Cleaning the Augean Stables: Patna

As per Greek mythology, one of the labours of Hercules was cleaning the stables of King Augeas. The King owned thousands of heads of cattle, horses and goats. Every night they would be driven into a stable. which had become really filthy. Hercules managed to clean the place by diverting a river which flowed nearby through the stables and cleaned up the entire place in one go.

As part of the the ongoing Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan launched by our Prime Minister, a Swachh Survekshan has been conducted. The results are out and Patna comes out right near the bottom of this survey, ranked 70th out of 73 cities covered under the survey. The results are as expected. It just confirms what we already knew. The city lags behind on every single parameter covered in the survey (Details). 

On a recent trip to the city, found it filled with filth. Rubbish was thrown all around, there are open drains filled to the brim and mostly choked. All kinds of animals cows, buffaloes, dogs, chicken, ducks, goats were roaming around and eating from the same piles of garbage. Except for the modern cars plying on lanes meant for 2-wheeler's and bullock carts, it almost seemed as if the city was still living a couple of centuries behind the rest of the urbanized world, especially in matters of hygiene.

Below are few sample pictures from my recent trip.

(a) Housing complexes surrounded by standing water; (b) Cows munching in the garbage filled roads; (c) Unlit lanes; (d) Crumbling buildings - In all a picture of  complete squalor

Cleaning up Patna would be no less than the labour of cleaning the Augeon Stables. But we can't depend on a single Hercules to the task. A filthy garbage riddled city is not a unique problem. Most of the big European cities were in equally bad shape in the 19th and early 20th century. Urbanization had brought with it problems of waste management.  Lee Jackson's book "Dirty Old London" describes the state of squalor in London. London was described as having choking, sooty fogs; the Thames River was thick with human sewage; and the streets were covered with mud. (Sounds familiar). The book goes on to describe how the city came up with its innovations and fought its way towards cleanliness.

This is not just a European phenomenon. Though it is hard to imagine now, Singapore was equally, if not more filthy under the British rule (Singapore Sanitation). But the initiatives undertaken by former PM Lee Kuan Yew transformed it into one of cleanest countries in the world. The Singapore model was adopted by other developing South East Asian countries. It requires strong political leadership, public infrastructure development and strict implementation of rules to make the program a success.

Given Patna's size and population, the solutions would need to be even larger in scale.It is not as if nothing has been done in this regard. Patna has provided leadership in this regard earlier also. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak and his foundation Sulabh International were the original Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan campaigners. The work done by Sulabh in building sanitation systems has been globally recognized. However, we can certainly do with more such sustained campaigns for cleaning up this mess. 

An example can be taken from the city which ranked bottom of the survey, Dhanbad (another place where I have a personal connect). Post the results, the students of my alma mater have decided to take up the matter in their own hands. A waste management start-up called Total Waste Solutions or ToWaSo has been launched by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship at ISM, which is working on the theme 'Utilize the Waste before it gets Wasted'. 

More such schemes would be needed. Only a joint effort by the administration and the citizens can accomplish this seemingly Herculean task of cleaning up the city. It is possible. There are parts of the city, the so called VIP areas which are models of cleanliness with no garbage dumps and wide tree-lined roads. But they are only tiny pockets in a huge city. It is necessary to ensure that these areas expand further. It needs a strong political will, dedicated funding for the development of public infrastructure, and strict monitoring with heavy fines for rule breakers. Patna has recently deployed lots of traffic police in an attempt to decongest and manage the traffic. Sanitation department also needs similar manpower to drive the cleanliness initiative. And the efforts need to be sustained over years for results to come.

And yes, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan would be considered a great success if this task is accomplished.

P.S. An old blog post on the subject of sanitation (Link) 

Bihar 2015: What Next?

The Bihar assembly election results are out. The people of Bihar have given the green signal to the “grand alliance” of Nitish, Lalu and Congress to “govern” them for the next five years. And continuing the recent election trends in India, the margin is a decisive one with 178 out of the 243 seats going to the combination. 

The election results came as a bolt from the blue for all analysts on the social media. Since the results have come in, everyone of them is trying to fit their own hypothesis on the results. How the votes added up, how the numbers compared with the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which caste vote bank voted for whom, what was the impact of X's speech in Y's constituency etc. All this while conveniently forgetting that it is only the actual voter who matters. And voters are smart. After all as they say in Bihar, "खाओ पियो नोच के, वोट डालो सोच के". 

