VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

My article in the Times of India dated 7 Feb 2016 How the International Fleet Review changed Vizag Our city has recently gone through a transformative change. Several parts of Vizag have gone from ugly to beautiful in a month. Encroachments have been cleared, greenery has been laid, walls have been painted, pavements have been tiled and the city has a clean new look. We must admit that Vizag has never ever looked so bright and shining. The challenge Getting an existing city like Vizag spruced up so quickly is not an easy job. Those of us who have got a house renovated realise that every work looks simple until we start. But then things go wrong. Workers don’t turn up, wrong materials are purchased, things break, unanticipated jobs crop up and the journey to completion is never smooth. Old parts of the city that has grown organically over many decades are never easy to fix. Plans were to be made, money had to come in quickly, contractors with adequate human and monetary reso...

Whats your pole number? Do you know your pole number? You know ... that electrical pole outside your apartment or villa? If you do not know, then as a good citizen, go down and take a look. What do you see? Does it have a number on it?  I don't mean the number of the packers or movers, or the friendly local electrician. I mean the number of the pole itself as allotted by GVMC or EPDCL. Why would you need the pole number? Well, if the street light is not working in your part of town, you will have to call a GVMC  number to lodge a complaint. To do this you will first have to know the street light not working complaint number.  This telephone number is not displayed anywhere prominently for the general public to see. Going by how few people know this number I assume it is a top secret classified number . But, have no fear, I will reveal it to you. The number is   155304 . However if you call the number to lodge a complaint, they will ask you for your POL...

The promise of trees everywhere If we go by what we hear in the papers, Vizag will have millions of trees planted by the end of this monsoon period. That will be quite amazing in the long run. In around 10 years time it will help reduce air borne pollution, improve precipitation and hopefully get more rainfall, improve groundwater retention and drop the ambient temperature in the city by at least 2 degrees centigrade.  A couple of winters ago I recollect walking from Dwarakanagar to Dabagardens. As I crossed the old jail area which still has a few old trees standing I could sense the temperature drop suddenly. God bless these wonderful large trees and God save us from misguided developers who would rather cut these trees down and build a mall there. VUDA's miserable green track record In the past our local administration has failed miserably in maintaining Vizag's green cover.  As is clear from any Google satellite image of Vizag, almost...