We got our Independence in 1947 and we will continue to celebrate August 15 for this purpose till eternity. Colonialism has long gone but the fight doesn’t end there. 70 years and still counting, there are other factors that are plaguing our society and country like unmanageable traffic, accidents, pollution and environmental degradation.
Every city deserves to be freed from them. Pune too..
Balkrishna Mudliyar 50, has called Pune his home for more than a decade. He has seen the cityscape change over the years. “The traffic in Pune has gone from bad to worse. There are so many two-wheeler drivers in the city. Everyone feels the need to own their own vehicle because of the lack of public transport facilities. The buses are old and dilapidated. They aren’t very well connected in the city. The BRTS lanes are barely used by the buses either. The cops rarely reprimand those who break traffic rules and this is harmful for pedestrians as well as those driving.”
It was earlier reported that in six years, more than 1000 deaths have occurred on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. After losing his brother in a fatal accident on the E-way, Tanmay Pendse has worked tirelessly towards ensuring safety measures to save lives since 2012. He too agrees that the city needs to be freed from such accidents. “There is a lack of education amongst Indian citizens about road safety and traffic management. That’s the first thing! The second thing is discipline. We can avoid many accidents if we are disciplined on the road. Before we criticise the government, we must ask ourselves, are we following the traffic rules? We must question ourselves as to what we have done to solve these problems. There are end number of problems in our society today. I do criticise the government but at the same time, I provide them with solutions. Such an approach like this can lead to freedom from accidents,” states Pendse.
Tree felling has been a large part of development and road-widening projects within the city. In the last ten years, we have lost thousands of indigenous trees. The work for the Pune metro rail project has already commenced. Many have said that this will solve all of Pune’s traffic, pollution and transport woes. However, there are some who are highly sceptical of this. According to several news reports, around 700 trees will be axed for the metro’s construction. The metro has also proposed a route of about a stretch 1.7 km along the Mula-Mutha Rivers. This could affect the ecology around the area as it is home to several birds, flora, fauna and other species, say the environmentalists. The condition of the above-mentioned rivers is already in a deteriorating state.
Vinod Bodhankar is the founder of the project ‘Sagar-Mitra’, that encourages children to collect plastic items, bring them to school and hand it over to a volunteer who then sends it for recycling. He is of the opinion that river pollution is a part of a bigger problem. “All soaps, chemicals, pesticides and liquids that we use go straight to the river and pollute it. The problem is at the source itself. Pune is a large city in which small rivers pass through. These rivers aren’t able to take in the load of waste that the citizens produce. The solution doesn’t lie in depending upon the civic body. It lies in our own habits. We must keep a check on how much plastic and harmful chemicals we use. The Mula-Mutha rivers are clinically dead. It is difficult to revive it till we change our habits.”
Freedom is what we get only if we know how to take it. Our freedom fighters agitated and protested, created pressure to end the colonial era. Similarly, freedom from such civic issues begins with us.
This Independence Day, let’s ask ourselves, how much are we willing to contribute to make life better for our fellow Puneites?
- #OddlyEnough18: Guard Reunites Baby Elephant With Mother And More! - January 1, 2018
- Safety Remains Biggest Concern For Women Say Pune’s Authors - December 29, 2017
- Commemorating 200 Years Of The Epic Battle Of Bhima-Koregaon - December 28, 2017
