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.

There is no doubt that a vibrant filming industry not only generates welcome revenue but - if  the context of the film is right - it shows the city in favourable light making it an attractive destination. For example "Lord of the rings" NEW ZEALAND, "Game of thrones" CROATIA  or "When Harry met Sejal" in PRAGUE, AMSTERDAM,  VIENNA to name a few. Switzerland has got a thriving filming industry popularizing it's towns such as ENGELBERG. However in every such place the rules for shooting films are well defined and stringent. Especially rules against polluting the locations. In the India this is not the case. When travelling in Aru Valley Kashmir in 2015 we saw thousands of Styrofoam plates strewn in green grasslands by a film crew shooting a Hindi film. Closer to home in Anjoda on the outskirts of Araku, after every shoot, the beautiful wooded forests are full of plastic packets, plates and plastic cups. Outdoor film shoots are a mess. In Vizag...

For God’s sake! TOI 17 July 2016 It’s coming! It’s coming! The festive season is coming! It is the time when a wave of religious fervour sweeps over the population of our fair city. Devotees gather at temples, parks, beaches, community halls, in front of their apartments and at street corners to celebrate festivals such as Guru Powrnima, Mangala Gowri Vratam, Varalakshmi Vratam, Jandyala Powrnami, Sri Krishna Jayanthi, Vinayaka chaturdhi, Durga Puja, Diwali, Kartika masam, Nagula chavithi and so on. These festivals are a time for rejoicing, socialising, shopping (what would the retailer do if there were no festivals?) and communing with God. Over the years these festivals have grown from small family and community activities to huge public spectacles involving lakhs and lakhs of devotees. And due to our constant need to communicate with the divine and solicit His blessings, the numbers joining the festivities is growing exponentially every year. How is this explosion of faith...

  E very year in an extraordinary expression of faith Vizag witnesses this holy occasion usually on the road around the Simachalam hill. Lakhs of men women and children participate. Unfortunately this event contributes the highest volume of plastic in a single day to Vizag's environment. Well meaning organisations supply water sachets all along the way without bothering to put collection bins for used sachets. Within hours of the event's start the entire 32 km stretch is covered with plastic sachets requiring an army of workers to clean up afterwards straining our municipal corporation. With 3L people doing the Pradakshana and each person consuming 4-6 packets of water, and many washing their heads and faces with this water, more than 15 lakh or 1.5 million or more sachets line the route.  Seeing this is a shocking site. If Cleanliness is next to Godliness this does not demonstrate it. As Vizag's recycling system is not streamlined all these sachets end u...