“Transport Triangle” - The Crux of the Traffic Problem
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
City Centre Traffic Muddle “Transport Triangle” -- The Crux of the Traffic Problem by R. Chandra Prakash
“Transport Triangle” - The Crux of the Traffic Problem
Fifteen Days, 2500 km and Twelve Places A Panoramic View of Uttar Pradesh Tour by R. Chandra Prakash
Frequent visits have kept us abreast with the nuances of culture and economy of the western U.P to which our ancestry belongs. But the differences in the dialect and the cultural traits on either side of the Ganga delta always fascinated us. Further, the divergent views, derisive comments and political acrobatics [quite often one heard this state being disparagingly called “Ulta Pradesh”, implying that everything here is upside down], attributed to this state have been challenging us to visit the eastern part of U.P. This is how we ventured to tour the state for 15 days, covering 2500 plus km by road and visiting 12 very important places. All these cities and towns located across the region’s length and breadth are places of historic, religious and tourist importance. They also reflect a wide spectrum of economic, sociological and linguistic divergence.
Having toured the state’s capital, Lucknow for two days, we went on to visit Ayodhya, Faizabad, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Sarnath, Allahabad, Agra, Gwalior, Orchha and Jhansi. Here is a panoramic view of our tour.
Surprise, Surprise!!
Contrary to many assumptions, allegations and apprehensions, we found many pleasant waiting surprises for us during our tour.
1. Good Road Connectivity
All along our tour we found that the connectivity between cities and towns was very good. Well planned and roads of good standard connect Lucknow – Ayodhya – Gorakhpur - Kushinagar; Varanasi – Allahabad – Agra. We could easily go at a speed of about 100 km per hour without any obstruction on these roads.
Road link between Gorakhpur and Varanasi was under reconstruction into Four Lane Highway. So also the road link between Gwalior and Jhansi. The old roads were in disarray.
2. Yamuna Express Way
Yamuna Express Way, was launched by Ms.Mayawathi as a PPP model of development, linking Agra with Lucknow. However, not being far behind her, Akhilesh Yadav linked this Express Way from Agra to New Delhi. The result is a world class Express way linking Lucknow to New Delhi. Our travel on this road, though only of 75 km, was an experience in itself. More so as it was in Uttar Pradesh!!
3. Long Flyover By-passes
A near 27km long flyover by-pass over Kanpur, one of the most congested cities of not only U.P but also of the country, and near 20 km long flyover by-pass over Gwalior are standing examples of sensible planning that has ushered in an era of economic development by cutting short travel time. Even if they were a part of national road development, the very fact that this large state utilized the project for its own good deserves admiration.
Compare this with our struggle to have an unobstructed travel between Mysuru-Bangaluru. Old by-pass roads have totally failed us. Yet, no fly-over by passes have been provided for even in the new six laning project. Mysuru-Bengaluru road link seems to be jinxed!!
4. Cleanliness Drive
In every place we visited we found genuine attempt to keep places clean. Eastern U.P known for mosquito borne diseases due to unhygienic surroundings is now getting a face lift. At the Triveni Sangam in Allahabad thousands of village folks visit to perform rituals of their deceased relatives. Here too we found groups of people and scores of vehicles involved in cleaning up the beaches, resulting in clean sands despite thousands footfalls 24x7.
We took a boat drive to reach to the confluence of rivers Yamuna and Ganga (river Saraswathi was invisible). We found the waters of both the rivers quite clean and dredgers working on both the rivers to mop up the floating materials. The scene was equally heartening at Varanasi where the river as well as the ghats were quite clean.
5. Earthen-ware replaces Plastic
Plastic ban has been implemented quite effectively. Traditional earthen-ware, of all sizes and shapes, has replaced plastic and plastic quoted cups and plates. Tea is being served in small earthen ‘Kullads’ (tumblers), and whereas ‘sakoras’ (saucer shaped earthen ware) are in use at roadside eateries to serve ‘chaats’ at every place across the state. This was seen across the state and in every place we visited. This obviously has mitigated the plastic menace and revived the potter’s jobs in rural areas.
