See the picures and decide for yourself who is cremating the law.
Picture-1 & 2: A two-wheeler and a private vehicle is being towed away by RTO authorities from 'No-Parking' zone. This is a welcome move. Towing sub-contractors seem to do their duty diligently since business to them is on piece-rate basis.
Picture-3: Vehicles of illegal businesses (three-&-four-wheelers that can be seen in red circle) are however ignored. In fact, the towing vehicle was prompt enough to 'somehow' pull a two-wheeler crammed between three-wheelers parked in the red circled zone on left of the picture.
Picture-4 gives a perspective. All the pictures were taken on same road on 19 th August at around 14.00 hours within a span of about 60 minutes.
Illegal businesses that can be seen in picture-3 (at yellow arrow mark) had actually sprung up over a couple of decades on municipality-plot reserved for a first-aid-center.
Why such discrimination of law-&-order? Why vehicles of the illegal businesses are ignored for instance in spite of being parked in 'No-Parking' zone?
If one looks at the pictures with keen eyes many more questions might spring up that throw light on discriminatory practices.
Why had the municipality in the first place ignored sprouting up of illegal businesses that too on their own plot?
Obviously because of their political connections that help them enjoy all the utility support including electricity, water and even emergency services such as fire-brigade at the cost of law-abiding citizens. No rules or permissions such as that required for a legal business or a legal housing complex apply there.
Why there is no tree-cover on road while compound-walls of housing societies adjacent to it are full of greenery (as in picture-1&4)?
Obviously because no one cares for trees on road. It's a no-man's land. No doubt that municipality had planted saplings but without making adequate watering-arrangement. During my evening walks I used to carry water-bottles in order to water the saplings but in vain. Haphazardly parked trucks that repeatedly ran over the saplings were the culprit. This can be seen in red-circle in picture-4.
However later on there was an improvement as can be seen in green-circle in the same picture. You can see a mistake-proof (Pokayoke in Kaizen parlor) divider for saplings which prevents parked vehicles from running over saplings. Never-the-less there is a good action that should have actually been thought about 15-years ago. Gemba-Kaizen action there could have triggered such improvements. I had suggested this to the Municipality as a part of ALM (Advanced-Locality-Management) while counselling them but in vain.
Why footpath on one side is not made-up yet?
I may sound negative here particularly when aggregates for the footpath can be seen laid there. Actually this footpath had been lying unmade since over 5-years when the other-side was made perhaps claiming bills for measurements of both the sides then. Such mal-practices did happen in past.
I have a few such pictures taken over a decade including that of ignorance of maintenance of street-lights, corrupt officers taking bribes, etc.
Picture-5 for instance was taken on 28 th February 2011 when there was a fire in this illegal 'business-district', more than once at that. Obviously safety rules have been flouted there with corresponding authorities turning a blind eye to it. Even trees in the compound got burnt there.
Incidentally, I was a member of a local team that had got this road declared as 'No-Parking' one a few years ago. This was done particularly because the trucks that still get parked there are a nuisance. Early morning they race engines disturbing sleep in the residential zone.
Not only there have been a few cases of chain-snatching from behind the trucks but also a few accidents. A senior citizen who had no option but to walk on streets due to open gutters on broken footpath had fractured her hand when she got caught between a parked truck and a moving vehicle.
What is intriguing is that corresponding bureaucrats do have authority and corresponding politicians do have power but none seem to exercise that just-in-time (JIT) i.e. at right-place at right-time in right-amount.
Let alone installing amenities such as first-aid-center or trees, obvious basic needs such as eliminating dirty-dangerous-difficult (3-D) situations on footpaths also seems to be taking back seat behind their vested interests. Face-lifting at the time of elections however is always prompt while COPQ (Cost-Of-Poor-Quality) incurred due to such criminal acts gets conveniently forgotten.
God save India and Indians!
