Mismanaged projects & a rotten system! One possible way forward...

This post has turned out to be a long one; request all to read till the very end. Starting with the NH issue, we move on to the root cause of such issues (which all of us actually knows deep inside) and we then move on to a possible way forward for us. Do try to read till end, and let me know your thoughts...

I stand with the people who are being affected because of the road widening. I do not think, any solution to the problem with the people being displaced becoming losers (in any way), is the right way forward. None of us, including those out there who are fighting tooth & nail for wider roads, would want the people who are being affected to be thrown out to the streets or to be at the mercy of the government. No, lets not call that development!

But then, does that necessarily mean that we ought to stick to smaller roads? I do not agree...

We want better infrastructure, we want planned, organic & sustainable development! We are a young country, youth being a significant percentage of the population! We want more & more job opportunities to be created here; and this has to happen before our so called human capital becomes a human liability for ourselves! If wider roads would mean more opportunities for the youth in any way, then we ought to have it!

Now from another perspective. Every day, we see more & more vehicles on the road. Dozens of people die every day in the highways & hundreds suffer major accidents; if wider, well planned roads could make that figure come down by at least 50%, wouldn't that alone be a reason for us to have wider roads in our state.

Doing nothing now is living a slow death! Unless we take the "right" decision right now, its just a matter of years, before we see our state choking to death.

"Shashi Tharoor interacting with techies in Technopark" - How it went today!

Saw this post on TechnoparkToday; had spread the word today morning. Was not at all planning to attend this one; but then a few of our friends wanted to attend this one. Am now wondering, whether it was the letter from VK that had prompted us attend this session (the very same letter, which is the previous post; request all to spend two minutes to go through the letter and to spread the word). Let me also take this opportunity to thank Dr. Tharoor for having come up with the idea and for organizing such a discussion. Thank you Sir!

So at around 5:50 PM, we all started from our office to Al-Saj auditorium.

On reaching the venue, I was at first disappointed to see that it had the banner "Youth Congress Campaign". We had wished it to be more of a discussion forum about "youth joining politics" led by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, without much focus on any particular political party. However, a welcome note by Dr. Tharoor was of comfort to us, as he did mention that the session would be an interactive discussion. Towards the end, we were convinced that Youth Congress was serious of having the youth getting in politics to shape the future of our country!

To start with... Opposition Leader Shri. Oommen Chandy, Trivandrum MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor, AICC Secretary Jitendra Singh, MLA Wahid, DCC President V. S. Sivakumar were the prominent figures around. It started with a welcome speech by Shri Wahid; followed by Dr. Tharoor, Shri Oommen Chandy & Shri Jitendra, all speaking of youth and politics and Youth Congress. The message was clear: it is important that youth join politics to shape the future of the nation & that Youth Congress was the best option for the youth to have their say in Indian politics.

Am cutting short the introductions; moving on to discussions. You can skip the first two questions straightaway; we have interesting ones down the line...

Letter from Sri. V. K. Mathews, Chairman & CEO of IBS Group of Companies on "NH widening" issue

This mail was sent to all the employees of IBS; it says:

SUB: Safe and efficient road system for the future of Kerala

Dear All,

This is a long mail, and it has nothing to do with IBS' business.  I am writing this note to seek your assistance on an important matter for our state. Take your own time and read at your own pace, but please do read it and do what you can to help.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the expansion of about 700 KMs of highways in Kerala, at an estimated investment of up to 10,000 Crores, over a 30 months period. However, the Kerala Government and the Opposition together has represented to the Prime Minister that the expansion should be limited to 30 meters (as against the NHAI standard of 60 Meters), quoting the impact of land acquisition on the people on the sides of the highways. Obviously, this has put the entire project at risk as NHAI will not and cannot consider it under the current highways scheme, and we could lose this approved funding and the essential expansion project. The immediate impact will be the Trivandrum-Kochi stretch of NH-47.

According to authentic statistics, Kerala has the highest vehicle density of 1:6 in the country (one vehicle for every 6 people, which is over 4 times the national average), which is comparable to USA (1:5), and the lowest level of highway system among other states. The annual traffic growth is the highest in Kerala, which will make the roads ever more congested in the coming years.  Every day, Kerala witnesses 11 deaths and 120 grievous injuries due to road accidents, resulting in total or partial disabilities!  The number families, more so belonging to the lower strata of the society, getting totally devastated every year is alarmingly high in Kerala. The productivity loss and increased fuel costs on the Trivandrum-Kochi stretch of NH-47 itself, due to congestion and lower average speed,  is estimated to be about 2,700 Crores per year. 

