Monday, December 29, 2014

OK, so we have been had...

May 2014 saw BJP coming to power on the back of massive spending from industrial houses and installed one of the most controversial persons as the Prime Minister of India. 31% of the voters choose BJP and due to fractured opposition and the ruling party reeling from corruption charges saw BJP ascend to power.

Even though many sane voices spoke of the danger of BJP coming to power and the divisive persona of the Prime Minister candidate, voters were still swayed by huge promises of bringing back black money and of better days, progress for everyone and an end to corruption. Promises that don't seem to have come true till date although a lot of water has flown under the bridge.

What has indeed happened is that the worst fears of the wise ones, that of the country being divided on the basis of religion are indeed coming true.

Much as we fight this madness on a daily basis, through posts on social media sites such as Facebook, et all, the fact is that we have been literally had.

This madness occupies our mind space and raises our temperatures. Many amongst us still do not see the danger of a polarized society. People who celebrated till some time back unity in diversity suddenly seem to want the whole cake to themselves. They are not bothered about the feelings of others and want to bring them back into their own fold.

What we now need to do is to free ourselves from this madness and finds ways and means of taking the country forward. The way things are going, we don't seem to be making any progress. It is sheer good luck that oil prices have fallen globally, yet the rupee is becoming weaker by the day and if the present theatrics continue not many foreign countries would be interested in investing in India.

We need to reverse this trend. How we do it is the big question.

Exposing the current regime is a good start but we need to do more. We need to raise the awareness level of the common public as the media has abrogated its role in exchange of pecuniary benefits.

And this awareness has to be raised sans any political patronage because the moment you associate any political party with the message, people tend to feel that it is just propaganda.

We need to keep our political views aside and work systematically to save the cultural fabric of our nation otherwise we will have no answers to our coming generation which will most definitely question our silence.

An agenda for Bombay



Bombay has a population of 12.5 Million people. About 60% of the population lives in slums. Real estate prices range between an absurd 3,00,000 per square feet to 12,000 per square feet making it impossible for most to buy a house in the city. Builder, Politician and Landowners nexus makes land scarce. Add to this rule and regulations that strangle utilization of land through Floor Space Index Rules and you have the perfect recipe for daily struggle for most of the residents.

Bombay requires a complete rethink. Not only Bombay for that matter most cities need a complete rethink.

Every day millions move from their homes to work places using public and private transport and most travel in sub-human conditions often spending up to four hours every day in a wasteful commute.

Yet, transport service providers are running in a loss.




The solution to the problem lies is rationalizing the city and making public transport so strong that people do not use personal vehicles.
How can this be done?

The only solution that will work is to make the city go vertical. For this we need suitable amendment in the FSI rule. We need to do away with the rule completely.

Areas near railway stations should be cleared to expand the railway system into an 8 track system from the present 4 track at most places. All platforms should be double discharge and there should be no vending allowed on stations. All stations should have elevated bus and public transport stands such as people can use these facilities to quickly move out of the station into the waiting transport. They should not spill onto the roads.

Offices should be located not more than two kilometers from any station and therefore within walking distance. Covered walkways should be provided from stations to office complexes. It would be best if the office complexes were located on the railway station itself thus eliminating the need for people to travel using any public transport.

Every building should be of at least 40 floors with refuge floors every 7th floor. This will lead to accommodation of 288apartments if the building was to have 2 wings with 4 apartments per wing. This will move about 288 families into one tall building. Each flat should be a standard apartment of 1000 square feet and consist of 3 Bed Rooms, a Living Room and a Kitchen. Standardizing the apartment will allow for factory made doors and windows and reduce time taken for constructing the building. Such a building will occupy about 12000 Square feet of ground space. Even if one such building came up on 1 Acre of land, we will need about 9000 acres of land to house the current population. And we have much more than this available, in fact we have 600 times this land mass available.

These houses can be sold for around 4000 rupees per square feet giving a profit of about 2000 rupees per square feet to the builder, a massive profit one would say. A house anywhere in the city will thus cost40,00,000. An affordable figure.

All the available land should be acquired by the state for the good of the people.

As people get concentrated near railway stations, the far off areas of the city can be returned to nature and be converted into forests and parks for the benefit of the residents.

Markets can also be made vertical with a few buildings serving the purpose of the community rather than malls which are energy inefficient and eventually cost the consumer.

Can this be done? Yes. Will it be done? Maybe, if we are able to rise above personal greed and personal gain. We can create a city that redefines the way we live.

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