s of home loans & that takes out peace of mind for most of the youngsters!

The biggest challenge in front of PMRDA authorities is & will be to take care of this housing need of the citizens of Pune while the city keeps growing. I said deliberately PMRDA as PMC & most part of PCMC has been saturated now with hardly any space for new development & again thanks to ever changing policies of Urban Development, redevelopment is crippled under the rules like TDR use, Height & Parking restrictions as well double staircases etc. So with nearly 3000sq km area under the belt PMRDA is the only hope now for home aspiring migrants in Pune region. By me first step to deal with this challenge for PMRDA is to make a Development Plan i.e. DP of all this area & provide infrastructure to the same. Looking at the speed with which our DP’s are made I think we need to mark deadlines & follow them. Because most unfortunate thing about our Pune city till now is our rulers announce big things in big way, may it be Metro or DP or BRT or HCMTR or 24 Hours Water Supply scheme but fails to plan them in time & none of these big announcements ever comes in reality! Latest entrant on this front is ring road for the city, which will be backbone for PMRDA’s DP. And just following the infamous Pune tradition already this ring road is in trouble even before its alignment gets final as State Road dept also has planned one ring road & now a tussle has been started over which ring road to be finalized & who will make it. Rather before any development starts in Pune region the ring roads existence is very important as the first thing any new development needs is connectivity to work areas as well to core of city & surrounding cities. No doubts about needs of ring road but the doubts are about capacity of the system which is supposed to make it reality! The major problem with present city is haphazard planning with no defined work zones, recreational zones, public places or residential areas. This has made traffic monitoring as well public transport functioning extreme difficult as we don’t know at what time of the day how many people will travel & to which destinations?  So any time of the day every road is crammed with vehicles & you can’t blame traffic police alone for poor traffic management as you can’t have a police behind every vehicle especially when the driver is a Punekar need is so! So PMRDA should not focus its attention to the just ring road but plan extensive road network all across the region right from beginning. Remember, good roads are like veins & arteries of any city & if you make them proper half of your future problems are solved in planning only!

Regarding planning of Metro, let’s not restrict Metro with PMC or PCMC limit, as all over the world major development happens around the Metro terminals or at the end stations & Pune won’t be exception to the rule. If we connect the ends of the Metro in areas which are already developed then we are killing the very purpose of it! Rather best thing will be plan a Metro route along the ring road & extend present Metro tracks to the ring Metro, so as it will help entire Pune region & not just to reduce traffic within the city! The ring road & ring Metro combine will be great advantage to open up thousands of hectors of the land for housing which or else is lying undeveloped due to no connectivity!

Another challenge in front of Pune region is water supply to this one crore population as the present agreement of PMC  with Irrigation Dept barely covers demand of present Pune city & everyday day we keep on reading tussle between the two agencies. With area as vast as PMRDA, two main hurdles I foresee; one is source of water & another is network of water lines. Since ages no new dam has been planned to fulfill future demand for drinking water of Pune region & with nearly 3000 km area, especially the eastern part of PMRDA which don’t have any perennial water source, we need to create new storage as well distribution centers. No more Pune which once was considered as "water heaven', enjoys the said tag. Everyday some or other locality suffers from shortage in water supply & especially the suburbs face acute water problem in summers. PMC has started putting condition on sanction plans that it’s not responsible for water supply, a convenient approach but definitely not a thing of pride for 2nd Smart City of the country. At present PMRDA also has copied what PMC is doing but when we consider ourselves largest planning authority of State we can’t get away shrugging our responsibility especially a essential front like water supply!

One major aspect to be taken in consideration from Delhi pollution problem is maintaining bio-diversity across the Pune region as that’s the only cure for disease named pollution! Knowing Punekar’s if we are thinking one crore population then we might be looking at the same numbers of vehicles; as its jokingly said in Pune that here new born baby before it starts walking learns to drive a two wheeler! Along with controlling air pollution PMRDA has to be very keen about development within all the existing dam’s catchment areas which mostly comes under PMRDA planning. So to maintain the rainfall/ runoff quantum towards these dams as well keep the probable water pollution levels is one main challenge we have to think of. And then there are usual factors like waste water, garbage, electricity network along with recreation as no city prospers without good social exposure avenues & Pune is fortunate on this front. Right from Savai Gandharva type classical music events to NH 7 type modern day rock music events all around the calendar year, the city provides lots of cultural & social appetite to its citizen. PMRDA should create spaces for all such events & many more which will come along as the city grows!