While watching all the action from the outside, I built up my own hypothesis on the happenings.

1. The coming together of the "Grand Alliance" was based on sheer survival instinct. Lalu had been in wilderness for long and can't stand in any elections himself. Nitish was licking his wounds from a big ego clash with Modi. And Congress was clutching at straws to stay relevant. To stay relevant in national politics, they had no option but to stick together. The Assembly bye-elections earlier had proved that they could succeed if they stayed together.
2. The Grand Alliance was able to ensure that their votes weren't divided. How they managed to convince their disparate "vote banks" to vote for a single candidate is a major achievement in itself. And also ensuring that their were very few rebel candidates in their midst. An equal seat-share between RJD and JDU while leaving a decent chunk for Congress worked out quite well for them. [I thought Congress's share was more than deserved, but they provided big time returns. Wondering where did Congress find so many winning candidates]
3. On the other hand, BJP's allies were more trouble than their worth. The likes of Manjhi and Paswan had only their own self-interest in mind. Thus the squabbles over seat sharing, and the presence of rebel candidates in places. 
4. Nitish Kumar, had one major factor going for him. There had been actual, visible, all-round development in Bihar under his watch; improved law and order situation, better roads, improved electrification, couple of big industrial projects being set-up, upcoming centers of higher education and an overall improved image of the state. The ego-battle with Modi was the only dent in his otherwise clean image (a factor only for the internet analysts and not with the voter on the ground).[But then when has anyone voted for development in elections]
5. Some of the utterings by the BJP leaders and their associates, duly publicized by a hyper-ventilating media also impacted their own vote-share. Beef, Cow, Pakistan, Caste, Reservations, Bihari DNA etc. - they helped generate some votes, but alienated another chunk. Not sure whether this गाये पे चर्चा experiment should continue any longer.Although the phase -wise voting patterns do indicate that this may have worked in BJP's favour.
6. Lack of a local leader in the BJP. We never knew who would become the CM of Bihar, if BJP had won. While the Grand Alliance had Nitish as the declared CM candidate from the beginning. 

In the end, keeping all theories aside, politics was the only winner. Nitish retains his fiefdom with Lalu's presence keeping him in check. Lalu gains time to build his empire for his sons. Congress gets some breathing space while BJP needs to introspect and rethink its strategies. Also, the Central government needs better engagement with the rejuvenated Opposition, otherwise the Parliament will not function at all.

So, the key question remains. What next for Bihar? The continued शुशाषण of Nitish, as has been the case for the last ten years, OR a return to the Jungle Raj era of Lalu, the previous 15 years? If one goes by the social media, people (read BJP supporters) have already concluded that it will be the latter as Lalu has won, while conveniently ignoring the "development" under Nitish? A case of selective amnesia? 

I was recollecting the results from 5 years back, when Nitish Kumar was the star. It was quite funny at the time to hear people going gaga about him and talking about change, when he had just been re-elected. Now the same people are quite "upset" blaming the "illiterate, casteist" voters of Bihar, because they chose to re-elect Nitish again. Or is it because his shifted allegiance from social media darling BJP to social media pariahs Lalu and Congress? 

Anyways, my best wishes to my home state. I certainly hope that the development continues while the fringe elements (cutting across political lines) are kept in check. And then hopefully, the promised अच्छे दिन will truly arrive.. And as for the people of Bihar, you can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

P.S. My post after the 2010 election, Mostly still relevant. (Link)

Rajgir - The Ancient Magadh Capital

As promised in the previous post, here is the picture blog of Ragjir - the ancient Magadh capital.

From my experience, I would say this is the place to be developed in Bihar as the alternate urban centre which will ease out the load on Patna. 

Highlights of Rajgir - Beautiful weather being surrounded by seven hills, the Buddhist temples, Jain temples, ancient ruins dating from Mahabharat times, the hot springs.

Here is a photo trip of the chief attraction - The Vishwa Shanti Stupa

The Ropeway

Aakashiya Rajju Path (आकाशीय रज्जु पथ ) - The ropeway leading to the Vishwa Shanti stupa. The ride was fun with the chair cars swaying along as it climbs the hill to the stupa.

The Vishwa Shanti Stupa

Lord Buddha

Another view of the Stupa

View from the Stupa

The Japanese Temple

Son Bhandaar

Its claimed that this hill hides a huge treasure. So far attempts have failed to locate the same. Only a cave exists as on date.

