A few days ago the Chief Minister of Delhi Ms. Sheila Dikshit had stated that the people of Delhi are to be blamed for the traffic jams in the city. She isn’t entirely wrong, when she makes such statements. We all have the tendency to break the rules for our convenience whether on the road or off the road.

Traffic Jam at ITO

Don’t we break the lane system? This is one of the most common forms of traffic violations. It may also be possible that many of us don’t even know the lane system means or what the signboards on the road stand for. We just change the lanes with least respect for other vehicles on the road. We never hesitate to overtake other vehicles from left side, which is illegal too.

Don’t we block the left turn even when it’s free? It’s something which we often encounter on Delhi roads and I’m certain that it’s an experience that holds good in most other Indian cities – the pride with which drivers block the free left turn, when they have to go straight. We just block the left lane in the sake of reaching ahead of the race. But we forget that it’s a road not a racing track. It stops the flow of traffic and more & more vehicles add to the jam.

Don’t we park at the tow away zones or near red lights? On my way home from office, there is a red light in the end of Siri fort road. Almost every day, two-three cars are always parked just before the red light and it makes that road more congested. Also people block the road on the left lane even when the signal is green for left turn.

Don’t we stop or slowdown our vehicles outside worship places? I often go to my office via Lodhi Road and I always know that I will reach late on Thursdays because Sai Baba’s temple is there. We stop our vehicles outside the temple and touch the road or bow to get the blessings of baba. But it occurs to none, the inconvenience that others might experience because of this.

A two-wheeler rider outside a temple

Don’t we go towards wrong side or take illegal U-turns?

We all can contribute to reduce traffic jams by following rules. All these efforts may not solve this problem completely but it will certainly help. And no one will be able to blame us. Whenever we are stuck in a traffic jam, we should think of all those instances when we have broken these rules and contributed to Traffic Jams.

A rare sight in India, all the vehicles have stopped before the stop line

Please share your suggestions to reduce traffic jams in the comment box below.

PS: In the next part, I will try to point the areas where government is found faulty or can extend its influence to curb jams.

I clicked these pictures at Chawri Bazar. Hats-off to these guys. They were propagating the information about TB and DOTS by distributing brochures. It was a small road show. We should learn the spirit from them.

DOTS - Sure cure for TB

For more information on TB visit http://www.tbcindia.org.

Much has been said, and much has been claimed and in the midst of this chaos, the simple truths were forgotten and overlooked. Every year, as the monsoon arrives, life is plagued by multiple woes; starting from water logging to various other issues. And as the monsoon clouds disappear, so is the common man’s angst against the MCD. However, one that is perennial, unlike the monsoon is the smelling garbage truck that you often end up following on your way to work, shards of decomposed stink flying from its coverless garbage. Several years ago, the Chief Minister of Delhi had made it mandatory for all garbage trucks to cover the waste with a canvas or a tarpaulin and to have more number of covered garbage trucks. But sadly enough, this isn’t the only promise that vanished into thin air. We can still see the trucks full of awful smelling garbage plying either uncovered or covered with a tattered polythene sheet or few sacks.

Uncovered garbage truck

The problem doesn’t end here only. Walk down the roads of any colony and one common sight is either the overflowed garbage bin or huge area of spilled rags, attracting the stray dogs, pigs, scavengers, mosquitoes.etc.

Spilled garbage on the road

It was said that there will be a pair of dustbin of different colors so that the garbage can be segregated into bio-degradable & non-degradable stuff and dumped accordingly. We can see these dustbins at some places but it remains questionable about the rate of their success. The lack of awareness is one of the major reasons for this.

The problem is that the civic body creates rules but hardly does anything to follow those rules or they make sure they are followed. The Kuda wala’s who come to our doorstep they also do not segregate the degradable and non-degradable stuff. In fact even if we keep them separate, they mix those and dump at the same place. Nobody is there to get hold of these people creating mess like overcharging, not collecting garbage from houses on regular basis and so on.

When we do not like litters inside our house then we should also make sure the surrounding of our house is clean. It is our civic and moral responsibility to maintain cleanliness both inside and outside the house. In fact if we can be conscientious to stop others from making our surrounding dirty, it will be easier for us to maintain cleanliness.

Charity begins at home. So if we the readers of this article start the practice and encourage other, which I am sure most of us will, then many others will also join us. Why not live in a beautiful and clean city & be proud of it, rather than regretting upon the fact that the city is dirty and we have to live with it. Let’s own this city for once.

Click to enlarge

We at WECONSCIOUS wish our readers a very happy and prosperous New Year 2010. Weconscious resolute for working towards it’s motto to make people conscious of things happening around them.

