PUNE CITY
Of late Pune editions of Indian Express and Time of India have been highlighting pollution problems of the city. It was news to me that the Pune city is the 5th most polluted city in Asia.The city belches out 185 tons of pollutants a day into the atmosphere. The major cause is 2/3wheelers, poorly maintained diesel driven trucks and buses. Most cars here comply with Euro 2 norms. Unlike Delhi there are few CNG/LPG powered vehicles. The roads here are narrow. No new roads have been added over the last decade. Parking place is impossible to get and the construction industry has gone berserk. They have blasted out the hills and constructed ugly buildings all over the city destroying the skyline.
Thousands of folks migrate to Pune hoping for a better quality of life. But think again. Pollution is playing havoc with the health indices of the citizens here, particularly school going children. Traffic on the roads moves at a snails pace. Roads are pathetic, pot holes a plenty, traffic discipline non existent. 2 wheeler drivers wear masks, women drivers some kind of scarves to cover their faces, hair and noses. To protect their clothing from sooth, some wear white coats like doctors. Most new cars suffer dents within a few weeks of driving in this city. Power breakdowns are frequent. Crime rates are soaring. On an average 3 young folks get killed every day, mostly 2 wheeler drivers. Yet wearing helmets is not yet compulsory. Nor car seat belts.
The city planners have been talking about constructing 20 flyovers but nothing happens on the ground.
This city is a GAS CHAMBER. No statutory authority is making any moves to get a handle on the problems of this once great city.
The only open and green spaces are to be found in Cantonment areas.
So what makes Pune tick? Smart multiplexes, huge shopping malls, classy restaurants, nightclubs, fashion digs, musical concerts, festivals and stuff like that. Pune folks spending power has increased manifold. Apartments costing Rs 1 crore are now common. Over the weekends, many celebrities visit Pune and regularly make it to the page 3 of weekend newspapers. Thousands of young folks appear to be making good money working in IT/ITES/Call Centers/BPOs. They spend money like crazy, buy fancy smart bikes and party hard.
BPOs are the in thing happening in Pune. Every week a new BPO opens somewhere in the city. The job market for young grad students is exploding. By the middle of next year some 30, 000 jobs will be filled up at these BPOs. Surely, Pune will attract the young from across India, thus adding to the population of the city and straining the resources even further.
Business? Booming. Industry? Manufacturing indices all shooting up. The feel good factor here is high.
Another depressing news about this city is the shift in weather pattern. Global warming. The so-called great moderate weather for which Pune was known has all but changed for the worse. Temperatures in the summers shoot to 42 C. This winter, yes winter, the max temp is 30 deg C!
Is this the story of all great cities of India? I suspect, it is.