A pilot design for Chennai’s streets
Chennai’s poorly designed and improperly executed roads, with even shoddier maintenance may soon see better times, if the present attempt by Chennai City Connect (CCC) , an organisation set up by Janaagraha, a Bangalore based NGO and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) succeeds.
Janaagraha (Chennai) and CII (Tamil Nadu) have setup up CCC for various stakeholders of Chennai to interact and support the Government of Tamil Nadu for improvement of urban infrastructure. It is based on the success of a similar initiative in Bangalore which goes by the name of Bangalore City Connect.
In Chennai, CCC will aim to work on long-term and short-term projects. Among the latter, it has begun looking at street design in the city and the ways and means to improve it. The idea stems from the root belief that most street designs and their implementation follow a one-design-fits-all approach which does not look at ground local realities. Consequently, implementation of such plans do not offer any benefit to the local residents. Footpaths are often a foot high and even if present, are encroached by shops, two wheelers and squatters. As a result nobody is able to see any visible improvement.
CCC taking its credo from Janaagraha aims for a bottoms up approach and feels that the most manageable unit in any civic body is the zone. Each zone should be studied for the street plan and layout to be effective and this then has to integrate upwards via wards, councils and finally the city corporation. Therefore, each streets problems need to be studied individually and solutions identified for it.
In order bring make a difference and help the Chennai Corporation to improve the city’s pedestrian facilities, CCC, along with interested groups adopted the following methodology:
- Consult with city officials, especially the Corporation Commissioner and explain the project to them and sign a detailed MOU with the government. This MOU will detail on deliverables from government, CCC and other participating organisations along with timelines. Such MOU will take existing government plans into account and hence will ensure our effort is not wasted by future changes in the area.
- Conduct survey of footpath to identify the dimensions of the road, footpath, etc.
- Conduct study, take digital photographs, of the corridor to document the existing issues and devise practical solutions. Compile international standards.
- Employ an urban planner or architect to design the footpath, crossing, street furniture, etc. taking earlier observations into consideration.
- Design proper bus bays and shelters to help passengers and bus operators; to ease congestion of road; to prevent crowding at bus shelter.
- Design proper signs and locations to prevent accidents and improve citizen safety.
- Optionally, conduct traffic flow study to arrive at optimum signal time and road architecture. This will ensure smoother traffic flow, lessen pollution, and reduce accidents.
- Present the plans to Mayor, Corporation Commissioner, Police Commissioner for Traffic and other relevant officials. They can conduct public participation meetings to present the plans with diagrams to explain the project to the public.
- Present international standards to city officials for use as guidelines.
- Help implement by conducting periodic meeting with officials and help in monitoring.
The final deliverables included the following:
- Clearly defined road-footpath boundary that is visible to all road users even from a distance.
- Demarcate user-friendly footpaths that encourage maximum usage by pedestrian
- Proper pedestrian crossings to ensure safety and ease.
- Identify space for street hawkers to co-exist with pedestrians and other stakeholders.
- Proper signage, identification of no parking areas, landscaping, street furniture for safety and comfort, garbage bins, etc.
- Introduce bus bays or clearly marked spots as bus stops, for safety and comfort of passengers and to prevent haphazard parking of buses and congestion of road.
- Improve safety of pedestrians along the corridor.
- Involve all stakeholders in preparing solutions that is acceptable to most.
CCC has since presented its findings and recommendations to the civic body. The Corporation it is learnt, is delighted with the study and has begun the process of tendering for the actual implementation of the plan. The idea has now extended to getting corporate bodies in the vicinity to also chip in with funding for the execution. This if taken up and implemented effectively, could well be a blueprint for all city development to come.
Dear Mr. Sriram,
This is not a reply to this post. However, this was the only way I could find to contact you. I desperately wanted to convey my heartfelt appreciation to your book on Bangalore Nagaratnamma. The book is almost to perfection. I cannot think of a better version in such subjects. None can fail to notice the amount of research and passion involved in this venture. I hope there will be more such rewarding writings from you. However, here and there, I could notice a few minor albeit trivial errors.
One such is with regard to the work “Raghunathabhyudayam” penned by Ramabhadramba. Actually it is a sanskrit court-epic and not a Telugu one as presented in your writing. Unfortunately I have forgotten a couple of others and that is an indication of how trivial they are!
Anyhow, the intention in bringing these to your notice is only to make an already copious work totally blotfree. If I can do any little help with regards to your future plans which might require sources from Kannada, Telugu, Sanskrit, Prakrit and such allied languages, I will be all the more glad to do so. This is what I could do to express my joy at having read your memorable book. Please feel free to contact me at the address mentioned below.
Warm Regards,
Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
#1250(30), 4th Main,
‘E’ Block, 2nd Stage,
Rajajinagar,
Bangalore-10
Ph: 080-23420628
Dear Sriram,
I am hereby attaching a brief introduction to Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh.
This is a rather long post and you can look at it in your leisure.
Regards,
Vasuki
A versatile scholar, Avadhani par excellence, poet, excellent orator and many more, Shatavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh is a Literary Wizard, a precious treasure Mother India can be proud of .
Dr. R. Ganesh was born on the 4th of December, 1962, in Kolar town of Karnataka. His parents were R.Shankar Narayan Aiyar and K.V.Alamelamma. A graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Vishweshwaraiah college of Engineering, Bangalore, Dr.Ganesh holds an M.Sc degree in Material Science and Metallurgy from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He also holds a Masters’ in Sanskrit from the Mysore University.