6. Electric Auto – rickshaws
Wherever we went, be it Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad or Agra, Jhansi or Gwalior; we found that electric auto-rickshaws called ‘Mayuri’ have more or less completely replaced petrol, gas, and diesel driven autos. They are noise free, pollution free and tourist friendly. This is an exemplary transformation within a very short time.
7. Vibrant Economy
As the winter was setting in shops were full with woolens and people were thronging the shops and footpaths to buy them. We saw a sea of customers at every commercial establishment, be it sweat-meat shops, chaat centres, Gajak-Revadi [winter specialties in the North] outlets or malls. This kind of sings of vibrant economy prevailed in every city.
8. Greenery and Gardens Galore
It was an eye-feast to see that Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, have large gardens and greenery within the city areas which certainly are much bigger and better gardens than those of our garden cities Bengaluru and Mysuru. Allahabad is known for its Allahabadi guavas, have a distinct taste and externally look like apples. We were told that the city also has its mangoes with distinct taste.This proves the deeply rooted horticulture in these cities.
On the whole our U.P tour threw up so many surprises that we now feel that this state, despite its mammoth size is way ahead of many states in genuine development. If U.P facilitated the growth of engineering and medical colleges in Karnataka between 1970 and 2000 [for reasons known to every one!!], now the state has made noteworthy progress on that count too. However, there are problems of extreme levels of economic disparity, regional imbalance, religious polarity, caste conflicts and political machinations. These problems get accentuated due to high density of population and large geographical area of the state. May be creation of smaller state like Bundelkhand out of present U.P, [on the lines of Uttarakhand], might be beneficial to the overall growth of the entire region
Monday, 4 November 2024
RE-DISCOVERING BHARAT - Bharat, India and Pakistan The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilisation by J. Sai Deepak
Looking Back on Independence Saga Partitioned Freedom by Ram Madhav
The Psychology of Money - Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, And Happiness by Morgan Housel
In the chapter No One is Crazy he proves that “in theory people should make investment decisions based on their goals and characteristics of the investment options available to them at the time. But that is not what people do.” With several illustration to prove his point he states “ We all do crazy stuff with money, because we’re all relatively new to this game and what looks crazy to you might make sense to me. But no one is crazy – we all make decisions based on our own unique experiences that seem to make sense to us in a given moment.”
In the chapter Luck & Risk, he states that in a financial world where investment is mathematically established as a science, there is a very important element of Luck which may tilt the outcome of one’s financial decision, however wise or otherwise the decision might be. In the case of Bill Gates, Housel says that not all his success can be totally attributed to his acumen alone. Bill Gates has had several instances which should have changed the course of his destiny, but unexpected twists and turn saved him such that today he is what he is.
In the chapter Tails, You Win the philosophy is “ You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune.” Among several examples he provides to prove his philosophy Housel best quote is that of Walt Disney. “Disney’s first studio went bankrupt. His films were monotonously expensive to produce, and financed at outrageous terms. By the mid 1930s Disney had produced more than 400 cartoons. Most of them were short, most them were beloved by viewers, and most of them lost a fortune. ..... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs changed everything. The $8 million it earned in the first six months of 1938 was an order of magnitude higher than anything the company earned previously. It transformed Disney Studios...”
Then he illustrates how Venture Capitalists [VC] may lose in 99 percent of his ventures, but one successful venture might be such that all previous losses might be mitigated to keep him in the business. It is this Tails Win feature that keeps the VCs in positive state of mind in the financial market.
In the chapter Confessions Housel explains his own financial philosophy which stands totally in contrast with normal American way. He has always maintained 20% savings, even if the interest earned is less than 2% P.A. He has always believed in keeping cash for any emergency than depend on credit cards. His investments have been on long term basis rather than earnings from short term market chances. He has always believed in protecting his post retirement life. These confessions help in creating trust in his approach to money and investment. Sounds very Indian traditional financial practices!
This book is not only very useful to today’s American investors but also to Indian IT & BT young Indians who have scope and temperment for investments. There is a generational change with regard to credit in India. Credit Card is normal part of purse of every earning member in the family. Now that an average Indian is influenced by “American Way of Life” this book becomes highly relevant.
A very interesting and useful book.