THE CONTINUING PRICE RISE.

The steadily rising cost of essentials of life which is effecting the daily life of a vast majority of Indians could be treated as an unbearable burden but perhaps it could also be treated as an unavoidable cost of social responsibility which we have to bear to help our less fortunate brotheren who have suffered from deprivation from inadequate availability of the essentials of life. What I would like to say is that the present government through various schemes which are targeted at relieving the distress of the perpetually underfed or those living on low quality food grains or tubers or other forest produce could also join the main stream and start eating what their better provided brotheren in the system have been eating for living well. The government has very kindly and thoughtfully waived the loans of the villagers who were incapable of returning the amounts loaned to them and were as such living a perpetual life of misery. Almost 70,000 crores have been spent by the government for this purpose. Seeing it from the angle of social responsibility it is a step in the right direction however, seeing it from the purely economic point of view it has released purchasing power to the tune of 70,000 crores in the hands of those who no longer have to spend money available to them for repaying their debts and who as such would be in the market for purchasing their essential requirements mainly food items for themselves and their families. The government has again very rightfully introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme targeting the unemployed or partly employed people in the rural areas. As per government statistics over six crores people have been given employment under this scheme and thousands and thousands of crores are being spent every month for providing this employment. In other words from the pure economic point of view for providing additional purchasing power in the hands of all those people. If we take into consideration the average size of their families including dependants to be four it would translate into over 20 crores of people who have been enabled to go to the market for acquiring food grains, vegetables and other essentials of life. It may also be mentioned here that food grain production has in no way improved in this period nor has any additional acreage been brought under cultivation for catering to the needs for this increased requirement of these over 20 crore people. It is obvious that increased money in their hands is chasing the existing stocks or the existing availability with the obvious result that the prices have to go up. It is nobody's case that this expenditure by the government is uncalled for, rather it was very much necessary and is well targeted. We need to face it squarely as the cost of social responsibility which the well to do should pay for so that their less fortunate brotheren could also lead livable human lives. The government has also very kindly and most thoughtfully increased expenditure on infrastructure development which includes roads, rural roads, highways, byways, bridges, over bridges and housing for the poor which has provided employment to the needy the unemployed and the under employed. This has also benefited crores of people who with their increased or newly available purchasing power in the form of cash in their hands are in the market for purchasing the very articles which they always needed but could not afford them. A very thoughtful provision by the government. Again from the purely economic point of view this additional group of consumers would also be chasing the same limited stock of food grains vegetables like onions and potatoes whose demand would go up without any increase in their production or availability. The increase in price is unavoidable however as part of social responsibility the better of section of society must willingly bear this burden. The above would indicate that the increased demand and increased purchasing power in the hands of the needy is bound to push up the prices. The government should however take all possible steps for increasing the output of food grains and vegetables and edible oils even at the cost of importing the same so that supplies keep pace with the increased demands created by a society whose members can now afford better and live a bit better and we should be happily willing to share the extra burden which comes on us through the steadily increasing prices. It may however be mentioned that the poor and unemployed have been benefited through this inclusive growth with increased purchasing power in their hands and should therefore be happy. Similarly the rich have all the money to spend whatever may be the price level and as such are not bothered by these increasing prices; only the middle income group with fixed or inelastic incomes are the main sufferers in the system as they have to face increased prices without having facilities of having steadily increasing incomes also.