We would like to recall posts through which we have tried to create awareness:

• Wastage of food in weddings
• Roads for 21st Century Delhi
• Terrorist attacks & We the people
• 11 things we should not do at traffic signal
• Yeh Dilli hai meri jaan
• Safe Pedestrian Drive by Delhi Traffic Police
• How Racist are We?
• Swine Flu: Symptoms, Precautions & Treatment Centers
• Escalators in Delhi Metro
• MRP – an essential information for packaged goods
• Homosexuality and our society

Winter is also known as the season of marriages in several sub-Indian cultures. Come winter, and the roads are flanked by coloured lights and processions of dancing people. Our houses are filled with invitation cards, party clothes, clashing dates and the best of food.

We all have attended Indian wedding parties but how many of us realize how much food goes into waste during such parties? There are no official or unofficial estimates, even though we unanimously agree that wastage can be unimaginably massive. Here are a few tips to minimize, if not stop wastage completely during Indian weddings.

1. Since most weddings are turning into buffet system, it’s the responsibility of the guest to help the size of the servings according to their apetite.
2. If you aren’t sure, which dish you are actually going to eat; take spoonfulls of each to taste and decide, instead of filling the plate with every dish.
3. Many Indian weddings have gone completely vegeterian and there are others, which serve both vegeterian and non-vegeterian dishes. It is our responsibility to fill our plates according to our eating habits. Its sheer waste to fill one’s plates with dishes that we do not eat, only to realize later and discard the food in the bins.

Wasted food in the bin

No matter how much noise we make about the economic development in India, we can never deny the fact that India also hosts one of the biggest armies of starving people in the world. The food that we waste will inevitably land in the garbage bins. But if we play our roles a little carefully and take only as much as we intend to eat, the saved food will find its way into the empty stomach of those, who cannot afford to fill theirs.

Photo by: locket479

The delight in Europe has a great deal to do with clean air, non-interfering people, healthy food, great shopping centers, winter style for women, etc. But one of the most important elements, lest it be forgotten, is that most of them are ‘walking cities’. Almost every city in Europe has pedestrian walks and cyclist’s lane alongside the main road. ‘Walking cities’ are easy to cover on foot, usually there is a single centre located in every city, well connected by roads and efficient public transport systems, therefore the sprawl of the city as such is hardly much.

On the other hand in the United States, especially cities like New York, the distances between two parts are vast, but these are covered by a very efficient metro system, that runs 24/7 come sleet, come snow storms, thanksgiving or Christmas. This is also true for all buses which run on schedule and make it easy for those waiting to time themselves accordingly. In New York, there exists a single swipe card which works for both bus rides and metro rides. These can be purchased for a nominal price every month/week/annual depending on needs.

Recently, Chennai, India, saw the visit of Enrique Peñalosa–former Mayor of Bogotá, who works for the institute for transportation Development and Policy. According to him, “the biggest difference between the infrastructure of an advanced and a backward state is its footpaths and not its highways. The quality of footpaths determines the quality of life in a city.”

Delhi does not have too many footpaths yet there are numerous pedestrians. There are no cyclist lanes. The roads are spacious, but they seem to be shrinking everyday. There are separate bus lanes but very often the bus systems do not keep to them. Yet, one can see stupendous efforts to make Delhi dependent on public transport. The metro construction is going on 24/7 to meet the challenge of the commonwealth games. Numerous highways/flyovers are being designed with the aim of reducing bottlenecks in key areas and wherever new roads are being built a pedestrian lane is provided. In fact, some parts of Delhi have also started the Swipe card system for buses as well. New Delhi cannot hope to become a ‘walking city’– its impossible to imagine anyone walking from South/East Delhi to the Center (Connaught Place). However, greener spaces, parks, an efficient and reliable transport system and more sidewalks will help both Delhiites and foreigners explore parts of this gorgeous city and hopefully make it a delightful experience as well.

“We have evidence, we have the culprit, and we have the witnesses………..but what we don’t have is the justice.”

Pragnya P Mohanty

Every time we suffer at the hands of terrorist, our suffering is instant and continues forever, because we are the public. What follows after such attacks is en-cashing of such incidents. Starting from politicians who use such incidents as a medium for votes and earning through the aids coming from various sources. In this the NGO’s also benefit quite a lot. Then it’s the media. They make sure to get each and every profit out of it, not only immediately but also a year after. They use the sentiments of general public to gain the huge revenue that flows in.

After every attack it’s said Delhi’s Spirit, Mumbai’s spirit etc. etc. But what choice the general public has other than moving on. We are bound to move on since we don’t have the choice. We know we are not going to get any protection and nothing concrete is going to be done. All the security and alertness is for a few days. Once the things start cooling down, all the security and checking in the public places are done just for the sake of formality only, traffic police officer talking on mobile phone while managing traffic at signals, security officer sipping tea & police officer dozing off at the check post are some of the common sights.

