WW Flood

14-June-2010 witnessed heavy monsoon showers and within a few hours most major streets in Pune were left with no distinction from the Mula and Mutha rivers. How can Pashan-Baner link road lag behind.



The newly laid storm water drainage system just outside Whispering Wind too could not save the internal roads.

Water from as far as Kumar Sahwas was rushing down towards W.Wind like being drawn by a water magnet.

Not a square inch of area was available to walk.

Is this a road or a river ?

Work atlast starts on pblr

After the publishing of tender for the PB link road on 23-July-2009 and its opening on 9-Aug-2009, work finally began in February 2010.
I happened to pass the Sus road at the time of this function presided by the mayor of Pune, but was hardly aware of what was going on - perhaps a private function i thought.

Earlier, one fine day in Oct 2009, I was at PMC head office and chatting with addl. city road engineer mr. Tayade about the pb link road tender. He informed then there were several land acquisition issues along the stretch but the work would anyways commence in early Jan 2010 and be completed by March and that the road would be done in patches whereever pmc has been able to acquire land.

This is evident in the picture below taken just outside WWind :

Builder had long ago handed over land to both MSEB and PMC for the proposed DP road. Then again the road is dug-up opposite k.sahwas probably for grouting work and also where this road touches the Sus road. Thats it ! The work seem to be abandoned for over 2 weeks now - in a style so typical of PMC contractors !

My thoughts on the upcoming PBLR are at this post dated 25-July-2009:
Open the link below in a new window and do continue scrolling down for some interesting recent stuff !!
http://whisperingwindonline.blogspot.com/2009/07/floating-of-tender-for-36m-dp-road.html

WW Valencia BhaiBhai

Fun never ends on pashan-baner link road. No one knows if it is a mere conincidence or that the two signboards for Valenncia and WW phase 2 have been ordered from the same vendor under a limited time 'ek-pe-ek-free' offer.Everywhere along the P-B link road, the duo are found standing side-by-side on one and two legs respectively. Just watch this.
First at the start of the P-B link road outside the RMZ icon (symantec) building, they are found standing gaily and happy.

Then again the couple is seen standing round the steep corner which is a natural right turn. Very funny. The building under construction in the background is crystal garden.

Finally, the duo points to the last lap opposite the Rolling Hills gate. Buildings in the background are Blossom 'n' Springs and Echelon.

Builder has taken great pains to guide to W.Wind from far-off areas like Sus road too. There are unusually large number of sign-boards erected from as far as Sus road at the start of the PB link road:
Closer still at the turn near Athashree, the jodi pack is seen again:

Farther towards W.Wind the duo again appear at the ugly turn near K.Sahwas under the neem tree:

In all seven signboards stand erect to guide people to W.Wind only to be greeted by pits dug-up all over the premises. First this large one for the E-bldg and abandoned for over two months now with no signs of any building coming up.

Outside the temple, right inside the children play area:

The worst part of these pits outside the temple is they are made between two existing flowering plants which I have been nursing and watering painstkingly for over 2 years now after the gardner absconded for payment defaulted by builder in Mar 2008. Since the pits are dug very close to the existing plants, their roots are exposed and no new plants are in place for 2 months now.
Then there are dozens of these meant for plantation, near the main gate and besides A-bldg:

The zenith of builder's antagonism and the nadir of residents' apathy are these pits dug up near the entrance gates. Neighbouring Crystal Garden completed beautiful entrance gates in the same time as a couple of pillars came up for W.Wind.
Nails used for making the scaffolding which I found scattered all over the internal road between main gate and the club-house alone are seen in picture below:

WWind Pots

Back in 1996, NRDC - National Research Development Corp (http://www.nrdcindia.com/pub.htm) published two very popular and highly regarded magazines - 'Invention Intelligence' in English and 'Awishkar' in Hindi.

Also in 1996, environment and carbon footprint, etc. were not burning issues, but water scarcity was, especially at the place I lived where we had water supply on alternate days for just 2 hrs. So water conservation was on everyone's mind.
My article on 'Water conserving automatic irrigation system' was published in the Mar'96 issue and appreciation letters poured in from every corner of the country.

Youth was a phase full of ideas and at 35 I cannot wait till retirement to implement them. Today I purchased two earthen pots and got the holes drilled from the vendor himself who threw at me a multiple-choice question (a) Mandir ke liye hai ? (is this meant for a temple) (b) Chidiya ke liye ? (is it for the birds). I opted for none of the above. Its (c) For my plants, was my answer.

Here's the script from the images:

"It is usual to water plants in the garden by making small circular shallow pit like structure in the ground around the stem of the plant. When water is poured into it, a part of it seeps into the ground in all directions i.e. towards and also away from the roots and only a little amount actually reaches the roots. Moreover, as the soild around the roots become saturated with water, it prevents further seepage of water into the soil. As a result, a large part of water supplied accumulates in the pit around the stem and is evaporated due to heat, especially in summer, when there is shortage of water and evaporation rate is higher.
To overcome all these losses and for efficient use of water, a new method can be used effectively. Instead of digging a pit around the plant stem, dig one or two small pits close to the stem. If the plants are in a row and close enough then a singlepit between the two can be made.
Take a small earthen pot of size approximately 15 cm diameter and make a small hole at the bottom (1 cm dia) of each pot. Place these pots into the pits such that the neck is at ground level. Fill the pots completely with water and cover with lids.
Advantage of using this method are: As the hole at the bottom of the pots is close to the roots, water reaches directly to the roots. (b) Water from the pot is supplied automatically as and when the water content of soil goes below saturation. (c) Large amount of water is saved as evaporation is avoided.
Practical results have shown that as much as 50-60% of precious water in summer can be saved by this method."