Knowing about working of PMRDS the biggest hurdle is its constitution as for now it’s just a planning authority so the big question is who is responsible for the execution all above fronts which are a must for making living of citizens of Pune region comfortable. Any planning is of some worth only when it gets executed as it has been planned & in specific time limit; so who has the answer on this aspect is what I am interested in! As there only lays fate of Pune’s one crore population or else in local business language code name for money matters, one lac is “one peti” & one crore is “one khoka”! Adhering to this terminology of Peti & Khoka, if PMC/PCMC & PMRDA all of them together along with “Mai Baap” State Govt doesn’t act  fast & deliver then we will end up saying Peti was better than Khoka, means Pune was better what it was with population in digits of lacs than this one crore mark! 

-- 
Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU


Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Delhi Breathless; Pune Be Careful!





“There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all”... Robert Orben.

Robert Orben is best known as an American professional comedy writer, though he also worked as a speechwriter for Gerald R. Ford and as a magician. But his above words one can’t take as comedy as even though it has been spoken in light vain but a bitter fact! In the earthquake of Demonetization one thing happened as the Delhi pollution issue took back seat on media because in this country currency is dearer than anything even lives of human beings! As just before announcement of demonetization everyone was talking about Delhi's scene & how even to walk on streets is becoming impossible over there & as usual the blame game was at peak! Delhi State Govt blaming Central Govt & neighboring States for the situation of air quality! Central Govt firing back that it’s local govt’s jurisdiction & finally Supreme Court itself taking cognizance of the situation & summoned both State as well Central Govt to do a fire fighting job as its common man's life which is at stake! So what has suddenly happened in Delhi, let’s have a look at it & then we can think of what’s our dear Pune’s future on these lines.

In every atmosphere there is a scale on which quality of air is measured & it’s obvious as it’s this air which we breathe & if the air contains hazardous particles which are categorized as fine & very fine, then needless to say outcome isn’t good for our health. And the very same particles apart from pulmonary diseases can be very much harmful to our eyes as well ears & skin too! So in Delhi’s air these particle have been found more, much more than permissible in respect to human tolerance & that caused havoc all around the city. The illness of all sorts increased to such a level that entire city came to stand still; schools needed to declare holidays & except essential services majority trade also got shut-off. Certainly not a sign of pride for capitol of a country which is aiming to become a world power! But then Delhi isn’t first such capitol to suffer on account of air pollution, cities like London & Beijing is to name a few which also has gone through same problem. The only difference is those cities learnt their lessons & recovered with immediate as well long term measures of curbing the pollution & emerged as clean cities whereas Delhi has ignored this aspect over a period & even now doesn’t seems to have any concrete plan to overcome pollution! Let’s see what has caused this sudden rise of particle in air of Delhi; as per Delhi State Govt the neighboring State i.e. Haryana, Punjab farmers burnt the dry leftover after harvesting & the northern winds carried all that smoke in Delhi is one of main reasons. I am no expert in Metrology or Weather science but this can’t be main reason, as this must be every years routine with the farmers, so how can suddenly this year it got so aggravated making entire Delhi polluted, is the question I will ask. The main reason is millions of vehicles exhausts & bad traffic management along with thousands of Industries throwing smoke in environment. At the same time reduced tree cover, polluted water bodies including river Jamuna & buildings all over, causing combine effect of pollution! One more aspect is Delhi’s geography i.e. plain terrain causes smog/smoke gets accumulated over the city for a longer time. In addition to all these, the infamous Delhi’s fog in winters surrounds the bad air like blanket to entire city worsening the situation! Delhi Govt is trying to fight this out will all efforts right from odd even number plates vehicles to no vehicles on some road but problem lies somewhere else!

Let’s leave Delhi to better hands & see what our Smart Pune scene is as with nearly 9 million vehicles on Delhi roads where-as Pune is already touching 4 million  vehicles, so we are not far behind. On this background will share an interesting incidence, just few days back was having meeting with my environment activist friend Ranjit Gadgil who is keen of improving city environment through his NGO, “Parisar” at my favorite place Vaishali over a cup of tea. Parisar has been pivotal especially on road safety, traffic management & improving public transport of the city & the members are continuously keeping the civic administration on its toes regarding above aspects. They have even filed cases with Green tribunal against projects like road through river bed as well a road from bal-bharti hill, saying these roads will damage bio-diversity of city! In both above case they have got stay on the said road projects making PMC to take step back even when the work has been started! So when I introduced Ranjit to my Vashali group members their first reaction was Parisar & people like Ranjit are speed breakers to city’s development & why are they not thinking about the common citizens who has to face traffic jams every day? Rather it’s because of cases filed by Parisar traffic scene is deteriorating in the city as PMC can’t develop new roads; also what’s harm in building roads through river bed as where is river left in the city, so why not use the river bed for roads easing out traffic? These are just few of the angry questions thrown at Ranjit.

