Thursday, October 26, 2006

one for the road!!

One can garner the importance of a locality by keenly observing the number of traffic jams that occur there per day! We have our Andheri’s and Bandra’s, but a relatively new place takes the cake. vasai. Yes, the small town in the suburbs, where there is no water, electricity or intelligent form of life, remember? By god, vasai is fast becoming a very popular traffic destination.
Although, the provision of drinking water, proper infrastructure and great standard of living offered at vasai has paved way for an alarming rise in the resident populace, one cannot just blame this very fact for traffic mismanagement. Pot- hole ridden roads, constant digging, and shoddy traffic police work do not help the cause either.
It is fun, at times, to call your fuehrer (read Boss!) and complain about the jam you’re in and how terrible you feel about the delay! But when it happens all too regularly, like in the case of yours truly, you either get fired or end up waking at 5 am to get to work on time! When I had shifted to vasai, I was delighted to see such a calm and quiet place, with greenery all around, and facilities available readily, contrary to popular belief. It made sense too, as I had joined an organization based here. I was doubly delighted as I would be getting rid of train travel, on which too, I have many an interesting story to tell! However, the hassles have amounted up to being the same. At least while traveling by train, one doesn’t have to deal with yelling drivers, horn crazy ladies, abusive hawaldars and the predicament of trying to climb up a slope with no brakes and a dysfunctional horn!
Something has to be done, quickly. Vasai is a planned city, but the roads need to be drastically improved. For the life in me, I am not able to comprehend as to why a single stretch of road has to be dug up 28 times? I am contemplating if a Guinness in on the cards? If thought out and planned efficiently, the problem can be resolved in a lesser number of attempts. Maybe even by digging up just once! The pot holes need to be filled, period. Concretizing is an option, but one can only wonder the evils that lurk in the governing bodies, and safely say that it is a long shot. Therefore, pot holes should be filled as soon as they are created. Roads need to widened, and the ones that have been widened, should be cleared of all the illegal parking.
I would also like to add that even if the roads are widened till as far as the eye can see, people have to follow traffic rules, abide by them, and respect other people’s rights too! It’s not too difficult. One just has to imagine that he/she is driving on foreign soil!
Steps are being taken, no doubt, but they aren’t in sync with the rise in 2- 3- 4 wheeler commuting, largely thanks to The pulsar’s and karizma’s, who have taken to the roads like fish to water! We have to pay attention right now, before the situation gets out of hand, and we face a crisis, often encountered in Mumbai.
Having faith in the government, I sincerely hope that a quick and permanent solution shall be found to the ever increasing traffic conundrum.

2 comments:

Kartikeya Dwivedi. said...

right said fred..this was an effort in vain..

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