Taj Hotel under fire after terrorist attack

Photo by: Priyam Dhar

Government spending some crores per year which comes to around some lakhs per day to protect the terrorists like Ajmal Kasab, 26/11 terrorist attack captured in Mumbai attack, is a shame. Why so much farce of justice when we know what was the truth. He killed people mercilessly, openly and we are giving him more than a VIP’s treatment. For his medical treatment expensive Doctors are called in. What about those who suffered because of him? How much is government spending for those people? What have the victims like some of those kids who either lost a limb or gravely injured in some or the other form due to these terrorist attacks, got from government? We need justice in this as well. Don’t be unjust to the innocents and just to those merciless killers.

Mumbai terrorist attack accused Ajmal Amir Kasab

We are no more ready to forget and forgive such inhuman acts.

Amitabh Bachchan’s comment on Kasab

Traffic signals are made to manage the flow of traffic and avoid accidents at intersections. If we don’t follow the right practices at the signals it could be dangerous and inconvenient. We have listed a few things which we shouldn’t do at signals.

1. Don’t jump red signal – You might feel that by jumping a red light you are saving time but you are playing with your as well as others life. It is an offence under section 119/177 MVA and the penalty amount is Rs.100/-.
2. Don’t cross the stop line – There is normally a yellow stop line before zebra crossing or red light. Never cross this stop line on red or stop signal. Stopping before stop line gives a clear view of the signals and traffic coming from the other sides. It also provides an easy way to pedestrians to cross the road. If there are no lines, stop before the traffic lights. Crossing stop line on red or stop signal is an offence under section DMVR 113/177 MVA and the penalty is Rs.100/-.
3. Don’t keep your engine running – If the stop signal is longer than 20sec, switch of the engine. Do your bit to cut down air and noise pollution and it definitely saves you some fuel.
4. Do not honk – Delhi Traffic Police has banned honking at traffic signals in the beginning of the year 2009. It increases the noise pollution. Honking at banned places is an offence under section 119/177 MVA and the penalty is Rs.100/-.
5. Don’t stand on the left lane when left turn is free – Generally people block the left lane in for the sake of going ahead. And because of that people who want to go left gets stuck even when left turn is free or left signal is green. It stops the flow of traffic.
6. Don’t ride on footpath to get ahead – footpaths are made for pedestrians to walk. We should not ride/drive our vehicles on footpath.
7. Don’t accelerate while standing – It reduces engine life and releases more CO2 in the air. It is an offence in many countries.
8. Don’t jump flashing red signal – You must stop the vehicle completely and let all other traffic and pedestrians go. Move only when the way is clear.
   
9. Don’t speed-up even signal allows to go – when you are far from the signal, slow down the vehicle even when the signal is green. It can be risky to cross the signals with high speed because of the rush. There are chances that by the time you reach the signal, it may turn to Amber and then Red.
10. Don’t park near the signal – No parking should be done on road, except when specifically permitted by a direction on a board. Don’t blame when you are stuck in traffic jam next time, some among us may have parked obstructively on the road. It is an offence under section 122/177 MVA and the penalty amount is Rs.100/-.
11. Don’t honk on breakdown vehicles – such as a two-wheeler isn’t starting. Give them time to take the vehicle aside. Unnecessary honking will just put unnecessary stress on the driver and that can take more time than normal.

Would you like to share something which can help to use signals better? Use the comment box below to share.
Links:
Delhi Traffic Police
Green Vehicle Guide
No Noise

Link to the Facebook album

Diwali wishes to all the readers of the Weconscious.

Diwali - the Festival of Lights

Diwali is a festival of prayers to Lakshmiji and Ganeshji, sweet and celebration of festivity with diyas and candles. One more thing that is a synonym with Diwali is crackers.

The festivity with crackers during the global warming damages our environment and increases the pollution in a single night manifold. In addition to the pollution of air, sound and the environment damages us for long term.

The pollution from crackers is something that effects the environment but affects the individuals to quite an extent. Ask those who suffer from heart ailments or the people suffering from asthma. The noise pollution affects almost everyone. The harmful gases & the loud noise that the crackers emanate not only affect human beings but adversely affects also the animals and birds.

With this article we do not intend to hurt the religious feeling of any one. It’s just that we want each one of us to be aware of the disadvantages of the crackers and it’s ill effect on us.

Lets make a point and celebrate a Bright, Green and Calm Diwali. Lets say no to Crackers.

We have listed a few reasons of not to use fireworks.

• It can cause serious injuries
• Generate noise and air pollution
• Pollution caused by fireworks creates a major problem for asthmatics, sick, old and animals
• It’s toxic

Happy Diwali and say no to CRACKERS.

Image: dhondusaxena