From: partha@mse.ogi.edu (R. Parthasarathy)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Re: Madras....
Date: 12 Aug 92 23:44:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.41264
Distribution: world
Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute, Material Science & Engineering

In article <1369@newsserver.cs.uwindsor.ca> somasun@server.uwindsor.ca (SUNDHAR SOMA             ) writes:
>In article <l8hhcrINNnb1@aludra.usc.edu>, nagabhus@aludra.usc.edu (Vasuki N) writes:
>> 
>> 	It is surprising that Madras being one of the biggest cities in India
>> does not have planned growth of the city. Just adjacent to the "municipal
>     <stuff deleted> 
>
>  VERY TRUE. But , this is almost the same for any other big city in India
>   ( in particular). 
> 
>  But , in mid 1980 's the TN govt. was trying some " City Beautification
>  Scheme " and had some interesting plans.
>  But seeing today , it is clear that nothing came out of it.
>  BTW, any idea regarding the process of the underground transit system
>  from Adyar (/ Mylapore ) ?
>
>> Anybody from Madras ?, what do you feel ?
>
>  I am from MAdras , and I feel VERY SOAR of the maintainance of the city.
>
> -Somasundhar.V.

We are getting used to blaming the administration for everything.
In fact, it is precisely this attitude that has led to the 
deterioration in our city as well as rural civic standards.
Beautification is a continuous job. Once a place is cleaned out,
people should come forward to co-operate in maintaining it that
way. Our people seem to have a very indifferent attitude. It is
not that the government is doing its job perfectly. Both the
administration as well as the public are to blame for the poor
conditions in Madras. I remember the time when they cleaned out
the Marina beach from all the catamarans and huts and all the
shady business that goes on there. The beach looked really beautiful.
Then within two weeks these guys were back with a vengence. It 
seems some one "higher up" reversed the order.  Then there are
innumerable "Kuppams" in all vital places. The main idea of
these "kuppams" was to give a better shelter to the poor by
building concrete flats. But they didn't take into account
the need for educating these people about cleanliness. The
sight of all these buildings looks pathetic now. You can see
women dropping garbage from the top floor right down.
Near the beach, these guys take their cows for a bath in the ocean,
and let them graze on the lawns along the beach. There is a
basket ball court built for the poor near Adyar bridge. It is
used as a common latrine. 

We need education in cleanliness. Lot of people don't even know that 
they have to flush the toilet after they are done, not just the rural 
folk. Then there is arrogance.  I once saw a gentleman smoke during a 
non-smoking flight from Madras to Singapore. No matter how much he was 
requested from refraining from it, he turned a deaf ear and gave a 
look "do whatever you can, nothing can move me".  Then there is the 
menace of posters. Political parties, magazines, trade unions, student
unions and you name it, every one just covers up every possible
space with posters and graffitti (One can say so does New York;
but I don't consider New York as a livable city).  Even educated people
do not think for a minute about keeping the surroundings clean. In
some places, especially the suburbs, there is vandalism. Neatly
maintained places are completely vandalized for no reason. 

Not only are the above mentioned ones belong to a big set of
problems. In addition to that there is tremendous noise pollution.
There are loud speakers blaring all over the place. I don't know
how this custom came up. People should learn to show courtesy
to others.  I've seen hours and hours of absolute noise from
loud speakers even near hospitals. 

Poverty and over-crowding are definitely part of the reason. But
that's not all. We need more exposure to cleanliness and courtesy
to others. It will be a good idea as to discuss on how we should so 
that.

Partha sarathy
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil