Traffic woes

I could not step back from the civic responsibility when I heard what happened to my friend who lives in Bangalore. He was suffering from fever and acute back pain because of which he was not able to walk the distance. He usually travel by bike but could not, that day, as the situation was very worse. He decided to go to the Hospital nearby, MGA hospital in Marathahalli, which is just 1KM away from his place, just near to Bharatis restaurant. He stood on the road for an autorikshaw. He called four autos and the first three demanded 30Rs, 40Rs and 30Rs each for this 1KM. Finally he got a person who took him to the hospital with meter charge. he consulted the doctor and it was time to return. He stood near 'The New Shanthi Sagar' restaurant looking for an auto back to home. He called for 4 autos and all demanded 30Rs for the 1KM distance. Disappointed by the kind of arguments that the drivers put, he walked down the signal in acute back pain. I am sure, if you have ever been in Bangalore and have traveled in autos, you would have come across similar experiences.

Now the problem is: many public transporters - specially autorickhshas - dont go by government regulation. they charge the public extra bucks- sometimes 5Rs extra, sometimes 10 and sometimes the double, citing silly excuses and the public who is in need have to submit to what the transporter ask for. (I dont forget those few people who go as per rules and regulations and charge only as per the meter). Not only this, they stay in the road most of the time, even if not been utilised. They pollute when they go around looking for people who can pay them high. That is in effect we are having a poor public transport system in the shape of autorickshaws, which use up one of the scarce resources - the road space - and pollute the city. People usually take private vehicles - cars or bikes - if they could manage it, since there is no surety of the public transport - with respect to the cost of travel and the kind of treatment they receive. This adds to the number of vehicles on the roads, traffic woes and pollution and the rest. Many steps taken by the authorities have not been so fruitfull till date.

What is Ideal? : At the times of car pooling and maximum utilisation of public transport, we have to make sure that the autorickshaws are utilised to the fullest possible extend. For that the first thing to be done is with the fares. Public should be sure that when they travel a certain distance, anywhere in Bangalore, they are charged the same as per the government regulations - not a penny more, not a penny less. Fare should not be more when they hire an auto from 'The Forum' mall or 'Garuda' mall. Fare should not be more when someone hire and auto towards 'Logica' or towards any where for that matter.

What could be done? : Why dont we introduce 'Fair fare autos'(FFA)? The idea is to bring together the group of autos that charge the real fare from the public. They wont over-charge the public. They wont reject any trips due to any reasons. They wont misbehave to the customers.They will be identified as FFA. So the public can hire a FFA without any fear about the fare they will be charged.

How could it be implemented? : This could be implemented only with the help of all the stakeholders - The public, the auto drivers, the traffic police and all others involved.
--> First of all there needs to be a registration in which the auto driver will furnish the details of the auto and his license details
--> Then they will be given identification - for the auto and the driver - a visual identification so that the public can identify a FFA
--> There will be a notice in every FFA, showing where to register complaints and whom to contact.
--> There will be a central location where all data of FFA will be kept and managed
--> Necessary actions will be taken -- like stripping off FFA title -- according to the complaints received.

I know its not simple. But we have to start somewhere. Pass on the message if you like it. Add your comments and suggestions. Thank you.

Nalu mani unda

In my childhood, we had a man who worked in our fields and the farmhouse. His name was Xavier. In local slang we used to call him ‘Chowriar’ chettan. He was a bit tanned due to sun. He was in his early sixties that time. He used to wear a lungi and a towel around his neck. He used to have a small beard as he used to shave once in a week only. He was one of our favorites as he used to sing well. Specially parody songs. He will pick some topic and start singing, like an instant poet. We had a song for him too – Chowriarettaaaa, Chowriarettaaaa, Kannampuzhakkale Chowriarettaaa – I don’t remember the other lines. But we used to tease him with this song by adding whatever situation requires. He used to call me “Nalu many unda”. My amma used to make some or other kind of undas for snacks in the evening. So we used give him too a share. All children who used to come to my house or the houses we used to visit for games used to get this legendry undas. My amma is a good cook.