New Year. New hopes. New resolutions. New aspirations. And owning a car, for some or many, is still quite an aspiration. I am not going to go blabbering about on what all new cars are going to enter the Indian market in 2008. We will eventually write about them, but not in this entry. What I would wish for instead is a good life for all under this sun, animals included. I really wish that our GDP increases folds on end. And though it is still a far shot, I also wish poverty goes down. More importantly, I wish that government does something to improve the conditions of our roads.
It can, and should be noted that all these “wishes†are somewhat interconnected. Come to think of it, almost everything is, actually. The government needs to fold its sleeve and get down doing some serious infrastructural developments. I am not saying that the government is sleeping or is not doing what it is supposed to, but I, as a tax paying, government making citizen, am saying that they need to perform better. Being in a job myself, I know that anyone of the government reading this will not really like the things being written in here. But the irony is, quite a lot gets held up, making life hell for the masses, due to the petty politics or lack of interference or sometimes over-interference by the government officials, if you know what I mean!
I essentially hail from Bihar, but have spent about 20 years of my existence on this planet in the NCR and my job is now having me stay in Mumbai and its surrounds. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled almost the entire length and width of our nation. I have been on the fantastically made Golden Quadrilateral, and also on the moon-surface like roads in Bihar, Orissa and er.. quite a lot of other palces! I have driven across the nation, met people from different spheres of life. Met people of different beliefs and religions and realized how breathtakingly diverse India is. So much so that I could write a book on my experiences!
Delhi used to be horrid, it is better now. Mrs. Sheela Dixit has taken some controversial yet bold decisions which were appreciated by many. Keep it up! Mumbai too is in need of reformations. We, humble motoring blokes, were sitting and chatting about one of the very important events that CarWale is going to let you know about very soon when the discussion changed nature only to become an argument. Finally, after much tussle, we all calmed ourselves by using “wordsâ€.
Living in Mumbai for now, I can only voice my thoughts about this metropolis, though I am sure many more of you, living in other parts of this nation will have similar solutions for your cities. Our idea, pretty over-the-top I must accept, would solve Mumbai’s road miseries to a certain limit, so we think! The ones familiar with this city must be knowing that there are major intersecting points like Sion, Dadar, Saki Naka, Powai and I don’t know how many others! What we could suggest, if we may that is, is constructing multi-layered over-bridge which will handle only two-wheelers on the first level while the second will be reserved for cars, and the vehicles of commercial interest could be channeled to the top level. The multi-storied bridge will have exit points only at the major intersections. This will atleast keep the traffic flowing smoothly.
There are many other so-called “original†and “practical†solutions we have in mind which can also be criticized by many. But what the heck! We atleast thought about it! And therein lies the problem, not many of us even have time, or take time out to think about the road conditions – the very thing that takes almost half your day because you are stuck in a jam most of the time!
Think about it. I will. Let's share our thoughts.
