Some people think that there are are so many infrastructural issues in India. Especially in Tamil Nadu, the biggest issues these days is power and water supply. But I think the Government is being very mature in handling these so called problems. You need to have the bigger picture in mind to appreciate their approach.
GARBAGE CLEARANCE:
We don't have complicated solutions like waste management, garbage segregation, recycling plants. We just have such a simple almost non-existent garbage collection system that people think of novel ways of disposing their garbage. Its basically left uncollected outside their homes where rats, raccoons and other rodents feast on them. What happens to these rodents is anybody's guess. The food chain would probably take care of it.
ELECTRICITY:
Next, electricity which is another huge drain on our natural resources. Well, we have been forced to get used to hourly or two-hourly and day-long power cuts. All commercial establishments have been asked not to rely on power supply from the TNEB (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board) between 6 and 10 pm. So much so that at a recent late night get-together ( I make a distinction here, get-together is a milder version of a party) that I attended, we were expected to appreciate the fact that our evening was made enjoyable only with the help of huge generators (that were causing headaches to "n" number of people somewhere) run by the hotel.May be we should have observed a two-minute silence just to appreciate the effort of so many people involved. This whole "green power" initiative started around the month of March or February, its so long that I forget. We were all extremely agitated to accept that there would be power cuts every day. But then gradually people's attitude began changing. We realise how eco-friendly and efficient we were getting. People actually woke up earlier than usual (reducing the usage of A/Cs) and finished their chores much earlier. At 6am I can actually hear motors running in every other house. Even I am forced to finish cooking by 11 am (which is usually quite early by my standards). Oh, our entire lifestyle has become healthier, thanks to intelligent power supply by TNEB.
WATER:
The problem of delayed monsoon has spread the fear of water shortage in Chennai. Actually news about water shortage in any place in India would rise the fear in Chennai. We are so tuned to it. I was rudely awakened to this fact when my neighbour knocked at my door this morning saying that his water sump was empty. I immediately feared the worst and quickly went to check our sump. Thankfully there was some amount of muddy water collected. Apparently my neighbour's sump had a leak. Well, that just brought out bad memories of water shortage in the 2000s. We had to wait all night or sometimes wake up at the crack of dawn to receive water from the water lorries.
Sometimes when I feel dull and listless and aimless I just think about all the people who live without any water or electricity and realise how petty I have been. Such tangible problems put our own problems in perspective.
GARBAGE CLEARANCE:
We don't have complicated solutions like waste management, garbage segregation, recycling plants. We just have such a simple almost non-existent garbage collection system that people think of novel ways of disposing their garbage. Its basically left uncollected outside their homes where rats, raccoons and other rodents feast on them. What happens to these rodents is anybody's guess. The food chain would probably take care of it.
ELECTRICITY:
Next, electricity which is another huge drain on our natural resources. Well, we have been forced to get used to hourly or two-hourly and day-long power cuts. All commercial establishments have been asked not to rely on power supply from the TNEB (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board) between 6 and 10 pm. So much so that at a recent late night get-together ( I make a distinction here, get-together is a milder version of a party) that I attended, we were expected to appreciate the fact that our evening was made enjoyable only with the help of huge generators (that were causing headaches to "n" number of people somewhere) run by the hotel.May be we should have observed a two-minute silence just to appreciate the effort of so many people involved. This whole "green power" initiative started around the month of March or February, its so long that I forget. We were all extremely agitated to accept that there would be power cuts every day. But then gradually people's attitude began changing. We realise how eco-friendly and efficient we were getting. People actually woke up earlier than usual (reducing the usage of A/Cs) and finished their chores much earlier. At 6am I can actually hear motors running in every other house. Even I am forced to finish cooking by 11 am (which is usually quite early by my standards). Oh, our entire lifestyle has become healthier, thanks to intelligent power supply by TNEB.
WATER:
The problem of delayed monsoon has spread the fear of water shortage in Chennai. Actually news about water shortage in any place in India would rise the fear in Chennai. We are so tuned to it. I was rudely awakened to this fact when my neighbour knocked at my door this morning saying that his water sump was empty. I immediately feared the worst and quickly went to check our sump. Thankfully there was some amount of muddy water collected. Apparently my neighbour's sump had a leak. Well, that just brought out bad memories of water shortage in the 2000s. We had to wait all night or sometimes wake up at the crack of dawn to receive water from the water lorries.
Sometimes when I feel dull and listless and aimless I just think about all the people who live without any water or electricity and realise how petty I have been. Such tangible problems put our own problems in perspective.
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