It happens only here.. Height of misgovernance!!! :(

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/localnews/malayalam/news/kerala/districts/thiruvananthapuram/316292/2010-05-19/2/0/1/0

Hard to believe that we let such things happen here... :( Corporation & Water Authority - they find it impossible to work in tandem! Digging a road within two days of tarring it!

The concerned authorities should be taught a lesson for wasting the taxpayer's money. But who will take this up? Anyone interested???

Accidents in NH 47: 7 die in 1 month in "Kazhakuttom - Attingal" stretch alone!

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/localnews/malayalam/news/kerala/districts/thiruvananthapuram/317400/2010-05-20/2/0/1/0

Even this is not enough for our great visionaries, who are still fighting with Central Govt. for a 30 m highway instead of a 45 or 60 m highway!!! #sad #frustrated

Yesterday, was stuck in the traffic for about 20 minutes or so at Chacka junction! Meanwhile, with the sirens on and an escort of about 2 or 3 police jeeps, a State car flew by; no way was it affected by the jam. So, they are right! They dont need a 45 m or 60 m wide road! Why bother!

Its not just with the highways; everything seems to be in a mess here! :(

In another note; these days, I see more and more people openly sharing their frustrations and anger with the system! Good in a way; we have more people realizing how we are being betrayed. But, if this is how it is going to be, one day all these frustrations & anger is definitely going to burst out! Know not when or how it would be; but that would definitely not be good. Wish our great leaders & visionaries change themselves, before the public takes it out at them!

Paratha festival in Trivandrum: Hotel Uday Samudra (May 17th to 24th)

http://www.trivandrumbuzz.com/paratha-festival-uday-samudra-trivandru/

User Development Fee at Trivandrum Internation Airport!!!

Started hearing protests, here and there, against introducing the user development fee (UDF) at Trivandrum International Airport. (#1, #2, #3, #4) Hope these protests do not die off without seeing any light... Pity the government which didnt even bother to raise any concern while the UDF was mooted about! My strong support for the protesters!

Was just wondering who all were mainly affected by this.
Party 1 >> Of course, the people...
Party 2 >> The airport which is going to see lesser traffic in the coming days, unless the issues is sorted out by reducing significantly or cancelling the UDF.

Of course, we have a lot more stake holders such as the tourism industry & those who are employed in this industry, even the airport taxi drivers and so on... It just occurred to me there is one more stake holder, whose name was not mentioned anywhere...

The IT companies in and around Trivandrum, mainly the ones in Technopark! These companies see significant number of foreign trips being made by their employees every year...

Now, dont tell me that these companies cross charge the flight expense to their customers. It might be so for most of the trips; but still, the extra money that the customer would have to incur, could have been used by the IT provider for something else! Besides, we still have lots of business trips, where the company itself has to incur the entire travel cost! So, in either case, introduction of UDF is going to hurt the business of the tech group of companies!

So, cant we gather the support of the tech group of companies for rolling back the UDF? Can we have these companies as well register their protests with the concerned authorities?

Trivandrum International Airport - Terminal 3

Terminal 3 at Trivandrum International Airport; its stunning!!! Eagerly waiting for my next trip...

Thanks to Ajay, Vivek for making these pics available.

Its high time such pseudo leaders are unmasked! "Its illegal for women to work!"

It is a widely accepted fact that one of the main reasons for Muslims in India to remain educationally backward was because a couple of their leaders had asked them to neglect English. Though this was to oppose the British rule during pre-independence days, things did not change much even after India became independent. This was a severe drawback for Muslims, as they found that more & more people from other religions & communities had mastered English and were well equipped to take on better positions as years passed by.

Now more of such crap from somewhere in Lucknow: Its illegal for women to work!!!

Wish the learned Muslim scholars and true Islamic leaders in India unmask such pseudo leaders! Its sad that the Muslims in India are not realizing that such nonsense in the name of religion is making things worse for themselves and for India! :(