Water scarcity in the city of lakes-Bhopal

Nature by and large has always been very kind and generous in providing on a continuous basis necessary resources for the use of all the living beings especially the human beings. However Man has not only used and over used the natural resources but also misused not only the resources but also the environment, by so doing Man has disturbed the ecological balance which is essential for the regeneration and sustenance of these bounties of nature. Water so plentiful that almost ¾ of the surface of the earth is occupied by the oceans yet the drinking water rfor which they do not appear to be very anxious or willing. The building has been completed and the functioning is being delayed and the callous delay in the utilization of the funds used is perhaps nobody's concern. Same is the case with regard to the Bhoj Wetland project in which over 200 crores have been spent but neither the lakes could be made pollution free nor the encroachments from the banks of the lake prevented in any significant manner. The same situation prevails with the Kolar water supply augmentation scheme in which also no worth while progress has been made for completing the project whereas lot of esources which were more than adequate to look after the entire needs of the human race are gradually being found to be inadequate. This situation has been generated mainly because not only the available water resources were over used but also the regeneration system through the forest cover in the catchment areas which percolated water for the benefit of the rivers and streams for ensuring their flow throughout the year has become scarce because the forest cover in the catchments areas has been destroyed by man himself for making quick money through destruction and felling of the trees. Barren hills devoid of forest cover cannot provide continuous supply of percolated water to the rivulets with the result that most of the rivers and rivulets have become rainy season streams only and remain dry in other parts of the year. Bhopal once was surrounded by a rich forest cover on all its sides. The population of this city was also much less than what it is today. The environmental degradation has ensured that the main tributaries of Bhopal Lake which used to bring water from the verdant forest cover of the sehore area now does not have any flow of water worth the name enter during the rainy season . Not only this but even this scanty flow during the rainy season has also been stopped by putting numerous stop dams in the path of these tributaries for use of water for other purposes on the way. The end product has been that although the rain fall in and around Bhopal last year was about seventy percent of the normal yet hardly any water could reach the lake area resulting in the lake converting itself into a totally dry patch of land. Silting and constant flow of effluents and pollutants from the city and adjoining areas of Bhopal has further adversely affected the storage capacity of lake Normally the government or the municipal corporation should have woken up in time to augment the pumping capacity from the kolar dam and to establish pumping capacity and supply line from Ghoda Pachad dam, Similarly the pumping capacity from Kerwa dam which brings water to the upper lake could also have been augmented. In addition through continuous silting process of the upper lake the storage capacity has shrunk materially, Normally the government or the municipal corporation could have used the present dry spell for desilting the lake basin by deploying heavy earth digging and carrying equipment by taking help from professional organizations like the dredging corporation of India so that some really sizeable augmentation of storage capacity could have taken place however the government as well as the municipal corporation restricted itself to voluntary help groups whose contribution through appreciable has been at best cosmetic. The Bhaskar Group did some serious effort but even their contribution is also not more than a few percent of what was actually needed. In addition it needs to be seriously examined as to whether the height of the Bhadbhadda dam could be increased by one or two meters with consequential raising of embankments on the low lying banks of the lakes to prevent the escape of water from these areas. Even if three foot height gets increased the storage capacity may double which no amount of dredging or digging can ensure. The city of Bhopal is suffering from acute scarcity of water and the situation is deteriorating with the passage of time. Even if we get a normal rainfall this year we have hardly learnt anything from the disaster like situation which is currently prevailing. Our storage capacity continues to remain more or less at the same level and utilization of new resources remains at the talking stage only. High time the government establishes a proper water management authority of Bhopal with adequate financial resources and other infrastructure so that the people of Bhopal do not have to face a repeat of the water scarcity situation through which we are passing this year.

PRICE RISE 1

Yashpal Sharma

Prices are increasing especially of goods and services which affect a vast majority of the people especially the poor and weaker sections of the society. Leaders of public opinion and even the Most respected economist of the country in place of seeing that are obvious are seen reasons which are remote and which are the effects rather than the causes of these increase in prices. The policies of the government during the last one-year has been short sited and populist without being practical. They have been pumping money into the hands of the needy at a rate, which is far ahead of the availability of the good and services as their growth rate in the present or in the forceable future. Waiver of Bank loans has put or is in the process of putting in the hands of the people who would like to purchase goods and services, which they had been denied so far. Employment guarantee schemes both in the rural area and in the urban areas are putting thousands and thousands of crores of Rupees in the hands of people who would like to go to the market and purchase goods and services and food articles, which had remained beyond their reach so far

. Similarly thousands and thousands of cores would be made available to the central government employees, State Government employees and the organized sector within the next few months via in the increase in pays and wages .In infrastructure projects and other developmental activities are also pushing thousands and thousands of crores of rupees in the hands of the people which are being employed in these projects. Nobody can deny that everybody who wants employment should get it but doing it in a very short span of time without ensuring that more food stuffs, more vegetables, more edible oils and more articles of daily use are available in the market can only ensure too much of money available in the hands of too many people chasing limited stocks of wheat, rice, dals, edible oils, cloth and so on. The problem is inadequate supply of things we should be seen as such and steps need to be taken to augment the supplies to the level to which the demand has been pushed by the increased availability of cash in the hands of the needy.

