Rainwater is
scientifically the purest form of natural water. However, my city becomes
filthy when it rains . The yearning for rain in the sweltering heat transforms
into dismay to find rain playing havoc with civic life .
The traffic
becomes a nuisance with lack of drainage creating rivulets on crossings , below
the flyovers , on service roads and everywhere. Somehow we could find feet to
check if water exists on other cosmic bodies but could do little to harvest the
drizzle and the heavy downpour on our own planet.
We could
still live with flooded roads had not our fellow citizens found it fine to flout
all traffic rules with utmost disdain , more prominently painfully during the
rainy season. There is a license to cross the red signal and to drive in
opposite lanes. Probably the absence of traffic police makes it very convenient
to discard human prudence. It’s not only me first , it’s only and only me . The
implementation of traffic rules is also
enforced like a fortnightly drive rather
than on a perpetual by default mode. You could go scot free despite driving in
an opposite lane in your car in front of the police only because they will be only
nabbing bikers without helmets on the day.
The battery
rickshaws create their own rules, plying across any lane and driving anywhere.
So do the delivery boys . The city busses too are not far behind . With the bad
precedence set, others too find it somehow justified to replicate this anarchy.
In absence of any shelter, poor bikers and pedestrians gather below any foot
overbridge making it impossible to cross such places. As it is there are
schools , stores , complexes , gymnasiums etc that get approvals to operate
without any practical solution to the parking requirement of their clients.
There is a frequent sight of at least one lane occupied by unauthorized parking
on road itself.
Then the
garbage that doesn’t get disposed off for days. The city becomes a dumping
ground with filth gushing out all over. The water lines sometimes get burst
with the infested water entering main stream easily . At many places water
supplies get adversely impacted. Coleridge would never have thought of this sinister
version when he famously penned down,“ water , water everywhere , and not a
drop to drink “.
Rain is a
blessing from the skies and a balm on scorching earth. Human folly somehow is
adept in converting the boon into a bane . We recall having read in history
that even Harappan civilization had a proper drainage system. Sadly, we have smothered
the existing network, forget create new ones. With the pressure on natural
resources being extremely high , it is only prudence towards using the
resources which will allow life on the lap of mother earth. Cctv cameras can be
installed on traffic signals with an online mode of fine payment to avoid the
notorious settlement on the road. A pic of violation instance can be recorded for
transparency. Licensing to ensure
adequate parking facilities on upfront basis. Drainage is to be made mandatory
for any building, flyover or township
planning.
All said and
done, courtesy begins at home. It is silly to assume that if we will not be
caught while violating our life and that of others will be safe. Enforcement
can be an exception and indicative, never universal. The responsibility of guiding the new
generation is ours. As a dad flouts all rules of road only to drop his son to
school on time , the little one understands it is fine to replicate it someday .
The onus is on us to start on time before it will be so late that we will miss
reaching the destination despite all our crooked means. The day we decide to reach
late as a penalty of starting late rather than press our accelerator recklessly, the rain will become a soothing experience and
a spectacular sight again.
Hope we return
to that day soon .
