We had today the monthly meet on beautification of New Town. This time, it was within the Unitech premises. The campus was great, we had a fruitful meeting and there was a (surprise) sit-down lunch thrown in for all of us.
I was quite interested in the findings of a study by DLF. They wanted to find out why employees go out to eat in unhygienic roadside stalls even though the IT Cos provide canteen facilities.
The finding was quite startling.
Price was not a major factor - food was almost similarly priced. In fact tea is often free - but most people go out to have tea @ Rs 5
Why?
Because they want a smoke too ! And smoking is not allowed inside.
.... I suggested that We could build a proper smokers' joint (think of Cafe Coffee Day). All agreed ! Let's see
***
In the afternoon we had a meeting on Shantiniketan in Minister Firhad Hakim's chamber. Shatabdi Roy, MP & Chairman SSDA and Panchayat Minister were also there.
A Committee with Jogen Chowdhury, Dulal Mukherjee, Supriyo Thakur etc have been formed.
A team of engineers will go to Shantiniketan on 16th Dec
Dear Sir,
ReplyDeleteI have lots of feedback on today's topic:
1. Beautifaction of NewTown - Just wondering if the 3-pronged fancy light systems could be avoided; they would waste a lot of electricity. Considering the current state of electricity in our state; I would hope this would be reconsidered or else maybe solar cells (Carbon Credits?) installed.
2. The DLF Studay - I have heard from many non-bengalis all over the world that Bengalis smoke a lot! However, we also need to understand that there are lots of people (drivers, credit card sellers, LIC agents, non-IT office goers) who have no access to the canteen facility. They depend on the street food; as DLF doesn't have a cheap food court. Some of my colleagues also endorse the roadside eateries stating that the canteen food lacks variety. In the evening, people go out for chop, singara et al - not readily available in the canteen.
Lastly, the pedestrian crossing on M.A.R in front of the DLF IT park doesn't have any police personnel monitoring it. People cross with lots of risk. I had emailed HIDCO a few days back; but got no response. I would request you to have someone (a constable or a civic police volunteer) deployed or have speed-breakers created there - it's accident waiting to happen.
Keep up the good work - we are proud of you!
Regards,
Sowmik Sengupta
Sir
ReplyDeleteThis guy has a point.
In a few years time we will see Auto (and cycle rickshaw) stands near every Hospital, Shopping Mall and Office Complex, obviously with the blessings of the political party of the day.
Followed by the ubiquitous roadside tea, snacks,cigarette, lunch and dinner stalls and other sundry encroachments.
This is inevitable, as there are so many socio-economic factors contributing.
You sir, and your department will have to think of ways to mitigate this situation. We have seen this in Salt lake over the years and it will happen in Newtown.
@soumik: Good thoughts. But (1) Using Solar Panels to store power in inefficient batteries for lighting at night isn't a very attractive solution where grid power exists (2) You may write to the Police; I'll also talk to them
ReplyDeleteSpot on Sir, Solar powered street lights may not be a good option as they are not very bright.
ReplyDeleteHere in Australia many households now have solar powered systems subsidized by the govt. Also, there are feed-in tariffs for excess energy generated and fed back into the grid(a Bi-directional meter is used).
Even if this is not practicable, individual houses can think of putting up small systems that might reduce their consumption, and thereby reduce their carbon footprint.
Thanks @Sowmik.
ReplyDelete