Truth Test in Karnataka - National farce

Truth test contested by both B S Yeddyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy is a national joke.  This shows how irresponsible Karnataka politicians can be.  When PM is working 18 hours a day, how is that Karnataka CM is able to find time to involve in such Truth tests.  As a public figure, there will be always someone in few thousands who will be dare him.  Is he going to take truth test every time someone dares him?  Then he has to find a place next to temple to save his commuting time and bunk attending his official work as CM.  On top of this, just think of the unwanted resources needed to control the crowd and provide protection during his visit to the temple all in the name of contesting with his opponents.  If he had gone to worship and offer prayers, at least it is justified.

HD Kumaraswamy's war of words and personal attacks just proves further that he has no interest in serving people.  He is only motivated in attacking CM personally instead of focusing his energy on challenging the ruling party on the right issues.  Kumaraswamy should realize his potential as the opposition party and should focus on paramount issues such as price hikes.  If he shows such maturity and plays as the right opposition party, he does not need to go around canvassing during the next election.  The people will vote him to power recognizing him by his show of maturity and his action in people's interest.

When will our politicians grow up?

Tamilnadu & Waste of money goes hand in hand!!

The new tamilnadu government of 2011 is looking at all means to waste the money and time on trivial things.  When old government is accused of leaving the treasury in deficit, the least that is expected out of the new government is prudent use of money on the right projects.  However the new government is poised to ensure whatever is remaining is burnt and disposed like a corpse.

Look at the paramount of money wasted when the secretariat is shifted back to Fort St. George. The time required on doing the changes back is unthinkable.  Next in line is the change of syllabus in the state education.  Now every parent and school is awaiting further instructions and of-course books to be finalized before the academic year can start.  Because of this delay everyone will be burdened and pressurized at the end of the academic year to complete the syllabus and recover the lost academic days.

These money & time can be spent on improving the infrastructure, be it re-laying of a small stretch of road with a good quality so that it need not be disturbed for next 5 years.  This gives immediate benefit to the people and they will be loyal to the government.  Hope this government drops the agenda marred with vengeance and picks up the one which can benefit people.

I am still hoping that the leaders will see that real success is not winning election but it is in proving to the people that their choice was worth every vote through their actions.

I admire Mamata Banerjee's simplicity and confidence, also her urge to serve the people.  May tamilnadu get such a leader in near future.

My two cents worth of thoughts on 'Rain water management and the government'

Government should lead by example on the rain water management.

Government should start with a proper plan on the rain water that goes into the drain. This means the whole thing starts on the outskirts of the city where the drain water ends and the goverment plans the right water management system in there. Then slowly move towards the heart of the city implementing and connecting the drains correctly and leading these drains into the water management system built on the outskirts.

For example: Is BANGALORE BBMP or CHENNAI METROPOLITAN WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE BOARD capable of this?

If they are successful, the city water woes could be a thing of the past.

If the same is done on sewage treatment, we will have better rivers, lakes and beaches in India. Since only treated water will flow to these water bodies.

Do you like brown murky beaches or the clear blue ones?

Chennai (varingala) vs Bangalore (baratheera)

Back in the year 2007, when I moved to Bangalore after many years outside India, I noticed Chennai to be much more inviting than Bangalore. One reason being my hometown and the other is Bangalore politicians of that year were only pocketing money and doing nothing to improve anything in Bangalore.
Bangalore with lots of pot holes all over the city, on the streets and even the main roads.  People grumbling about government collecting so much taxes from the IT giants and doing nothing for laying good roads. Worse still, digging up good roads and leaving it in rubbles.

Whenever I travel to Chennai, it looked a city better equiped on the roads and with very attractive packages in all front. I needed no excuse to make a trip to Chennai.

Now comes 2009, the latest Karnataka government has taken out the whip and started the herculean task of correcting the roads and it is showing very good progress.

Begining of Feb 2010, I am able to appreciate the action and they are felt during everyday traffic to office especially near the hebbal towards new Airport.

Now my travels to Chennai always brings me to a very shabby and smelly city. I am at the heart of the city (Beach station), the road dividers are in such an implorable condition. God knows when it was maintained last time.

