Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts

Monday, February 18, 2008

GreenDelhi

I first came to Delhi in 1975. That visit was very brief and I stayed with a relative of mine at curzon road. During that visit I saw very little of Delhi. Evey evening I used to take a walk from curzon road flats to India Gate. Delhi impressed me as the 'greenest' city in India.I fell in love with greenery of Delhi .During that visit I decided that I would finally settledown in Delhi only. I was merely 21 years old then.
In 1975,Delhi had a population of about 40-45 lakhs, and area around 100o sq kms. Full of trees on both the sides of roads, wherever one goes.

But alas! That Delhi is gone. Gone for ever. It remains only in memories.
Delhi has grown leaps and bounds. Delhi covers an area of ( nothing official about it) 4500 sq Kms. or more.The green cover in Delhi has depleted many times ovcer in the last 30-35 years. New subcities have come up. Janak Puri, Rohini,Dwarka, and similar residential areas now account for about 30 lakhs population -big enough to be eligible for a metropolitan classification .
New Flyovers ,roads ,residential areas, underground railway,HCBS etc have all contributed to cutting of 50% of the trees Delhi had thirty years back.
A look at the city map confirms that most of the green areas/ forests have disappeared.
Will Delhi be green again ? I wish it happens.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Underground Parking lots

The number of vehicles in Delhi outnumber all other metropolitan cities combined. This huge automobile population has created problems in the capital city. Whether we talk about frequent ( & regular ) traffic jams, difficulty to find a parking slot in Delhi or any other problem related to this growth in enumbers of vehicles.

The parking lots ( at prime /commercial area ) are always crowded.Wenever one finds a place to park the vehicle ,the strange behavior of attendants is enough to put you off. The alternative has to searched. Not to speak about unauthorised 'parking mafia',which rules more tahn half of Delhi in connivance with the corrupt people in administration.

Now the solutions are being looked at. One such welcome proposal has come last week. Now the new parking lots are envisaged ,without directly affecting any vehicle owners.

So Delhi is going to have, for the first time in India (?) ,parking lots under the Parks. This proposal insures enancement of greenry as well as new parking space ( at some places it likely to creat multi-level parking, below the surface). This may reduce the extent of the problem.



in Holland, they are planning a sub-city in capital Amsterdam,which is also underground. This trend is catching up the planners all over the world. But it is not feasible verywhere.It it works in some areas in New Delhi, delhites should consider themeselves lucky. It is only recentlky that there was a huge controversy over the metro railway tarck in parts of south /central Delhi. The issue was whether it shpoud be above ground level or underground.



In 1989, when I visited Pyongyang, capital of DPR Korea, I was impressed by the underground railway system. They had three tiers of metro system ,connecting the entire capital city.



The proposed parking facility has been announced and the tenders have already been floated.

Let us all hope that it will prove successful and help delhites .

Saturday, February 9, 2008

LG says North Indians take Pride in breaking law

I agree with LG Tejendra Khanna

Yes, He is absolutely right. I am referring to the statement made by the Lt Governor of Delhi Mr. Tejendra Khanna ,which has created controversy once again. But he is damn right. He said “North Indians feels it is a matter of pride to break the law and get away without being penalized for it”.
All the ‘Powerful’ people who think they run Delhi, certainly feel this. In fact these people ,who have money power and muscle power care two hoots about the law. They think they are above the law by virtue of being ‘privileged’. It is this arrogance which makes mockery of law and order in Delhi. Peaceful law-abiding citizens are victimized at the hands of these people (or at their behest by the law –enforcing agencies). These people throw money ( & tantrums) wherever possible, only to flaunt the ‘power’. They think they can buy any one & every one.
Mr Tejendra Khanna has spoken the truth. I fully support and endorse his views. but the problem is that fearing attack from political parties., he may retract from what he said. That is a sad commentary on the civil & पॉलिटिकल-सिस्टम