The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Hyderabad Unplugged’ everyday

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Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Hyderabad Unplugged’ everyday

There is some effort to raise awareness about global warming and ‘Hyderabad Unplug’ campaign is on to convince everyone to stop using electricity for an hour on May 3 from 7.30 p.m. onwards. While the campaign seeks to involve people in the drive to check global warming, one aspect has completely been ignored. Hyderabadis have been doing their bit to check the global warming, albeit unwittingly.

The scheduled, unscheduled power cuts and disruption in power supply due to ‘maintenance’ works ensure that every household goes without power for sometime at least almost every day. This, in effect, is ‘Hyderabad Unplugged’ without even the citizen being aware of his contribution to the cause of checking the global warming. Kudos to Hyderabadis for putting up with the power cuts and encomiums to the officials who contribute their might to fight for a cause.

Hyderabadis can never get rid of the Nizami culture, despite all the hype about city becoming a world destination, IT hub, health capital of India and what not! The laid back attitude is still in vogue. Or else how does one explain the multi-level deadlines for applying to a college.

Generally, one comes across the extension of a last date with a payment of some late fee. But the Nizam College here has come out with three last dates with specified late fee for applying to admissions into degree courses. No wonder, the Nizami culture has also brought a particular Hyderabadi idiom into currency – ‘the late Lateefs’, meaning those who are laid back in general.

Essentially, the late Lateefs would concur with Oscar Wilde’s saying ‘punctuality is the thief of time’. Come to think of it, wouldn’t you like to procrastinate things a bit?

The scorching sun on Monday came as a curse for commuters on the Karkhana stretch, where former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had come to garland the statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

While the traffic was stopped for a good 15 minutes for Mr. Naidu to pass through the area, commuters were seen fuming and grumbling.

A few minutes after he left the area, traffic was at a standstill. What ticked off most motorists was that an EMRI ambulance was stuck in the jam, blaring the siren, cautioning them to give way, but they couldn’t move an inch. All because of a VIP!

Though the on-going ‘Praja Patham’ is a programme to help the Government get the feedback on implementation of welfare schemes , it seems to be addressing contentious land issues too.

For instance when the top brass of administrative machinery along with the Minister came to their door-step, some Boggulakunta residents made sure their grievances are given a patient hearing .

A woman on behalf of about 30 families, who constructed small houses in the land believed to be a gift from Nizam to their ancestors decades ago told how they were being harassed by a builder to sell their houses as they did not have supportive documents for the Nizam’s gift.

“None of us have documents to prove our ownership though living here for the last 40 years. But this particular builder created ‘fake ownership documents’, deployed hooligans to cow us down while police remained indifferent,” she complained right in front of a police inspector.

The authorities positively assured them such small plots are being regularised and none would harass them in future. Should frequent ‘Praja Pathams’ be the order of the day?

K. SRINIVAS REDDY, ABHIJIT DEV KUMAR,

M.L. MELLY MAITREYI

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