With Government finding big budgets to build new parlimant house, it should also find small pocket monies for city's maintenance. If not, Chennai will soon loose out to Bangalore which is getting more and more competent. I am still unable to find what is stopping the city (good government) manaharatchi from giving a good scrub on the dividers and painting the dividers once a year. This is just the tip of the iceberg. You have so much more to do on the city to make it the best of all the cities in India. Come to think of it, the solution seems to be very simple even for my bird brain.

What to do to improve the conditions of chennai? The top things to do:
1. The project to clean Cooum River which the government has planned and initiated. Hats-off to Stalin on his personal involvment for this activity. This is a very good start but this has to be completed successfully and maintained continuously. It has to spawn out to many sub-projects like below.


2. Split the strom water system from the sewage system. The sewage system to be managed separately in the best in class ways. Refer to the process http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewage_treatment. There can be multiple locations and the cleaned water gets into strom water outlets.


3. Storm water can run into cooum river to go to the sea without leaving a trace of rain water after a heavy rain like in Singapore. If Government is smart, more ways are there to harvest this water in all possible ways and make them clean water for city citizens.


4. Well planned solid waste management system instead of big dump areas all over the city. Includes separation of the disposable and recyclable wastes at the door step of the city dwellers.

The city's public transport is very good and it provides good value for the money collected. When compared to bus fares in Bangalore, Chennai fare is very low and seems the best. However taking other public transport like autorickshaw is very challenging in Chennai. Bangalore still manages with the meter based fare and Chennai auto's meter are disabled beyond repair. It is the auto driver who decides the fare and he is always many times more than government's recommended fare.

Chennai Traffic Police has to shield the citizens and the tourists from the harrassment of the drivers. I personally had a bad experience when I went for my brother-in-law's funeral last year. I took prepaid auto from Koembedu and on reaching the destination the driver was arguing that the fare should be more and was very abusive. My brothers were at the scene and they being local were able to shoo off the driver. I can speak tamil and if my fate is like this, I pity those non-tamil visitors.

Bangalore has its fair share of troubles. With tree felling taking priority over the city culture of tree growing, the weather seems to have gone completely crazy. It is hot hot and hot everywhere in Bangalore in March!?@?! Last year is pathetic with almost no rain, it is almost a miracle there are still greens around the city.

I expect Chennai to prosper as always against the odds. But those few steps from government will ensure it as the winner city in the country.

Since I have started loving Bangalore, I do hope government finds a way to compromise between development and environment.

Water problem

Pure water is such a rare commodity these days. The affordable ones are buying it packaged in bottles or bubbles. Will it be only in the dream of the common man? Can linking rivers provide regular supply of sort-of pure water? There is lots of pressure to take this approach. There are many famous people such as actors promoting this idea and also contributing shares to the cause. The linking of rivers, even if it is feasible, can never ever be a permanent solution. The basic question is for how long and to how many people, these rivers can feed.

After linking, Ganges, the mother of all rivers, can supply abundant amounts of water to every river in India. What will happen when Ganges dries out? Will the “then government” search for next Potential River from “another country”? What about the ecological damage this river linking is going to cause? What will happen to the rivers now majestic but later dwindle to nothing. What about the birds, animals and trees that depend on them? Will we be able to turn back the clock? Man is always selfish and competitive; they don’t hesitate to make other forms of life extinct. He doesn’t even realize that he is digging his own grave by doing this.

The government should focus on the alternate methods. Instead of spending lot of money on the river linking project, it should focus on educating and demanding the people on the well proven old methods. Rain harvesting to recharge ground has been proven successful in Chennai, where the ground water quality has improved. Rain harvesting for domestic use has proven successful at least in one of the household in Bangalore, who was able to live whole year, without the need to use metro water. In Bangalore, one of the colleges collected the rainwater to a water catchments area in their premises and they were able to save considerable cost. More than the cost, they were able to rely on their own sources and never have the need to burden others.

If every household does this and every village stores the excess seasonal rain water in to artificial lakes, there will be no fight for water between states during summer. Our future generations will not be going around begging for water. We inherited this world from our ancestors and we have a duty to pass it on to our younger generations without depleting the resources.

Relevant links:
http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/mar/env-barrel.htm
http://www.rainwaterclub.org/