I don’t blame my friends & Ranjit has faced many such questions but do mind, my friends represents common citizen of Pune & their attitude shows future of Pune is as dark rather more than that of Delhi! Even while the survey which has been conducted for Smart City contest most citizens were concerned about traffic & undoubtedly that’s most dear to heart subject of Pune. Reason is simple, this city lacks public transport & every one living here right from MD of any IT Company to his school going kid depends of private transport & result is every house with family of four has at-least one four wheeler & two to three two wheelers! And outcome is Pune with PCMC jointly has nearly 5 million private vehicles of which most are on roads at peak hours of traffic & that makes Pune number one contestant for pollution affected city after Delhi. All we think about how our traffic will be better but there lays the crux as till we think about just vehicles & plan the city around them we will be never able to make a pollution free city. The efforts should be targeted for reducing the private vehicle as that’s the key to stream line the traffic as whatever fly-overs or new roads we will make or widen the existing roads, that won’t curtail the new vehicles entry in city or use of existing vehicles, this we must understand! Those people who think widening roads or using river road will solve traffic problems are as equal ignorant like a smoker instead quitting smoking, asking to enlarge his respiratory passage! Going ahead I will put it in this way asking for making a road from river bed is like increasing respirator passage by curtailing lungs size & yet continue smoking, such fools we are! As rivers are our best hope for maintaining bio-diversity in the heart of the city & we are reducing them for our vehicles instead using them for plantation & water bodies! And it’s the biodiversity in form of green cover which will protect us from exhausts of vehicles!


Need is strengthen the public transport in such way that it will fulfill needs of every citizens commuting in & around the city. But then this aspect nobody cares not even citizens as here millions can come on road for caste & reservations but no one protest even individually leave apart in numbers for better public transport! All we discuss is about Metro which is just one part of public transport! Though now it’s been a decade we are just debating upon Metro, even about name of it can be ego issue here, such is our poor understanding regarding the grave threat of pollution we face ahead! If we don’t want a future like Delhi then it’s high time to work on both fronts to fight pollution i.e. short term & long term solutions. Widening existing roads, traffic management, more signals, building fly-overs are short term solutions. At the same time more roads & more vehicles means more signals & more traffic police, that too is equally required or else we all know what happens at unmanned signals! Pollutions’ another reason is fire crackers that too the modern one which goes high up in air & blows with bang, spreading hazardous particles in surrounding. Putting restriction on burning fire crackers won’t work, but ban sale itself of any fire crackers in the city as we already have enough fronts creating pollution. In first place why we need fire crackers & what we are going to celebrate by polluting the environment, ask this question to every citizen.

Long term solution is get enough numbers of busses on roads & make as many new routes we can. As less private vehicles means less exhausts from fuel burning. Try to bring more & more vehicles under use of green fuel like electric energy or CNG fuel. For that we will need to have battery charging stations & enough CNG pumps all across the city. Most important factor is increase green cover in the city as much we can. Conserve green belts, water bodies & bio-diversity parks as these are our lungs & last hope against polluted future. Think of moving every industry small or large outside of city from right now! In the city planning itself we have failed as the growth of the city is haphazard i.e. no clear division between business district & residential areas. All we know is paint the map yellow i.e. buildable & build any structure over there. I am not blaming our city planners nor the builders, it’s just that we all are so short sighted  that un-till someone doesn’t choke our throat we just doesn’t acknowledge that we need air to breathe! Such is our attitude to city planning so at-least in long term lets wake up & see that we plan a city where people don’t have to start their bike every now & then for their daily needs as that’s one sure way of curtailing pollution. And then when some officer tries to reduce drive ways & increase walk ways /cycle ways then all our party leaders come together along with so called aware citizens & make him scrap his ideas! Again I can’t blame these people also as they are more concerned about their vehicles & traffic, who cares for walkers or cyclists here! I agree in one night we can’t wipe out all the vehicles & ask people to start walking or cycling but some where the direction should be towards that target which unfortunately is not happening! What we need is to strike a balance between development & environment.

Lastly when I visited my family doctor Uday Gokhle for my routine checkup, at reception desk of his clinic he has put up a chart of comparison between Delhi pollution levels & Pune’s; you need not have to be Nostradamus to read our future as one look at that chart & the patients in his waiting room is enough as maximum of them are already suffering from air pollution borne diseases! Wish all are aware like Dr Gokhle as today its Delhi which has got choked, are we waiting for the air around us gets so polluted that it will chock us permanently! I know we Punekars consider our-self as wisest in the country, so let’s remind ourselves that wisdom is in acting wisely & not in uttering mere words of wisdom copied from Goggle!


-- 
Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)



http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)
 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life


www.sanjeevanideve.com