Anilkumar. R
As an ordinary citizen living in Thiruvananthapuram , in the state of Kerala, I often feel that small changes in the way we are thinking, can lead to tremendous improvements in our city .You may not agree with me in many of the things I am pointing out in the following paragraphs.In many cases you may also have thought about it long before. It is only a wish list.
Posters Everywhere
If we look around any road in the city we can see lot of posters, notices, banners, stickers pasted on any available space, as if public place is a junk yard. Be it an electric post, Telephone pole, walls of government buildings, on every inch you can find some or other advertisement. The advertisers take it for granted, every place as their medium of advertising business, on coming protest marches etc. The Flex menace added a new dimension to this problem. Municipal Corporation is supposed to collect advertisement taxes on such boards in the city. By allocating specific places for advertisements these vulgarity can be reduced. Also penalty should be levied for pasting posters on public properties.
Scream for Toilets
A lot has been written and spoken on this subject. Still the problem has not received any practical solution. People have to either suppress their urge to urinate or do it publicly. Toilet cess can be imposed on any commercial building having an area beyond a threshold area which does not provide free toilet facilities. Using this cess amount it may be possible to run toilets on contract basis on government buildings, for which there is no shortage in the city. Running toilets on pay and use basis may not be economical for the persons taking contracts in many of the locations. It is also a wastage of man power, as a person has to sit there for collecting coins. Running a periodical cleaning service every hour using suitable equipment fitted in a small vehicle which can run from one location to other in a round robin manner will serve the purpose. Only monitoring on the cleanliness is to be done by the Corporation. In each Bus stop information can be given about the nearest toilet facility instead of putting some unwanted advertisement.
Overhead Mazes
Who will untangle all these wires running just above your head? It is like a spider web creating an ugly appearance in the city roads. These wires and cables mainly belong to the cable TV operators and telecom companies. If some utility duct can be provided on the side of roads which can be rented out to these operators on annual basis these cables can be brought down. Also these wires poses a threat of touching the electric lines and at any time it can become a hazard.
The Parking Conundrum
With the advent of more and more vehicles, it is becoming more and more difficult to find parking space. Since both sides of the roads are used for parking smooth flow of the vehicular traffic is restricted to a great extent. The approved plan of the most of the commercial buildings contain parking area. But they have converted these areas into shops or storage areas and they are forcing their customers to park vehicles on the roads. Levying parking cess on such buildings and taking spaces for parking on a rental basis using that amount can be an alternate solution. Also Similar to Delhi, the restriction of even and odd numbered vehicles on particular days can reduce the parking problem as well as the traffic congestion.
The Cleaning of Roads
Still we can see the Corporation employees are taking a lot of effort in removing the dust and debris from roads using brooms and baskets. People are generally in the habit of littering on the roads and no waste bins will be available in near vicinity. Even if it is available people will use it for dumping bio-degradable waste wrapped in plastic carry bags. By utilizing vacuum cleaners fitted in vehicles it is possible to automate the cleaning process and is already being done in most of the developed countries. At least on experimental basis this can be started. It will increase the efficiency of manpower and it may be easy to get people for cleaning works on the coming days.
Plants on Medians
In most of the major roads the medians are constructed very narrow. Adding one more feet width is not going to interrupt traffic. If they can be constructed at width of about 2 feet, flowering plants or coniferous trees can be planted on them. Rain water harvesting as well as re cycled water can be used for providing water to these plants. It may be noted there will be rains in many of the days during June-November period. The local residence associations can also be roped in to monitor the program. It will beautify the roads and will provide a shade in the hot sun.
Green Parks
The only park in the city worth the name is the Museum compound, which was built during the rule of Travencore Kingdom. There after no effort is being taken to develop gardens in the city .All are interested to build commercial complexes and make more and more money. Development is confined opening of more and more shopping malls. Still spaces for small gardens can be obtained in front of many Government buildings such as University College. A small part of the development fund can be devoted for this or even sponsors can be found to develop such gardens. Even acquiring small pieces of land in various parts of the city can be thought of. It will be a gift to the future generations.
Streams and Rivulets.
People throw waste directly into streams. Many places drainage is opened in to the streams. Fences are required to be constructed on possible sites to prevent Garbage throwing. It may not be possible to construct fences everywhere in a single year. But a planned action can help this issue over some period. Also this will be reducing many of the health related issues.
Street food
Mostly the street food is kept in open containers in pavements and on roads. Also items like Parotta are being prepared in the midst of dust itself. One may think that these out lets will provide cheap food. But otherwise also Thiuvananthapuram has a lot of hotels which provide food at reasonable rates. By diluting the standards this has become a health problem and also making the roads and pavements dirty. Hence it is better to restrict the places where such outlets can be opened and also it should be licensed for a limited period. Food Safety authorities may also check such outlets for maintaining minimum cleanliness standards.
Continued in Part 2.............