Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Rain! Rain! Go away!!

Hyderabad is one of the worst cities to be when rainy season starts! The large scale maladministration that is rampant here becomes evident during the rains! I commute on a 2-wheeler daily to work and it took me 2 hrs to cross a 6km stretch! I ended up with a back-ache! The road I take was repaired hardly a month ago and now there is no trace of a road there. There are gorges and canyons on the road. The rule is to drive on the left side of the road, but here we are driving on what is leftover of the road!!


Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

I pay my taxes regularly hoping for good roads and public infrastructure. But, no one in the ministries concerned are intent on serving the public.There must be a large scale scam involved in laying roads in Hyderabad because all the roads here are sub-standard and of very poor quality. Everyone involved right from the contractor to the Ministry should be taken to task.

Chandra Babu Naidu laid a strong foundation for the IT industry in Hyderabad.But, gross negligence, lack of foresight and corruption at all levels of administration seem to have eroded the foundation. The powers that be in India work under the principle of "Make hay while the sun shines"! Everyone plunders the country to the maximum extent possible leaving the layman with a country characterized by bad roads, even worse traffic , crumbling infrastructure and corrupt officials.

Learning from mistakes is something the officials will never do.We still dont have many cities flourishing because of the administration there but we definitely have cities that crumble because of their lack of foresight. Bangalore is the best example.Why cant Hyderabad learn from the mistakes B'lore made?! Chennai as far as I know, is known for better traffic management among the metros. Why cant Hyderabad learn good practices from Chennai?!

There are lotsa instances where I feel the officials aren't using their brains which got them into power..The GHMC(Greater Hyderabad Muncipal Corporation) has constructed Road-Over-Bridges in many places including crowded places like Ameerpet, L.V.Prasad Marg and Dilshuk Nagar.But, they have forgotten to raise the height of the barricades on the dividers on the road to avoid people from crossing the road directly. The entire purpose of the road-over-bridge is defeated!!Who would wanna climb the stairs and cross the road when the road is open for everyone to jump into the traffic.


Photo Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

Another instance I see is vehicles hogging Free-Left turns in the city.If the barricades are made such that anyone taking the Free-Left lane ends up in the road in the left with no chance of an U-turn for another kilometre or two, no one will think of hogging the Free-Left lanes.I see almost 8 traffic police officers manning the Cyber Towers Junction in Hitec city. But, guess who also use the road in this junction during the peak hours in the mornings?! Buffaloes! Almost 20 of them cross this junction right when daily commuters are struggling to squeeze thru the traffic! Then comes the hawkers-menace and eunuchs coercing money from the bike riders waiting for the green-signal. What are these traffic police doing all the while?! I will tell you what they are doing? They will stand in the middle of the junction on their traffic island and signal Go! Like we all dont know that green signal means GO!!They must have kidneys in the place of their brains!!

The list will go on if I talk about the stupidity of the officials here. What I am looking for is a Forum where sincere Government Officials interact with responsible representatives of the public to hear out their grievances and ideas,if any, to make this city a better place to live in. The population of Software professionals working in IT/ITES companies is increasing in Hyderabad and each and everyone of them is educated.The city can do much better if the administration creates a rapport with the people living here, involving them in the city's welfare schemes. But, I guess mine is quite a far-fetched dream!!