Gardens in Venu Vana - a modern day monastery

The setting sun over the Jal mandir

The Jal Mandir, Pawapuri- A jain temple located in the middle of a beautiful pond. The entire pond is covered with Lotuses 

It was great to find so many interesting & fascinating places near my home place. There were quite a few other places which couldn't be visited due to time constraints. Hope to visit again.

So till next time in the TravelNotes.

Visit to the Nalanda University Ruins

Personally, 2012 among other things has been a year of adding new travel destinations. (An entire 2012 wrap-up blog post will be coming up later).

After the previous one to Goa, here is a little photoblog of a visit to the Nalanda University ruins, some 90 kms from Patna, the capital of Bihar The ancient unviersity was established in the 5th or 6th century A.D. and was a renowned seat of learning with scholars coming from far an wide. The Budhhist university fell into ruins once it was ransacked by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkish attacker. So all that is standing now are the ruins which are still being excavated. 

Having my roots in the present day Nalanda district, I have been quite ashamed at not having visited the place even once. Although my parents claim that I had but was too small to remember. So as I had no memories of the same, this was my first trip to the place. Here are some picture of the once-great-university. The destruction of the Nalanda university certainly took away lots of our intellectual & cultural heritage. Hopefully the Nalanda Open University being built not too far from the site would be better able to preserve the intellectual wealth.

A beginning can be made by preserving this sign first

Dormitories for the students

Another view of the hostels

The Great Library

Inside the corridors of "learning"

Another view of the Library

A headless statue of Buddha

The Great Bell of Peace with inscriptions in many languages

Overall, a nicely maintained place

The place was nice and relatively quite clean, lots of greenery around. Already amajor truist attraction, it certainly has potential to become even more attractive. All that is required is a little more marketing. But before that infrastructure should be built to be able to handle the large amounts of tourists coming in.

Coming up next - A visit to Rajgir, the ancient Magadh capital.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

The Bihar assembly election results are out. The ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance has returned to power with an overwhelming majority. Winning 206 out of 243 seats says a lot about the faith that people of Bihar have in this government. The reasons for this are not too difficult to fathom. The previous five years have given sufficient evidence that we can have hope.

I was in Patna during Diwali at the time of  the 5th round of voting. Now being an occasional visitor, I saw for myself what people/media have been talking about. There are definite signs of development in and around Patna (I can’t say about other parts). Infrastructure is improving, the roads are better; there are flyovers everywhere in Patna. Even the cinema halls & markets have improved and seem a bit cleaner. Having had Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar & Lalu Yadav as Union railway ministers has ensured that Bihar has the best rail connectivity in the country. Air connectivity has also improved tremendously. But the biggest change has been in the perception of the law & order situation in the Bihar. This has been the one area which the Nitish government can take full credit for. People can think of staying out longer. Overall lots of positive signs are there.

Now, for a list of requests that I have for the Nitish government. (A friend has already covered quite a few points here)

1. The Bihari Self-Respect

For all practical purposes, I have been a non-resident Bihari within the country for quite some years. "You don't sound a like a Bihari" is a statement people make thinking that its a complement when actually it feels like a slap in the face. People talk about Bihar as the byword for everything associated with lawlessness & backwardness. For the first time in many years people are referring to Bihar with a positive note. It’s no longer just another running joke for the country. And yes, it does feel nice to be associated with a state where words like development, education, growth are mentioned rather than poverty, kidnappings and lawlessness. We have a habit of living in the past. We refer to our glorious history when Pataliputra was the cultural, political capital of India. But those days are long gone. And we need to build from the present. Please ensure that the Bihari self-respect is no longer attacked.

2. Alternate Urban Centres
It is good to know that new educational institutions are being opened, industries are being setup, investors are coming to the state. I have a request. Please do not open these in Patna. The city’s infrastructure cannot sustain so much growth. In fact it is more likely to hamper the growth. Alternate urban centers will definitely prove a good idea. Rajgir can be a good starting point, though I am no judge in these matters. A state cannot develop in patches.

3. Traffic & Public Transport in Patna
The number of vehicles has increased while the existing roads can’t be widened any further, resulting in traffic jams everywhere. A good starting point can be removal of cycle rickshaws from the main roads. This proposal would be met with huge uproar. But if implemented will certainly ease up the traffic. Given that no elections are scheduled in a long time, now should be a very good time to take this step. Also a revamp of the bus services will help. The Indore model can certainly be one of the options.

