Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Mohali: Can it become a couterpart of Chandigarh?

We all know where Mohali stands in terms of Industrialisation in Chandigarh and Punjab. Proving to be an excellent breeding ground for IT based companies, it promises to be one of the best employment center. Companies like Tata, Dell, Quark, Infosys are well known in this region. As a planned city Mohali holds the power to bring very good development opportunities.

As far as Punjab Government is concerned, they are not nourishing the city as it should be. The number of liquor vends and lottery outlets are in huge numbers which possibly can not help the growth of the city but definitely fills the government treasury. The electricity supplies is so poor. The power cuts range from 6-8 hours per day whereas Chandigarh is far better. In Mohali, the industrial units are being denied of electricity which results in loss of crores.

The roads are like a war scene, motorists fighting for part of the road with lesser number of pits. The roads within the residential areas are in a much better conditions than the main roads. This is the state of a developing Industrial town. You can not relax in/on your vehicle for even 2 minutes, the next khadda would spoil the joy ride.

As soon you enter the Chandigarh region, the beauty of the roads is increased by the green trees. Even if you enter Mohali, the roadsides are as beautiful just because of the trees. Now, as the population of the city is increasing, there is a rapid increment in the number of vehicles as well. The road space if becoming insufficient. Instead of managing the traffic routes and directing the traffic, the trees are being cut down to broaden the roads. How wise is that? Each tree cut is like a brutal hit on the nature. Trees which have grown so big, in 5-6 years can not be compared to new saplings. What is more important: Road space or Survival on earth to drive on those roads?

Pollution check, something Mohali is not linked to. The Auto-rickshaws, heavy trucks throw out huge smoke clouds everyday. There is no check on it. People would keep on fighting over religious and political issues, but no one would dare to ask the government to check the pollution. No one has the right to ruin the environment. It should be a punishable crime. I think we are moving off track as this is more or less a worldwide problem. But felling of trees surely needs to be checked in Mohali.

What next? Nothing much. Development of Thekas and Lottery vends is more rapid than of repairing roads or check the supply of electricity. Probably no one is really bothered but being living in the town from last 2 years, it really feels bad.