Corruption against Humanity

Y. Sharma

A massive case of corruption, which is not only a crime but a disgrace for any civil society, has surfaced in the State capital. Crores of Rupees, in cash and kind, have been recovered from the possession of a highly placed State Government functionary who is alleged to have made this money by illegal, irregular and malafide purchases, distribution and manufacture of allopathic drugs. He had a major role in ordering purchases of medical equipment and medicines for Government hospitals and dispensaries across the State. This illicit activity and siphoning of money was through bogus companies, under-acceptance, substandard supply, and under-provision of such medicines to the hospitals, which in turn denied their availability or ensured the availability of only sub-standard drugs to the needy, especially the poor and destitute through various government institutions. The State Government should order a serious probe to fix responsibility on all supervisory and inspecting agencies that failed in their delegated task by closing their eyes to this nefarious activity. The law of the land should reach all those involved in this racket whether at the bureaucratic level, Political level or at the Business level. Stringent punishments need to be awarded in a time bound manner so that justice is not only done but is also seen to have been done. The Properties of all those involved in this nefarious activity need to be confiscated by the State

What ails Indian Cricket?

Y.Sharma

The love of Cricket in India more or less reaches the level of a Mania when the Indian team performs well the whole nation more or less is on cloud nine and when they do not perform well the same people are more or less gripped in a fit of depression. This being the level of importance of this game it appears essential that India should have the best possible team, which the country can produce. Some reason for the best not being fielded are the various considerations other than the performance of the Player which get considered are the required representation of different regions of the country and sometimes the likes and dislikes of the selectors. There is a general feeling that a particular state in the country gets a loin share of what ever goes in the name of cricket in India. This preferential treatment sometimes deprives competent players from being selected for the Indian team. The coming up of a rival cricket organization under the leadership of one of the most respected Indian captains Kapil Dev would perhaps succeed in remedying the situation by providing ample competition and also by bringing star player with competence into the lime light, then performance may become difficult to deny them a Place in Indian team. In order to ensure that cricket in India prospers and the best talent gets encouraged it will be necessary for the enlightened public opinion, the media and the Government to ensure that the competition gets proper encouragement and the monopolistic tendencies of the BCCI get timely curbed and controlled. A monopolistic situation never brings out the best.It is the competition which brings out the best talent and performance.

Lawlessness

Y.Sharma

Increasing incidents are being seen in which people sometimes quite well informed and well read are taking law into their own hands to the detriment of the life and property of other citizens and are displaying total callousness towards the safety of public property. In the recent past several cases have been reported from Bihar where some suspected thieves were beaten up killed and even dragged on the road by tying them with a Motorcycle. In another case an agitation was started in a neighboring state for getting privileges which are attached to those who belong to the other backward classes. In this agitation traffic was disrupted, government property, building and offices were torched and even police stations and railway station building were not spared by the angry mobs. This displayed Callous attitude of the agitators towards the law of the land towards the safety and security of others and also towards the normal rights of the citizens. It is also seen that generally as a formality cases are registered in such situations by the police but are not brought to their logical conclusions with the result that the miscreants get away with the criminal deeds and do not get adequately penalized they become a bad example to others which encourages further incidents of this type.Numerous incidents have also been seen in which at the slightest provocation the doctors take the law in their own hands defy all Cannons of discipline and proceed on strikes totally unmindful and callous towards the treatment of patients in the hospitals.There are numerous incidents where patients have lost their lives for lack of treatment because of such indiscipline. Here again some disciplinary proceeding are launched and in some rare cases even police cases are registered but here also these proceedings and cases are never brought to their logical conclusion which attitude encourages further indiscipline at more places. It is generally felt that unless the state, the media and the enlightened public opinion wakes up in time and such incidents are dealt with seriously and damage to public property is recovered from the miscreants through collective fines,this path of indiscipline laxity callousness and disrespect to the rights of others will lead to a situation of anarchy where public life, public property, private life and private property would become totally dependent on the whims and fancies of the non law abiding people. This scenario should not be allowed to take shape.

