The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Euphoria is fading fast

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Euphoria is fading fast

Nothing seems to be going in favour of the new airport at Shamshabad. Problems continue to haunt officials from the date of commencement of operations last month.

First a KLM flight from Amsterdam failed to land at the airport on the same day itself due to various reasons and later New Delhi-bound Kingfisher plane made an emergency landing after smoke detection alarm went off due to the presence of some liquid substance in the cargo.

It forced officials of DGCA and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to probe into the incident. Traffic continues to cause inconvenience to visitors and passengers to and from the airport. Visitors also have been complaining about the amenities in the airport. Delays and lack of information about flight movements and cargo are also adding to chaos. The euphoria is fading, quite fast.

Cricket action is sparse and so badly spaced out in the city that any live staged here generates lots of excitement. The same happened when Hyderabad Heroes locked horns with Lahore Badshahs at the Lal Bahadur Stadium.

That the matches of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) got good crowds must have surely pleased the organisers. The ‘micro-version’ of gentlemen’s game gave an indication of the ‘20-20 fever’ and even as the excitement is ye t to die, the stage is being set for another round with the official Indian Premier League (IPL) going in for a countdown.

Flags, placards, painted faces, cheering and jeering, Hyderabadis clearly are in a mood for some fun these days as another Hyderabad team with international stars is getting ready for action.

Ugadi became a more festive occasion for beneficiaries of ‘Vambay’ housing scheme in Kukatpally. Startling though it may seem to be, municipal authorities claim to have identified beneficiaries for 686 houses only out of the 985 built when there are scores of people without homes in the twin cities.

Officials have an excuse. They say these single tenements were built to rehabilitate people living near the nalas but many are not ready to move despite the squalid conditions they live in because of the proximity to their work places. Even otherwise, it has been more than two years since the houses were built and if Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had examined other blocks behind, he would not have missed the shoddy construction work by the housing department.

The fact of the matter also is these houses have been sanctioned during the BJP-led NDA government while not a single house sanctioned/built for the poor in the city by the Congress government is yet to be handed over to the identified beneficiary.

The Hyderabadis are a gleeful lot these days. The reason is not far to seek. The weather contrary to the city’s reputation for dry and scorching days during summer has more or less remained on a pleasant side, thanks to the unseasonal rain.

Though summer had set in over a month ago, the temperatures continue to be mild, barring couple of days in the last few weeks, encouraging one to make most of the weather. The air-conditioners and air coolers are certainly not being used as much as they were around the same time last summer.

Well the power saving on these gadgets certainly should offer some solace for the domestic budgets under the current inflationary trends.

Doctors from Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association that have been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past few days have some reason to curse their luck. Demanding pay on par with CGHS doctors, the non-teaching segment of doctors began fasting on Friday. What obviously went out of their mind was that the next three days were public holidays.

Two doctors were admitted to the hospital the very next day of the hunger strike while the number went up during the next few days. More doctors replaced them, giving it an appearance of a relay hunger strike. However, no response from government could be expected during all these days as they were public holidays.

All hunger pangs went for naught due to lack of proper planning. Hope they will achieve their mission at least after the vacation.

Four years ago he was felled by the power of ballot. After the hiatus , Talasani Srinivas Yadav is back and can be spotted rather regularly in the hutments of Secunderabad.

The former TDP Minister’s desperation to taste ‘power’ is evident.

Even as the Election Commission is in the process of finalising dates for by-election, Mr. Yadav has already started raising the core issues afflicting this part of the city -- roads, drinking water, electricity, employment and other civic issues.

Apparently he believes in first entry into the fray. That could explain why Mr. Yadav has already started ‘campaigning’ while other political parties are still caught in the quagmire of selecting candidates. Will lady luck smile on him?

M. SRINIVAS, T. LALITH SINGH, V. GEETANATH, M.L. MELLY MAITREYI, SWATHI.V & M. SAI GOPAL

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