[sustran] Re: Guardian article
Sunny
sksunny at gmail.com
Wed May 3 02:14:58 JST 2006
Thank You very much Eric and Simon for allowing us to see this news. On
the whole, the edition was very interesting. Coming to the "Transport
Revolution" I would not call this a revolution or an evolution but
rather a degradation. The article cites the experience of a rich person
who could afford a Rolls Royce and stay 180 kms away from Bombay/Mumbai,
a home for more than a 12 million people. The rich gentleman complains
of the cows and the people on the roads but forgets that they are the
basic components for his industry to run. I understand from this article
that my country, India, plans to focus more on building express ways to
connect major cities of the country but at the same time forgetting
about the access for the poor and needy. Many people living in the
villages do not have proper access to many health care facilities and
improper transportation is also a cause for many deaths on the other
hand express ways are also causes for many fatalities personally
experiencing losing a friend in a car accident on the National Highway 9
while he along with 3 other friends were driving their car at a very
high speed.
In India what we need are not fast express ways which provoke the people
to drive on road at a high speed and also cause many people to shift
from rail to road travel. All we need is a safe and affordable travel
like we have on the trains, not all of them though. I would like to
mention even the Bus accident news in the same link mentioned, and also
the news on the high speed train to Taj Mahal (Good news for tourists
here) this clearly shows the efficiency of road travel in my country.
I have learnt from Sujit, Lee and some others in this list that effort
is going on in Pune in creating a Sustainable Transport and I appreciate
it but the same initiative is required in many metropolitan cities where
there is an indication of high motor vehicle growth like bangalore and
chennai.
In my opinion as i understand from WB, poverty is not just lack of money
but it is the social exclusion, untreated diseases, hunger, the lack of
access to basic utilities and service, and inability to send children to
school and make them work, it can also mean as a fear of an uncertain
future. Hence,
I feel that India should first think of trying to feed its people first
and bring the poverty levels down and then worry about China. More car
industries might not mean more jobs if the industries are robotised.
I will be very happy if anyone comment on the above and correct my idea.
Sunny
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