Naxalism and the long arm of law

Naxalites with the passage of time have gradually been increasing their area of influence from the borders of Nepal through Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chatisgarh. They have been able to carve out an area of influence which is generally under the forest cover. It has been seen that the respective state governments within their own resources have continued to try to control their activities and also to bring down the area under their influence. It has also been seen that by and large the action by the state governments has remained half hearted as even the banning of this organization has remained a very reluctant exercise. Similarly action against their harbourers, informers, sympathizers and collaborators has also continued to remain luke warm. Various interested groups and also groups sponsored and funded by interested organizations always claim that any serious action against the tribals of those areas would be politically not very convenient. Unfortunately their areas of influence run through tribal areas only and their membership is also by and large out of the tribals only. This affects serious political will and determined action. It also has therefore led to their gradual growth. It has also been seen that as and when the administration through sustained action was able to have an upper hand in relation to them through the arrest of important members of the organization there were loud and serious protests from the concerned corners indicating that Naxalites were neither criminals nor militants nor terrorist but were rather simple people who were misguided and who were in their own way trying to highlight the problems in their area. Their supporters also claim that successive governments have paid only lip service to the economic development of the remote tribal areas with the result that where as some parts of the country have progressed a lot and have become economically advanced the tribals and the tribal area have continued to remain poor, undeveloped and devoid of even the basic amenities of life. Initially it appeared that the naxalite groups or dalams as they are locally called would be acting for securing social and economic justice in their areas of influence; but, gradually it is being seen that this expected missionary approach has gradually evaporated and most of the dalams now operate as organized gangs of dacoits, collecting protection money and commission from traders and contractors operating in those areas. The naxalites in due course of time have acquired sophisticated weapons and also expertise and technology to lay mines in the expected paths to be covered by the vehicles of the security forces. Their blasts have been very effective and they have successfully killed a very large number of security personnel by blasting their vehicles and subsequently by ambushing and also not only way laying the survivors but also those who come to visit the scene of occurrence or to extend support to their colleagues. This has made postings of security personnel in the naxalite affected areas rather dangerous and insecure and consequently unpopular. The naxalites also indulge in large scale cutting of forest for getting precious teak wood marketed in the adjoining areas of the state. The sum total has been that in the naxalite area the influence of the state administration has gradually disappeared and the naxalites control those areas for their benefit and for their influence. Recently the government of India has woken up to this increasing menace of their depredations and the gradually weakening or disappearing of the administrative grip in those areas. It is for the first time that a large number of security personnel drawn from various para military organizations would be pressed into service for destroying their bases, training camps and for neutralizing their areas of influence. The success of this operation would mainly depend on the political will of the governments in the respective states and the extent to which they would be able to withstand the propaganda from the interested groups including the human rights groups claiming atrocities against the tribals and violations of the human rights. These efforts are likely to be well funded and well organized from the interested quarters and could as such prove major impediments to the progress of the security operations. Another issue which is always raked up as and when any serious operations were planned to be launched against desperados using the forest cover as their hide outs comes from the forest mafia who are interested in making a quick fortune out of the sale of timber. They propagate that the desperados succeed in their survival mainly because the security forces do not have proper road communications for quickly reaching places where action is to be launched. This argument is quickly lapped up by the forest contractors and political support groups because any road construction through whatever now remains of the once upon a time massive forest cover in these areas would come under their reach of exploitation initially through the clear felling of forest for making these roads which would provide them millions and millions of rupees through the illicit sale of timber duly aided and abeted by the naxalite groups operating in that area and later after the roads have been constructed and trucks reach the area the end of the forest cover is just a matter of time. The powers that be must take into consideration the fact that roads in these areas are no longer a source of help for rushing the security forces as through the laying of mines by the naxalites, the security vehicles get blasted. The general professional advice for the movements of the security forces in the affected areas is of avoiding the normal roads and also the footpaths and by traveling through such paths or through the forests which are least likely to be suspected to be the routes for the security personnel and as such where laying of mines may not have been done by the naxalites. The government should therefore not fall in the trap of forest mafia and should take a strong stance for not permitting the clear felling of forest for road construction as roads are no longer needed there especially for security operations. The powers that be could perhaps consider deploying a large group of transport helicopters which could shift a few hundred of the security personnel from one area to the other in a matter of hours and could collect them back after the operation is over. This would save the security forces from mine blasts and would also introduce the element of surprise as to where the operation would start from. Aerial patrolling and watching from the helicopters could also make the naxalite groups insecure. We are not advocating the use of helicopters with fire power we are only thinking of using them for transport and observation. The success of such helicopter borne forces could be much better because of the surprise elements and because of the fact that they would not be tired and fatigued through long route marches before reaching the targeted area of operation. This method could also reduce the total number of forces required and could also lead to operations with surgical precision. To conclude the presence of strong political will and the introduction of well trained troops who have passed through the jungle warfare training and who have aclamatized to likely mining and booby trapping. Their deployment via massive fleets of transport helicopters could spell success as in the forest areas hundreds of troops gets swallowed up in a few kilometer of bush and forest terrain whereas the area of naxalite operation would spread over thousands and thousands of square kms of forest area. It should also be kept in mind that this operation will not involve frontal pitched battles but would rather be a game of ambushes, counter ambushes and surprise attacks. It should also not be forgotten that the naxalites could always slip out of the area under operation to safer border areas or abandon uniforms and arms for some time for hiding their identity. These operations are likely to be rather difficult.

Public money - who cares

The so called trustees of public funds remain callous towards assets developed out of these resources and often, after the initial euphoria of foundation stone laying and consequent publicity for starting projects of public good is over they are neither careful nor concerned with regard to the essential upkeep, maintenance and security of such projects. It was some where in 1992 that the foundation stone for the establishment of Ayodhya Nagar area of Bhopal was laid by no less a person than the then Chief Minister of the state in the presence of other VIP's including the then concerned departmental minister. This area gradually developed into a reasonably good residential colony. It was in the year 2002 that another project for giving further facilities and attraction to this area was taken up in this colony under the name of Technology Park and a good recreational facility at a cost of 1.93 crores of Rupees was developed. Unfortunately the maintenance and upkeep of this park could not be kept at the desired level and presently the ponds which should have had water for beautification are being used for dumping rubbish and garbage. Maintenance of other items in the park has also suffered. Similarly it also came to notice that a sum of over Rs 29,000 per month was being paid to a private organization for the maintenance, upkeep and security of this premises; but, during the visit of this correspondent no maintenance, no security and no upkeep could be seen and no representative of this private organization could be seen on the premises. In this very period when the park was being developed the Housing Board spent over fifty to sixty lakhs of rupees for getting stone and marble statues crafted from well known sculptures for beautifying this park and some other prestigious buildings and colonies of the Housing Board. Presently the sculptures that have been used in this park lack proper maintenance and care and are deteriorating for lack of such attention. In addition almost a dozen statues crafted under this scheme are lying in the open on the other side of the road. There is no protection and there is no care for these artifacts. Through misuse and rough handling by the locals the statues are deteriorating and are also been damaged. The scheme that these would be used for decorating prestigious areas has also been forgotten. When the correspondent contacted the concerned Engineers they gave different excuses for lack of supervision and also for not using the statues worth lakhs of Rupees. Although they indicated that things will be improved in the near future but it was also indicated that competent authorities have already decided that no further expenditure is to be incurred in this area. It is obvious that when no funds are there in the pipe line no improvement can take place. The above would indicate that nobody is interested in ensuring that expenditure made in the past leads to any fruitful utilization. The residents of the area have been denied the opportunity to benefit from a properly functioning Technology Park and several Housing Board developed buildings and colonies have been denied the opportunity of getting beautified through the installation of impressive statues built at a cost of lacs of rupees which are presently lying in dust and rubble in a totally uncared for situation. Similar callousness is visible in the construction and completion of the Inter State Bus Terminus being developed at a cost of forty crores knowledgeable persons say that financially lucrative construction work and the utilization of commercial areas has been done by the BDA and Now the project is stuck in the mutual rivalry between the Bhopal Development Authority (BDA) and the Muncipal Corporation whereas the toned or the double toned, cream less running of the project is being pushed towards the municipal corporation money has been spent in purchasing the pipes which are lying at various places and are deteriorating through the effects of wind and weather. Rivalry between the Congress and the Bhartiya Janta Party is mainly responsible for the non implementation and completion of the project. It will not be out of place to mention here that if the project had been completed and implemented as was envisaged the people of Bhopal could have been saved from the scarcity of water which is making their lives hell in this part of the year. There are several other schemes and projects in various stages of delay and non implementations; where public funds have spent and used but the completion of the projects and their fruitful use has not received the required attention or interest at the level of the powers that be.

