It’s 15 August 2022, India’s Independence Day. To mark the occasion, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking did something very interesting.
Here is what they did. Images were shared by the NMMT on Twitter.
Buses at the Ghansoli Depot were parked to form the number “75”, first with just their red buses and again, by colouring the roofs of buses with the tricolour.
Check it out below.
Fisheye view of NMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli DepotNMMT buses in the special formation with the tricolour at Ghansoli DepotNMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli Depot
Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking had its headquarters (Electric House) lit up in the tricolour. Do take a look below:
Paraivahan Bhavan (Transport House) lit up in the tricolour for Independence Day
Prime Minister Modi’s call for Har Ghar Tiranga as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav has seen a phenomenal response.
I hope you celebrated Independence Day with much fanfare, but till we are done with the pandemic, please do take precautions.
— ANDHERI LOKHANDWALA OSHIWARA CITIZEN'S ASSOCIATION (@AndheriLOCA) November 17, 2021
The spotting of the hovercraft left many of wondering what it was doing.
Many wondered if it was for trial runs of a potential water transit system, some even suggested that it was there to survey the region for the coastal road (a misnomer since the Coastal Road terminates at Worli and the Versova Bandra Sea Link is being buit near Andheri).
However, on closer examination, the hovercraft looks to be a Griffon Hoverwork 8000TD, manufactured jointly by the Southampton, England-based Griffon Hovercraft and the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders. It’s primary user in India is the Indian Coast Guard which has several of them parked at the Sarovar Vihar hoverport at Sector 11, CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai.
The last known update about hovercrafts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was from 2019 (when Devendra Fadnavis was still chief minister). Under the Uddhav Thackeray government, only the ro-ro service to Mandwa has been operational.
We wait eagerly for the day when Mumbai can have hovercrafts again. Services existed between 1994 and 1999, operated by Mahindra and Mahindra between Vashi, CBD Belapur and Gharapuri Island (for the Elephanta Caves) but wound up due to lack of proper berthing facilities in Mumbai.
That’s all for now. I apologise for my lack of blogging, I have been recovering from successive bouts of the flu and the Wuhan Virus.
To read my ideas on turning Mankhurd into an integrated road-rail-water transit hub on the lines of the St George Terminal in New York or the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, do read this article: Here’s How Mumbai Can Create A Robust Water Transit System
Featured Image: Indian Coast Guard’s Griffon-GRSE 800TD (Sballal/Wikimedia Commons)
If you intend to step out, whether to board on boat, bus or train, please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.
The last 14 months have been quite a strain on all of us with the pandemic and the consequential lockdown(s). With many places still under varying lockdown and lockdown-like situations, getting things to run a household is tough.
I was introduced to the concept of hyper-local delivery services in early 2018 when a start-up firm moved into the building where our office was located in Bangalore. Often, during coffee breaks we’d all gather on the terrace and talk about many things in general and on one such occasion, a co-founder of the firm explained the concept to me. The start-up eventually moved their offices elsewhere but has today become a well-known name in Bangalore – Telyport.
Shortly thereafter, I was introduced to an app called Dunzo. It had become popular and had just received $128 million in funding and that included Google – a first in India. Dunzo soon became a mainstay among a lot us and was used for almost everything – from ordering liquor and cigarettes to sending keys home to ordering medicine. I was once visiting a friend who asked me to purchase something on my way and since there was a lot of traffic (Bangalore and its incessant drizzle), I ordered it on Dunzo. It reached before I did.
However, it was during the pandemic when these services began to shine. Having spent a significant amount of time during the pandemic and lockdown in both Mumbai and Bengaluru and having spent a little time in Chennai, I can’t imagine how life would be without these platforms. Every other day, I’d be down at the gate, waiting for someone from Dunzo, Swiggy or WeFast, either collecting something or sending something. From medicines, a pulse oximeter, beverages, snacks, legal documents to a cake, I’ve made full use of hyper-local services.
A Dunzo partner waiting near Char Bangla Market in Andheri (West). Photo: Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia, available on the Wikimedia Commons.
In order to understand how the situation was for these delivery agents, I did what I’ve done with cab drivers, auto drivers and bike taxi drivers in the past – strike up a conversation whenever possible. I also spoke to a few people who work at service providers either in tech or operations.
The first thing that stood out was a complete lack of clarity from various government agencies – federal, state and civic – on restrictions and exceptions. Few cities had a system where people engaged in essential services could apply for an e-pass – remember the Licence Raj? – and even then the guidelines have not been clear since March 2020. In the absence of concrete guidelines, there is bound to be ample scope for confusion and under the current circumstances, this is not a good sign. For instance, in the absence of proper guidelines, there is no clarity on what kind of documentation is to be carried. Many agents carry a letter issued by either the service provider, or by the establishment they are delivering for. At the other end of the spectrum, I have been told by several people that police in a few big cities have hired new recruits to enforce the lockdown. These new recruits, who neither carry a badge nor wear a uniform, often harass these agents, sometimes along with those in uniform. I have heard umpteen stories of delivery agents having the papers snatched from them and being torn up, getting beaten up by law enforcement agencies and of course, having their vehicles seized.
