Bangalore, demolitions, media etc
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Written By silkboard - 15 October, 2007
Bangalore
CDP
BBMP
Media
Corruption
Demolitions have been making news every other week, looks like BBMP is going to keep their razors up even after the rains are gone.
Papers report today (online link unavailable) that BBMP is set to demolish parts of the club-house of Koramangala National Games village. It was reported earlier that the club-house was situated atop Raja Kaluve.
I found this news report - Portions of nine buildings demolished in Puttenahalli - interesting for the last paragraph it carries.
He (BBMP Deputy Commissioner Mr M A Sadiq) said more than 18 months of efforts had gone into the exercise. “Following the 2005 deluge in the city, we took up a revenue survey of 29 tanks and identified 705 illegal structures on all the 29 Raja Kaluves of the tanks,” he added.
Good job BBMP, and hope you will deal with all 705 of them, but 18 months for doing this survey, and action only now after the flooding happened yet again? Well, lets keep the positive spirit though and say better late than never.
Now about the newspapers, how nice to see them "wake up" to these realities now.
Matters of corruption in our daily lives, of which these encroachments are a visible example - I sometimes wonder how these get under-reported in our newspapers. Purchasing property and making half the payments in 'black', dosa and paani-puri gaadis paying up to keep their businesses alive, folks at RTO asking you to buy Indira Vikas Patra or alike at times, cheating and irregularities at Petrol Bunks - I mean you can go and and on to find examples and such.
Not that we expect main stream media to swing some magic wand and clean it all up - these are complicated issues to tackle. But I am surprised at abysmally low level of reporting as far as corruption is concerned. Each of these papers could run a full age everyday to report these incidents, isn't it. But seems like they don't. Why so?
Is it because like us, the media too has come to live with it, and takes these incidents for granted? Or does the fear of liability and credibility - possible legal hassle - haunt them? I don't know. But I do find it baffling - so much reporting on politics, entertainment and sports, but so little (relatively speaking) on things that touch our daily lives.
cityzen,
morality has got nothing to do with, there is no country in the world that has changed its citizen's moral codes through lessons. The only way to control this to make it illegal to violate bylaws, grab land, take bribes etc., and make the punishments severe while simultaneously make sticking to rules rewarding. for example if the "tax" for per sq of legal strcuture is 1rs. the cost for per square foot of illegal structure should be 100rs and 10% of this should go to the official tracking this thing.
right now, if you are caught taking bribes, you will be suspended but still get 90% pay, you get caught grabbing land, you are not punished, you violate bylaws you can regularize it. the fines are laffable. building on raja kaluves and flooding is exactly the same as violating building and zoning rules and flooding the streets with traffic.
Maybe, we should have an online and print version of a magazine called, "lanchavartegalu - Bribery Bulletin" on the lines of Police News or Crime Reporter, open to everybody to report whatever they experience, just like a blog.
Sorry just kidding.
As long as man is not ashamed to earn something without delivering equal or more value, corruption will continue to exist. Even the Hammurabi code or Islamic justice will not be able to eradicate this evil, but maybe it might just reduce it considerably.
I understand that some 40-50 years ago, at least in Christian schools, they had a subject called Moral Science. I wonder if it is there now. Are today's teachers themselves honest?
I recall a story by the late Tejaswi (?). A PT teacher/principal used to stand at the main gate of a school in the morning just after the start of the school. He would cane any latecomers. When somebody asked him why he was not catching the late lateefs who were sneaking into the school by the backdoor, his reply was that they knew what needed to be learnt to live well in this world.
City Zen
TS: Maybe you have a point there... fines !
Example: Singapore where laws are strict and fines are hefty and enforcement is strict.
What we need is a benevolent dictator like Lee Kuan Yew and smaller City States.
-- City Zen
Last two comments from TS and City.zen detour a bit into whats needed to get rid of corruption. Thats a big one we can discuss for ever.
The thing I was wondering is about corruption in our daily lives not getting proportionate amount of coverage in local media. Is lack of real 'local' media is one reason for it (so that local and 'daily' issues don't get that much coverage)? Lack of real competition in media could be another (FM stations still can't carry news, no ultra local TV channels yet)?
Or is it that each act of corruption reflects on us as well (negatively, as in being a participant or 'coward' if you use a stronger word) and thats why we are not that willing to talk about it in general and as much.
Okay, I am losing my way a bit and getting abstract now. Sorry.
being a sucker for things local, couldn't agree more with what you say. last night i wrote a huge reply on this but lost it to power cut.
lack of real local papers for example. then today morning i read something similar on sampada - they were saying that if you look at kannada and english papers other than when they are talking about the swamped infrastructure or perhaps when talking about politics, they represent two different bangalores altogether. as if one has no connection to the other.
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