WHO CARES FOR CHANDIGARH Chandigarh The City Beautiful was conceptualized and build by Le-Corbusier. The City is unique in the sense that it is planned into Sectors with all facilities and now it enjoys the status of a Union Territory. It would be fair to say that it has now become less livable city because of tremendous increase of population as well as vehicles. The Civic Infrastructure has virtually collapsed in every area. Chandigarh now needs a stronger, more accountable authority to address its serious Governance Deficit. There are many important burning Civic issues which have not been addressed so far. ROADS- Construction/ re-carpeting being done every year is the worst possible and does not sustain even for a few months. Due to bad construction, large number of potholes are created which cause a very serious and dangerous situation for the commuters especially during rainy season. Frequent re-carpeting leads to lowering of plinth level, again a serious issue for the residents. The Mumbai High Court has asked some relevant questions on the pothole mess, all linked to a corrupt politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus. For example, “why are the road works contracts given to the lowest bid rather than the best quality options; what is the process for examining the competence and credentials in selecting contractors; why are contracts given out just ahead of the monsoon with the result that the work is rarely completed before the rains set in; and importantly which agency is responsible for road construction and subsequent maintenance/ repairs.” Authorities have never thought of improving the road quality. There is urgent need to frame proper specifications as per BIS standards. Proper road sampling need to be taken by the inspecting authorities during ongoing construction. The contractor must ensure that the road thus constructed must be maintained for six months. To increase the surface hardness of the road, shredded polythene bags (retrieved from domestic waste) need be mixed with bitumen. Such type of construction can last for many years and almost equals concrete road. STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM- In old towns rain water gushing on roads is understandable however if Chandigarh has to take the label of modern well planned city, then it is obvious that SWD system should be such that it should fully contain all the water from the heaviest possible rain fall and only the minimum water (5 to 10 mm) be on the roads. The drain pipes must be made much larger. Presently the road gullies occupy huge area without any benefit and also a serious encroachment on the pedestrian paths. DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY- There is a serious flaw in the water supply system, that the water does not reach upper floors and overhead tanks never get filled up because of extremely low supply pressures. In some sectors booster pumping stations have been provided without any benefit. Authorities have not been able get adequate water share from Kajaouli water works so far and they are indiscriminately drilling bore wells to meet the water demands, which is against ground water preservation. Artificial lake in Sector 42 is being filled with precious water from the bore wells, instead of rainwater harvesting. ELECTRICITY SUPPLY- Electricity Department has not upgraded and modernized their infrastructure for the past sixty years, with a result there are frequent power breakdowns and lot of wastage of power. Short circuits or overloads on the system happens in the routine way as well as during heavy rains or thunder storms. Many a time the power supply remains disrupted for hours together. There are power cuts due to shortage of power as demands are more than the supply. The street lights, which are considered as an important infrastructure of any good town, remain nonfunctional at a number of places. Consumer wants uninterrupted power supply with no voltage fluctuations. The routine maintenance and redressal of complaints seems to be a distant cry. The department has paid little attention to such maladies and in the process the consumer is the harassed lot. 5. SLUMS- Authorities have been ignoring slums since the inception, and as a result the number of slums have multiplied. The Govt.‘s plan to house slum colonies people in one multistory complex is totally wrong and against Le-Corbusier principals and concepts. These poor people unskilled, skilled and maid services should have been evenly rehabilitated in each sector for their benefit as well as for the benefit of the sector residents. 6. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT- Due to manifold increase of traffic on the roads, roundabouts on main trunk routes need to be removed for easy, straight, fast and effective flow of traffic in the shortest possible time. These roundabouts are not fit for heavy traffic. As the situation demands we must accept the change for the best. Entry to slip roads have failed. No under pass or over pass have been planed for uninterrupted movement of vehicles. It is desired that Punjab and Haryana Govt. offices need to be shifted to their respective areas to reduce vehicular pressure. 7. MODEL VILLAGES- Chandigarh also houses a large number of villages. These villages also kept untouched because of political pressures. The condition of these villages is deplorable and need total infrastructure improvement. They need to be developed into model villages. 8. RAIN WATER HARVESTING- Authorities are extremely slow in implementing this important issue. Enormous quantity of rain water gets wasted every year. Some artificial lakes/ ponds, somewhere in the south of Chandigarh may be constructed to contain this. This rain water can be utilized for drinking / gardening purpose. 9. CLEANLINESS AND SANITATION- The city is getting dirtier by the day. Lots of garbage strewn around and nothing is done. Cleanliness should be given lots of importance. Green Belts and Parks give a shabby look and need regular maintenance. The fountains installed in parks are white elephants because they never work. The open spaces need to be cleaned of all trash and wild growth. The surroundings should look neat and trimmed. 10. PEDESTRIAN PATHS- Walking on the roads has become very risky especially for women, children and the senior citizen, due to increase in traffic density and fast moving vehicles. It is not understood as to which standard has been followed in laying, so called pedestrian paths. If one is not careful, likely to get a fracture or the injury, as there are so many obstructions. Rain water gullies are the biggest obstruction. The paths also do not cater to disabled moving on a wheel chair. 11. MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP-The maintenance aspect is far more important and requires regular checks and repairs etc. The onus lies on Chandigarh Administration as well as Municipal Corporation. There is an urgent need for developing and implementing a maintenance plan to keep the existing infrastructure in excellent shape for the benefit of the residents as well as image of City Beautiful. In addition, Ward Councilors take real interest in the public welfare. They are yet to contribute effectively to build confidence amongst the residents. There is urgent need of creating central maintenance wings, to periodical check the faults and take up immediate repairs. In addition create dedicated complaint centre 24X7 for lodging complaints on phone. Also provide email ID of the complaint centre, who should give automated reply with complaint number. 12. MULTILEVEL PARKING-With the growing vehicular population there is no adequate parking facilities available in the markets as well as residential areas. The vehicle owners sometimes due to paucity of space have to park their vehicles on the road side. The police should not Challan or tow away such vehicles. Multilevel parking facility must be created on priority. 13. TERTIARY TREATED WATER- TTW scheme was launched with much fan fare a few years ago, but the same could not be expanded due to the reasons best known to Authorities. The Sewage Plant is running much below the capacity and raw affluent is being discharged in the open. 14. RENEWABLE ENERGY- The scheme has not yet gained importance even though there is acute shortage of power. 15. DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND FIRE SAFETY- Chandigarh is not yet geared up to handle natural disasters. Suitable Disaster Management system need to be evolved to tackle any exigencies. There are no fire Audit of Important establishments including schools and no fire lanes marked in markets for the easy movement of Fire Tenders and the fire fighting staff. 16. CHANDIGARH METRO- Metro seems to be a distant dream. The project was conceptualized sometimes 20 years ago, is moving at a snails pace. Efforts must be made to complete the project at the fastest possible time. Sateesh Dadwal 14-08-2013
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 01:19:57 +0000
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