VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

Powered by hydraulic pressure due to copious rains in a short period on 1st and 3rd May, massive quantities of plastics has come down from the geddas and landed at our beaches. Some 20% of it will have reached the sea waters by now and half of that may be pushed back ashore over a series of high tides. Certainly a large portion will remain in the sea destroying our marine life. Tactically now will be the best time to remove as much plastics as possibl e from the gedda-beach-sea ecosystem. We can turn this disaster into an opportunity by grabbing and removing as much of this rubbish as possible. The red mud that washed towards the beach can be handled later, it would be better to put all of GVMC's resources into capturing the plastics when we can and take them out of the system. WE MUST ACT URGENTLY.

Our beach road is already bursting at the seams. A once quiet place to enjoy the beauty of the sea and relax has become a 24X7 Mela. Loudspeakers blaring, protesters protesting, traffic crawling slowly, frequent traffic jams and the relentless press of humanity. We do not seem to understand the importance of quiet common areas. On one hand GVMC with chosen beach road development consultants are  working on plans to decongest our beach road and on the other hand bodies like VUDA and others are planning to take up a completely unnecessary project with our tax money.  There is no parking for the existing aircraft and submarine museum. Now we want to integrate the aircraft museum, the submarine museum and the Victory at Sea memorial at a humongous cost of Rs. 40 crores! Meanwhile really important jobs that have been pending for years are ignored. For example our tourism department cannot find a few lakhs to print tourist guides for the tourist season. The interpr...

Either click on the Times of India link or read the document pasted below. Do share your views and comments. Festival Fiasco - the down side of festivals in Vizag Festival fiasco Sohan Hatangadi Appeared 6 September 2015 Vizagites have been traditionally celebrating festivals such as Sankaranthi, Shiva Ratri, Vinayaka Chatruthi for several years with great enthusiasm. Festivals are a time for rejoicing and connecting with our roots. We have a cosmopolitan population and it is natural that certain festivals like Holi, Deepavali and Durga Puja normally ethnic to communities from different parts of India have been adapted by locals and gained in popularity in recent years. With cultural diversity festival traditions pass on from one community to another and in the process the way the festival is celebrated goes through change giving it a local flavor and relevance. Private limited to public unlimited In Vizag’s earlier years a few well organized functions would ca...

Today was the Olympic Day Run on Vizag Beach Road. Here is what happened: 1. Thousands of posters were stuck indiscriminately on the beach road walls weeks earlier. An illegal and uncivil act. Question is who will pay for removing the posters? The Visakhapatnam District Olympic Association wanted to achieve a Guinness World Record. They certainly broke the World Record in Littering.  Come children - let us litter together! The litter had already entered the drains that lead to the sea I understand that thousands of children participated. Which brings me to the following questions: 1. What type of homes did these kids come from?  Do they come from homes that have not taught them basic civic sense? Messy parents messy  children? Did they not know that all litter must go in the bins provided? Incidentally GVMC Keep Vizag Clean bins was everywhere but they were almost empty! 2. What type of schools did they come from? If the parents have f...

A version of this article also appeared in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, today Nov 18, "Forget tourists, develop city for its own people". ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Over the last several months I have been travelling out of Vizag often. Each time I return I am glad to be back. Not only because I am coming home to family and friends but because I come home to Vizag; my stunningly beautiful city.    It is natural that the residents of the city to be proud of Vizag. And from this pride comes the tendency to show off the city to others. That is why we Vizagite say “We should develop Vizag into a tourist spot”. The rationale for wanting tourists is that: tourism brings in visitors who spend gobs of money here and generate employment that makes Vizagites rich . Notice how a subliminal pride of the city is rationalized into what appears to be a good reason. But what is the truth about tourism? ...

Karthik Masam is here.   Starting at the end of October and stretching for a month. Hordes of picnickers will descend on Vizag's best green spaces and dump heaps of garbage everywhere. They think it is a spiritual communion with nature! Last year I made and circulated these flyers and posters. I will be doing it this year too. My tiny little bit to make my city clean. If you want to help, get vocal, protest if you see picnickers littering. Let them know you are unhappy. Keeping quiet wont help. Please pass this on to friends. More later, Sohan