4. Cleaner City
A lasting memory for anyone visiting Patna is of a paan-stained city; government offices, shopping complexes, roads everywhere it’s the same. I can’t suggest how to improve this though, except heavy fines.

5. Education
Bihar has the lowest literacy rates in the country. And to aim for development, education of the masses is the very first step. And this has to done at all levels starting from the primary sections and not just by having an IIT or IIM in the state.

So these are my requests from the new government of Bihar. And I have written this blog because I have Faith. And to end, all I can say is Nitish Kumar would do well if he just remembers, “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility”

P.S. These are my personal views.

P.P.S. It seems funny to talk about change after having re-elected the incumbent government.

Travel Time

It was a short trip. 3 day official holiday combined with 3 days of Casual Leave (Aside, I love the term "Casual" Leave). And I went to a flying trip home for Diwali. Did not expect much to happen in this short period but yet it was full of interesting little nuggets.

• People love to queue up. The announcement for boarding was made and immediately almost fifty people were standing in the line at the entrance. Everybody had a booked seat, the flight was not going anywhere without them but people still chose to stand in the line carrying their luggage rather than sit in the waiting area for the lines to clear up.
• An early finish to the journey can also be frustrating at times. I was watching a movie and the flight landed 10 minutes prior to the scheduled arrival. Thus missed the climax. Thankfully it was a predictable story and nothing great to watch but still.
• Diwali is the festival of lights. God knows why some believe in making it the festival of sound.
• It was the occasion of another major festival in Bihar. The Assembly Elections. And for the first time in my life I was at right place to cast my vote. Unfortunately the name was missing. But I did participate in the voting process. Helped my grandmother cast her vote. So no ink mark on my finger but EVM used. And thus happened my first ever participation in the great Indian democratic process.
• Travelling in and around Patna, I saw for myself what everyone has been talking about. There are signs of development, nothing very substantial but definite signs. One can have hope.
• A visit to a site for an apartment under construction. Immediate thoughts went to the movie Khosla Ka Ghosla. 
• Rural life is still at least a couple of decades behind the urban life. No power at times, No cable, No internet, No mobile signal, Thinner newspaper (no supplements). Life seems to step back quite a few years. Due to the easy pace time literally crawls.
• TV watch - Saw a person lose 96.8 Lakh rupees on KBC. When you have no clue about the correct answer, when everyone is advising against playing for the jackpot, then why try? The person took a double chance, got it wrong both times. And why did he play? Not because he knew the answer but because he had a "one minute talk with Lord Ganesha", who advised him to play. Blind Faith? Somehow it was fitting that he lost.
• Reading a book while waiting at the airport. Notice another co-traveller reading the same book. Enough evidence that the book is a success?
• Return trip - New observation - Wigs are also now part of uniform for the air hostesses. Learning - When in doubt about some random observation about the world, put it on Facebook.
• Booked a pre-paid taxi from the airport counter. Found out that the taxi drivers have started a new money making scheme. Claiming that there was a shortage of taxis, they were trying to put more than one commuter in the same taxi. Simple Supply-Demand?

It was a total of 6 days, fun filled, slightly dull for some time, but lots of happenings.

Growing Bihar - A New Hope

The first good news from Twenty Ten is here.

Bihar's economy has grown at an annual rate of 11% over the last 5 years, quite a bit higher than the national average of 8.5 %. These are the first official stats to prove whats been already felt in the state. The state is changing and hopefully for the better. The post Lalu-Rabri era has been showing positive signs. The roads in and around the capital are in a far better shape. Flyovers have been built all across. The railway station is in a far better shape than most would want to believe it. Shops & hotels are open for longer hours. Roads dont get deserted by 8 in the evening. More flights are going to Patna. Institutions for higher education are also coming up in a big way. Schooling had always been good because the people of the state have always valued education as the means of earning a good livelihood. Cinema Halls are again attracting families. Shopping malls & multiplexes are coming up. All this I have seen changing in the past 3-4 years. As I am more of an occasional visitor to the place now, the changes are far more visible (in and around the capital at least). However quite a bit needs to be done. And firstly some other urban centres need to be developed fast in Bihar. Patna will not be able to sustain this growth alone. The city does not have too much scope for expansion left. Rajgir & Gaya would be the most suited in this regard. But a start has been made. We can only hope for the better.

P.S. There does seem to be lot of goodwill for Bihar specially in some parts of the media.