From the young age of ten, Dr.Ganesh cultivated a passion for literature and studied in detail the great works of ancient poets in Sanskrit and Kannada. By the age of Sixteen, he blossomed into a poet of high merit, introducing the classicalities of Meter, Rhyme, Grammatical precision and traditionality into his style. He also mastered the unique art of ‘Ashukavitva’- a style of reciting poems ‘extempore’ on any given topic. Detailed and deep study of the various branches of Indian literature, arts and poetics further enriched his inherent talent and style. At the age of Nineteen, he incidentally witnessed a session of Sanskrit Avadhana, which inspired him to try the art himself. This was a landmark not only in his life, but also in the history of ‘Avadhana’. The very next day, amongst a group of friends, he successfully ventured to perform a complete ‘Ashtavadhana .
Dr.Ganesh has a deep and intimate knowledge of various forms of Indian classical music, dance, sculpture, paintings and other fine arts. His views and commentaries on these subjects are rich with deep introspective wisdom and unfold valuable information and ideas to performing artists and lovers of art. He is well versed in various subjects like prosody (ChandasShastra-to do with the Meter form), poetics (KavyaShastra), Veda, Vedantic scriptures, DharmaShastras, History, Aesthetics, Grammar, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Technology etc. to name a few. His knowledge of past and current affairs in various fields is indeed commendable. Research and innovation are two fields where his contributions are everlasting.
The credit of reviving the ancient art of ‘Avadhana’ in Kannada language goes to Shatavadhani Dr.R.Ganesh.
Dr.Ganesh preforms complete ‘Avadhana’ not only in Kannada but also in Sanskrit and Telugu and is rightly known as ‘Tribhashavadhani’. He is also an ‘Ashtabhashavadhani’, and can manage the programme in eight languages simultaneously ! His masterely thesis on the art of Avadhana in Kannada has been honoured with a D.Litt by the Hampi University of Karnataka.
So far he has successfully accomplished more than 700 Ashtavadhanas and three Shatavadhanas on various prestigious platforms at the state and national levels. He has also performed in the American and European continents, giving the world a taste of Indian brilliance and talent.
Dr.Ganesh has a number of compositions like Suprabhatas, Stotras and songs on various deities. Leading artists have sung these in cassettes which have been extremely popular. Cassettes containing his narrations on Soundaryalahari, Harishchandra Kavya, Mankutimmana Kagga, Subhashitas , Human values in Manusmriti
Human values in Ramayana , Human values in Telugu Literature etc. have also been well received. He has composed exclusive dance and musical lyrics which are being adapted by performing artists. He is also a modern ‘Vaaggeyakara’ (Music composer) who has composed quality pieces like Tillanas, Padas, Kritis, Ragamaalika Kritis etc.
Over the years he has delivered hundreds of lectures in Kannada at the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs – an organisation which was the brainchild of the great Dr. D. V. Gundappa. These cover a wide range of topics on various aspects of Indian culture like the Vedas, Puranas, epics, Sanskrit and Kannada literary classics, Dharmashastra, philosophy, music and aesthetics. They are recorded and made available to the public in the MP3 format.
Apart from this, he has conceived and composed over 30 dance dramas. However, his own innovation in Yakshagana – the traditional theatrical art of Karnataka needs special mention. Here, he has evolved the solo format for the first time and over 800 shows have been presented with more than 8 productions scripted, tuned and choreographed by him.
Dr.Ganesh has taught in the Ramaiah and R.V.College of Engineering. He has also served as the Director of Sanskrit Department in the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavana, Bangalore. He has also been a researcher at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts(IGNCA). He is currently a guest faculty at Academy for Creative Teaching(ACT).
Dr.Ganesh has not only mastered Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu and English languages, but is also proficient in Prakrit, Pali, Tamil, Hindi and Marathi. Ancient languages of Greek, Latin and Italian have added to the treasure of his knowledge. He has to his credit the study and knowledge of Greek Literature in its original textual form.
Dr.Ganesh has presented hundreds of research papers and his valuable views on various subjects in Sanskrit, English and Kannada languages in prestigious National and International seminars. His lectures and writings have impressed and educated all classes of people; he has been successfully pioneering the spread of knowledge and culture. Logical precision, clarity of subject, intuitive wisdom, vast knowledge of various subjects, comprehendable and practical illustrations and examples, extremely attaractive oratory are some significant features of his masterely presentations.
Dr.Ganesh has contributed a number of valuable works to the world of literature. More than 30 of these have been published which include poetry, prose, reasearch, translation and biographies.
His natural talent, learning, simplicity and nobility have won Dr.Ganesh a number of admirers. A great many number of institutions and groups have recognised, honoured and felicitated him and showered him with titles, praises, accolades and citations. ‘Avilamba Saraswathi’, ‘Purusha Saraswathi’, ‘Kavyakantha’ etc. are some of the prestigious titles conferred on him. In recognition of his valuable contribution to the field of Sanskrit, Avadhana and poetry, Government of Karnataka conferred on him the ‘Rajyotsava Prashasthi’ (State Award) for the year 1992. He has also been awarded the “Badarayana Vyasa Puraskar”, the award for the best young Sanskrit scholar in the country, by the President of India.
I am writing in response to the very detailed introduction of Sharavadhani R Genesh by Mr. Vasuki. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to witness the ashtavadhana programmes conducted by Sri Ganesh will readily agree that he is a rarte talent and a treasure of knowledge.
I am sure, Dr. Ganesh has also written books on verious literary, mythological and philosophical topics. I would greatly appreciate if someone can let me know the titles and ready availability of these books.
Best regards
Balakrishna