Drinking water of Bhopal

Y..Sharma

One of the major sources for providing drinking water to a sizable population of Bhopal city mainly located of the old Bhopal city area is the upper Lake popularly known as the Bada tallab although all the high and mighty of the state administration lives in this capital city yet it escapes their notice or they are not seriously concern about the pollution levels in this water body.

Not only dozens of sewage water carrying Nallahs end up in this lake without any treatment of the water that they are carrying but also numerous boats Motorized, pedals and oar driven throughout the day and night continue to churn the water of the lake so that the impurities and pollutants which may have settled down at the lower levels of the water are continuously brought up though this churning process with the result that the water Pump from the lake for drinking purposes continuously carries a large amount of pollutants with it. It is therefore not surprising that water borne diseases continues to take a heavy toll on the health of the People of Bhopal who drink this water.

Hundreds of crores of rupees including funds received from Japan were used for improvement of the lake area yet the stoppage or at least the reduction of pollutants did not receive the priority or the importance, which could have led to the improvement of pollution levels through these massive funds at the disposal of the administration. People of Bhopal would be grateful to their elected representatives if they could take serious interest in getting pure water for drinking from this vastly polluted reservoir.

Our Foreign guests

Y.Sharma

Every year with the dawn of winter season our winged guests from the colder regions of the North start reaching the comparivtively pleasant areas of the indian subcontinent Bhopal with its rich possesion of large water bodies including the Bada tallaab the Shahpura lake and the Kalia Sot water reservoir are their favorite haunts for this purpose.

India and Indians are known for their traditions of hospitality and welcome to the guests however we find that our friends from the North who come with great hope of water bodies are troubled by the humans almost throughout their stay . In the upper lake massive singhara cultivation leading to massive dosses of pesticides poison the water in which they land which causes avoidable inconvinience and irritation besides other physical complications to these birds. In the main waterbody between the shyamla hills on the one side and idgah hills adjoining areas on the other side are being constantly used by powerful motor boats which disturb these guests constantly and also pollute the water which people of Bhopal use for drinking.

In the shahpura lake fishermen spread their nets in which birds get entangled and die rather cruel deaths besides the constant presence of the fishermen disturbs not only their landing of these birds but also their stay. Similar is the condition in other water bodies also which they visit for peace.

We would hope that all those interested in wildlife and in the survival of these visitors will take suitable steps to see that minimum inconvinience get caused to them and avoidable irritants like the pesticides and the motor boats get controlled to the maximum extent possible.

Bandh's and Chakka Jam's

Y.Sharma

Various political parties and other organizations who have resources and influence to muster manpower and mobilize workers organize Bandhs and Chakka Jam from time to time for keeping themselves in limelight and also for keeping their Political visibility alive. They through this public nuisance to attract public attention and garner media Publicity. For this selfish purpose they cause immense loss of unused and unutilized man hours and also immense nuisance, hardships, and distress to the affected persons and in the affected areas. In a recent case an ambulance carrying a sick child was obstructed by such demonstration in Shimla leading to the death of the child through delay in reaching the hospital. Today also a chakka Jam is being organized by a leading Political Party through out India to register their Protest against the construction of a useful waterway near Rameshwaram, which would reduce the sailing distance between Bombay and Calcutta in a big way. Without going into the merits or demerits of the proposed water way we have seen through Media coverage, the immense hardship and inconvenience being caused to the traveling public who get stranded on the road and get obstructed from reaching their destination in time. The concerned organizers fail to realize the immense loss, hardship and distress, which the travelers, workers and the office goers face through such obstruction. In any case it is obvious that those who pass through such difficult situations will not get endeared to or vote in favor of the organizers. The organizers of such demonstrations should find other ways to register their Protest or highlight their grievances in a way in which the innocent public and the bonafide workers and travelers do not have to suffer and endure, unpleasant and inconvenient consequences of their over activism over enthusiasm or their misplaced commitment to some cause which does not concern the interest of a vast majority of the persons being harassed.