Gurgaon Fire Department woefully short

Here are some quick stats (the detailed article link is at the end):

• 400 high rise buildings
• 7000 industrial units
• 2,100,000 population
• 1500 sq. km. area
• 3 fire stations
• 14 fire engines
• 23 fire fighters

Gurgaon needs a minimum of 42 fire engines and 210 personnel as per the government’s own norms.

Here’s the detailed report: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/just-14-fire-engines-to-save-21-lakh-gurgaon-struggles-to-fight-flames/446604/

This is fairly typical of Gurgaon Police

Actually, this is fairly typical of any police for that matter in India. They do not look at the bigger picture when taking decisions. A bus full of passengers was stopped and impounded in the middle of the night on the Gurgaon Express Highway by the Gurgaon police, leaving the passengers who were on their way to Bikaner stranded on the road. Here’s the report.

This has so many things wrong on it on a lot of fronts. Apparently, the driver didn’t have a license. So, they decide to impound the bus and leave the passengers on the road. There could have been many actions taken to avoid this: fine the driver on the spot, and let him go. Issue a warrant against the bus owner, and let the bus go in the meantime. Keep the bus registration papers and issue a challan so that the bus owner has to come and claim them at a later date.

In any case, there is no way that harassing a bus full of passengers in this manner can be justified.

Truck strike causes cleaner skies in Gurgaon

According to an article on Habitually Good, there is a brighter side to the All India truck strike that is going on. It has made the skies clearer, he says.

Visit the article here to see his reasoning.

Forget power cuts, get ready for a drought

Gurgaon is fast losing its round water. Its entering into serious crisis mode now. Go ahead, don’t do anything about it. Go ahead waste water. Go ahead wash your car twice a day with a hose pipe. Go ahead, take hour long showers. Go ahead, shave with the tap water running. Go ahead, enjoy the water till it lasts – go ahead and have that last drink.

You don’t believe me? Read this.

A step towards easing traffic in Gurgaon

HUDA has promised to begin work on creating slip roads all along the NH8 highway in order to reduce congestion. There are some very high traffic zones all along the highway which could benefit a lot from this project.

This will be a welcome move if it becomes a reality. Here’s the article with the details.

It looks like a good 2009 for Gurgaon

A lot of changes are promised for this year if authorities are to be believed. Here’s a summary:

• Increasing the local bus fleet from 18 to 100.
• 150 local bus stops.
• A new CNG Depot in Sector 29.
• Increase in drinking water supply.
• More sewage treatment capacity.

Here’s an article with more details.

Racism crops up in Gurgaon/NCR

Of all the people in the world, we Indians should understand the pains of being on the receiving end of a racist society. We got enough of it during the British Raj. However, we are probably amongst the most racist people in the world – we have always discriminated based on cast of course, but we increasingly discriminate over where someone comes from.

This is of course most prominent in case of people coming from the North-East part of India. This news article shows how there is a lot of discrimination against these fellow Indians at the work place (and I am not even talking about sexual harassment against girls from these regions).

200 year old Mosque demolished in Gurgaon

There is no other way to put this headline. A couple of guys allegedly demolished a run down mosque near their house to do a land grab. They were promptly reported and arrested. Now out on bail, they have been asked to rebuild it, and the case against them will be withdrawn.

No idea if they are guilty, though. Here’s the report.

Gurgaon forms a panel to control child labor

The administration has taken action to form multiple committees to address the issue of child labor in Gurgaon. The committees will monitor and report any reported incidents of child labor in their area.

The committees are required to submit their reports every month to the Deputy Commissioners office. Here’s the complete news article on the subject.

Family plans to sue Nokia-Siemens

The recent death of a young engineer who died due to choking during a pastry-eating contest at the office premises has resulted in the family planning a lawsuit against the youth’s employers: Nokia-Siemens.

The family blames the company for their son’s death. Here’s the Times Of India report on this incident: click here.