WHEN RAINS LASHED CHENNAI

Incessant rains pounded the city

Beating down the ground  mercilessly

Downpour became a deluge

As if collecting the woes of the people.

Power supply was.cut off

The night came early

Bringing with it an eerie silence

As most of the houses got deserted

The ghostly houses silthouted.against darkness

Only the sound of rains can be heard

Like the footsteps made by evil spirits

Water entered every corner

Sewage water swelled and spilled outside

Bringing with it the filth and stench

Surprise that good old water.can do so much damage

So as to destroy much of the household goods

Mute witness to the wrath of nature.

Made.them wonder what they have done to.deserve this.

WRONG WITH CHENNAI

Somehow these problems with Chennai never seem to quit.

Autorickshaws are a curse on this city. Everything is wrong with them. Not only do they charge astronomical fares but there are also several vices associated with them. Standing at their stand and passing comments on people and gossiping for one. I hear they remove the sound deadner in their silencers so that they may save marginally on petrol consumption, but making the motor noicy so as to balst off the peoples ear drums. Strange, they have been living and spoiling the environment with impunity.

There is hardly a good restaurant in Chennai which is good in quality and reasonably prices. Some of the common food items such as idlis and dosas are exorbitantly priced and they defy all the economic theory. The ktichens are not neatly maintained but charged. Either there are street end dingy restaurants such as parotta stalls or costly restaurants such as Annalakshmi,Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan.

Talking of Saravana Bhavan, in my opinion, they are the root cause for spoiling the eateries scene in Tamil Nadu. In the name of taking care of their employees, they are fleecing the public. The quality they maintain is only superficial. Other restaurants do not even maintain the this quality but strangely charge almost equal to Saravana Bhavan. This can happen only in Chennai.

People here still flock to such restaurants; engage these autorickshaws without restraint; vote for parties who profess populist measures but do not govern well. Really, I am not able to understand these people.

Apollo Hospitals, which is hailed as a pioneer of Corporate hospital concept is actually the culprit who has spoiled the Health scene in this country. The practice started by them put and end to the family doctor concept, made medical treatment very expensive beyond the reach of common people. They made the doctors greedy. The medical system was made very complicated, not made world-class. This kind of Medical System is not at all suitable to our Country.

Educational Institutions are surviving at Chennai only because there is a good demand. But the system is far from honest in providing the vision that is mentioned on the prospectus of every college here. Not only are the fees are highly unreasonable, mostly the teaching community too are not sincere.

DEFACED WALLS OF CHENNAI

The strange thing in this city is that the its walls are continuously defaced with names of partymen all over. Not a wall is left in the city without the name of some party man's name painted across really big. Each party here is vying for space. There seem to be a mad scamble for the space here with the alphabetic letters getting bigger and bigger. What purpose this gives is anybody's guess. Except that it is 'painting' a wrong image of a cultured city.

Some years back the previous Government had banned this. How the walls of the city looked clean!. Presently the hoardings on the roads had been banned presumably to avoid traffic accidents. How come then such graffiti on the walls are being allowed?. Strange are the ways of the Government.

To keep the city clean is an awareness that must be inculcated in Public mind and examples are to the shown by the Government. If the Government itself commits the sin then what to say of the public. It will only breed uncultured behaviour among the people of the city.

ELECTRICITY WOES

The Power situation at Chennai seems to be at its worst. One consolation is that the other states are also in a similar situation. There must have been a total lack of planning in the recent past about the actual energy requirements for the State. It is easy for the Government to say that the energy consumption has gone up in the past few years. Anyway excuses are plenty and people have become resigned to their fate.

Having failed once, the TNEB could have rectified the situation by planning the power cuts properly. Instead the power shutdowns have been haphazard putting people to further difficulty. Some opposition parties have raised the issues, but people have lost the will to protest. With the result there has been no pressure brought on the Department to streamline the supplies. The Industries are the worst hit. Due to the haphazard power shutdowns there has been a huge loss to the Industrial production, that too in the days when the markets are under a depression. Many of the smaller industrial units have had to close down their opertations. But how does it affect the Electricity board or the Government, which is more interested in populist measures and another country’s problems?.

But one thing must be said of the Electricity Board. They do attend to the telephone calls politely as well as attend to any breakdowns. But do not expect ‘service with a smile’. Be prepared for a resenting face with harsh replies. Become immune to them, that is the best way.

There are a lot of ways the TNEB can make it convenient for its customers. There are long queues in all the counters for the payment of bills. Though there are 4 to 5 counters and the people are dealt with faster, it still takes a person half to one hour for the payment of his bills.
This can be avoided with i) extending the hours of payment counters, and ii) by starting the system of 24 hours bill payment kiosks at strategic places. The epayment system started by TNEB, I heard, is not working properly.

The present meter reading system can be done away with as it is both cumbersome and costly. Instead the person coming for meter reading can be given an electronic billing counter and he can hand over the bill to the concerned house in a matter of minutes.

The TNEB can advertise or publicise to educate the household ways and means to conserve power which will in the state and national interest as a large part of the power is wasted presently.The transformer used presently are by and large faulty and of sub-standard quality. The Board should purchase good, standard transformers and other electricity parts to increase efficiency and avoid breakdowns. Pilferage should be controlled. Noisy loud-speakers should be discouraged. People should sing and dance to their own voices and not use electrically opearated devices. This way there is both enjoyment as well as the neighbours are not disturbed.

RAIN WATER HARVESTING

Chennai was, once upon a time, not in the distant past, a curse as far as the water problem was concerned. The initiatives taken by successive Governments were inadequate and not genuine.

But there happened one exception about 5 years ago. Rain Water Harvesting was the best thing that has happened to the city for a long time. The gentle firmness shown in the matter during the previous Government in really laudable. It was made compulsary for every house or building to implement rain water harvesting systems in their premises. Today, when Chennai is growing at a fast pace due to the IT revolution, it becomes all the more reason for real appreciation. The ground water table has considerably improved and water can be seen in the lakes and ponds around the city. It is a beautiful sight to see good amount of water in the Kapaleeshwarar temple pond. The water quality also seem to have improved. The roadside trees and plants are getting water and greenery is all around. More greenery probably brought more water in the form of rains, reduced traffic pollution and air fresh to breathe.
The water works were more than happy though it was not so for the water lorries.

But I wonder if there is any follow-up of the same nowadays. There is hardly any promotion of the concept with the public. The concerned authorities should continue the good work. We, the public, should make them implement this good activity. As individuals we must install RWH systems in our premises without fail. We must also look at options as to how the remaining ponds and lakes become filled with water. We must also not pollute the accumulated water with our waste. Let us safeguard what we have gained.

ROADS

Chennai roads are badly maintained. The woes of the people using the roads are multiple. Why RTO is taking Road Tax, I do not know. If you take Metros, New Delhi's Roads are well maintained. Even Bangalore roads are more smooth and usable.

In our city, the broad arterial roads are narrowed down to less than half with haphazard parking on either side which are generally left unchecked. Two wheelers, mini-trucks, cabs,and cycles are parked in such a way as to obstruct smooth traffic on either side. The roads are also used as storing space for building materials, timbers, abandoned vehicles, garbage bins, and such other articles. If there are rains then the roads are a perfect picture of hell.

The roads have pot-holes, deep depressions due to manhole lids, and dug out dangers. The sewage department somehow takes pleasure at leaving the manhole half covered with a tree branch for warning the public. Will this tree branch be visible in the night?. The road dividers are not at all noticable in the night as there are no fluorecent reflectors on them. At many places the stones from the road dividers have been uprooted and left in the middle. The pot-holes are patched up very badly leaving the roads uneven which are a hazard for two-wheelers and other vehicles using the roads.

There is no will power to widen many of the important roads. Strict traffic disciplines are not enforced to streamline the movement of vehicle. There is haphazard crossing by people across the roads. There is hardly any place for the pedestrians to walk. The two-wheelers use the platforms on the roads to get ahead of traffic.

Most of the roads do not have pavements for the pedestrians to walk. There are no culverts along the canals and sewage flows.

In Industrial areas the roads are the worst. Is the Corporation or Government not getting the revenue from the Industries?. Why are the Industrial Associations keeping quiet?. Can they not make the Corporation lay the roads?. In fact they can save a lot of damage to the materials if the roads are smooth as the vehicles carrying their finished goods can do so safely.

On the highways there are no patrolling. Trucks are left parked haphazardly with the authorities not noticing them at all. Lane discipline is not enforced doing which can minimise accidents. Wrong turns, especially at the medians by the truck and bus drivers are not at all checked. With the result that these highways just outside of Chennai have become killer zones.

AN EXPERIENCE

The doorbell rang.

When I opened I found two small girls aged , may be, 9 or 10, with a small hundi in their hands asking for some coins for some temple function. An usual thing in Chennai. Very often one will find someone at your doorstep in Chennai and such seekers range from small children to women to old people. I am always left with the feeling whether to refuse or oblige, because the money I give may be used for some wrong purpose.

This time I did not want to refuse, because I have been thinking for the last few days that I should not always turn them off and probably oblige some of them. So I put a coin in their hundi.

Next, one of the girls asked me if I can give some money as they both are hungry.

I said that it is wrong to ask for money like that. But one of the girls continued to stay there. So I told her to go home and eat food which her mother may have prepared. She says that her house is far away and it will be late by the time she can reach home. The she added that her mother may not have prepared any food at all.

I asked her if he had something to eat when she started out from home. She said she had something in the morning but she is feeling hungry now. It was around 1.00 PM.

I again said that she should not ask all the people like that for money. Then I asked her what she is doing without being in school on the day. She said that she was asked to skip school for the day and collect money for temple function. I thought what kind of people she is having.

I said that if she had gone to school she would have got food.

She says she gets stomach ache if she eats the food given in her school. Is it the quality of the mid-day meal served in the schools?.

A small girl like that had an answer for all my questions.

I really did not know what to do. I stood there for a minute. Then I asked her to wait and closed the door a bit. This is a precautionary measure we are used to,lest they notice what is in the house and report to their parents who can then plan stealing. Times are bad.

I got two biscuits and gave one each to them. I told them to go straight home and eat food.

What kind of people we are having?. At such a tender age, these children, whether boy or a girl, are being misguided. Will we have responsible citizens in our country when these children grow up?. Something must be done to wipe away the ignorance of such parents.