Provide free parking space to motorists
The steep illegal parking fine levied by the BMC to motorists is too much. The civic body should first clean up the city’s garbage and the drainage system and only then levy fine on illegal parking. They should also provide enough free parking space to motorists for parking their vehicles on the roads. The BMC and the traffic police are only robbing the common man of his hard-earned money.
Jubel D’Cruz
Collapse of house of cards
Dongri building collapse is one more case of danger in waiting during monsoon season. It has become a house of cards as it collapsed and many people were trapped in the debris. Mumbai continue to reel under persistent monsoon rains and the problems go unabated as more and more rain related issues continue to haunt the city. Old buildings are coming down in a heap, causing fear among the citizens.There is no end solution as BMC is passing blame as they claim that a warning was issued and the blame passed on to the builder. Monsoon mayhem continue haunt the city and suburbs. In case of building collapses there is no building audit and the dilapidated buildings pose problem for the people in the metro city. It is time to stop all illegal extensions as people take law into their own hands. It is reliably learnt that only two floors were legal and the rest constructed after the plan was approved. It is one more eye opener for BMC.
Subbu Sujatha
Chennai’s acute water crisis a wake-up call for citizens
The recent news of Indian Railways ferrying 50000 litres of water wagons to Chennai residents is very overwhelming. The relief provided by Indian Railways “Water Train” to ferry drinking water at the time of acute water crisis is commendable. The Hon’ble Ministry of Railways and Southern Railway should be lauded for such a noteworthy effort to help people quench their thirst.
The government on the other hand should now extensively involve citizens to put an effort to conserve water. Mere dependability on water train to quench the thirst at short notice should not be the end of the road. Meticulous planning to conserve water including initiating steps to rain water harvesting will help every citizen satisfy the need of water. The efforts now to conserve water at micro level and public awareness programmes regarding the same should increase manifold. Chennai’s acute water crisis is a wake-up call to all the citizens to use the water judiciously and help conserve water for a better future.
Government may also involve multiple stakeholders and agencies to bring efficiency and innovation in water conservation. An effort should be made to reach out to international water agencies across the globe to understand and adopt smarter ways to conserve water and help citizens to consume it in a judicious manner. A new water policy primarily aimed at better steps to conserve water may also be looked into in order to avoid such a crisis arising yet again in the summer of 2020.
Varun Dambal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