Now, as if this wasn’t enough, a few days ago, police in Hyderabad, Telangana began stopping delivery agents associated with Swiggy, UberEats, Dunzo and Zomato, fining them ₹1,000 and then seizing their vehicles. The reason? Police claims that food delivery cannot be considered essential services!
Police seize vehicles of Zomato,Uber eats,swiggy & Dunzo delivery boys & fined Rs 1000 each in Hyderabad on Saturday nd as per police the vehicles will b released after 5pm, police say's food delivery agents cannot be considerd under essential services. Express video by R V K Rao pic.twitter.com/LvF4Ry2Bmg
Now, there are multiple problems I have with this incident. For starters, who decides what is essential and what is not? If food delivery is not an essential service, why was not mentioned in a government order and why were restaurants allowed to operate? Many people who do not have facilities to cook use food delivery services on a daily basis, and Hyderabad – being one of the largest information technology hubs in the country – sees many a bachelor living in a low-cost housing unit that may or may not have the facilities required to cook. This in turn begs the question – what about the customers who have paid for their order? By going after the delivery agents, customers are essentially being cheated.
Interestingly, it was Hyderabad’s representative to the Lok Sabha Asaduddin Owaisi who pointed out that the government order did include delivery services including food. He also stated that personnel should not be stopped and in the event that the government had made food delivery non-essential, the government order should be amended.
G.O on lockdown in Telangana clearly states that food delivery is permitted. Why are delivery personnel being detained then? They must be released along with their vehicles immediately. These are poor youths trying to get by @TelanganaDGP@cpcybd@CPHydCity@RachakondaCop 1/2 pic.twitter.com/qvWnbESAfW
It is essential that we understand that these delivery agents are frontline workers. They have made life easier for common people by continuing to deliver goods to them while at the same time ensuring that small businesses including stores and restaurants can continue operating, all while risking their own well-being. Given the nature of the work they do, it is impossible for any agent to determine whether they are safe at any time or not. On a single delivery route between the establishment they are delivering for and their destination, there are numerous possibilities of them contracting the virus from anywhere. Unfortunately even the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) doesn’t catergorise them as front line workers.
Several states have gone ahead and announced prioritised vaccination drives for journalists as frontline workers. While this is not a bad move, it should ideally only be a priority for those on ground such as field reports, camera crew and the likes, not those who sit comfortably at home and write op-eds without once stepping out.
Finding a solution to this mess is a very easy one. However, out bureaucratic setup ensures that all easy solutions are done away with and a complicated system that involves permissions from various sundry authorities gets imposed. The easiest way to solve this issue is to remove all requirements of government authorisation. For delivery agents, since they are anyway using an app-based system, a notification on their device should suffice, however since our setup prefers everything on paper, a letter from the service provider they are working for should do. Uniforms should not be mandatory as they can be problematic, as in the case when the Greater Chennai Police found a man delivering marijuana using a Zomato t-shirt.
Governments and government agencies need to stop harassing anyone who steps out during the lockdown. Often, they don’t understand a genuine requirement. Further, some external factors need to be taken care off. Alcohol can no longer be ordered in some states, notably Karnataka – thanks to a stupid High Court order – and Maharashtra – where one requires a permit to posses alcohol. Cigarettes and paan can not be ordered on Android devices but can be on iOS devices because the Google Play store guidelines do not allow purchase of tobacco items. Google Play has a lot of issues, banning items that are legal in India, but that is a tale for another day.
States should seriously consider according frontline worker status to delivery agents, populating a list from service providers and cross checking it with Aadhaar records in order to get them vaccinated on a priority basis. After all, they are keeping the economy running, keeping both agents and shopkeepers employed and ensuring that people stay at home.
The single best example of this is from a tweet that Dunzo put out in April 2020.
If your delivery agent is delayed next time, they’re probably being harassed by government agencies somewhere.
Recommended Reading: The Rise and Rise of the Hyperlocal Delivery Model by Basundhara Choudhary in the May 2021 issue of Logistics Insider. You will need to purchase a copy however. The article talks about different hyperlocal logistics providers including Paytm Mall, Jeena & Co, Shiprocket, BlowHorn, Pidge, Life Care Logistics, among others.
I’d like to thank Yatin for his inputs. I’d also like to thank Rohan Kawley, Mokshda, Aishwarya and Esha for their encouragement.
If you have any feedback, please do leave it in the comments section below.
Since the pandemic is ongoing, please don’t step out without taking proper precautions including a mask and hand sanitizer.
A few months ago, I had shared a picture of a Bajaj Qute operating as an auto-rickshaw in Andheri. Since then, I have seen the Qute several times on the streets of Mumbai. I managed to click one at JVPD Circle, right outside the Juhu Vile Parle Bus Station. Take a look here.
Bajaj Qute being used as an auto rickshaw at JVPD Bus Station, Andheri, Mumbai (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia) CC-BY-SA 4.0
Now, the Qute has been making an appearance in other cities as well. The other day, I spotted a Qute operating as a Mini Taxi near Kalena Agrahara on Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore.
On doing some searching, I discovered that the Qute, which is a quadricycle is available on ride-sharing platform Uber since 2019. According to this report in the Times of India, quadricycles appear under the category of UberXS and were initially available in regions such as HSR Layout, Koramangala and Indiranagar. Fares would be set between that of Uber auto-rickshaws and UberGo.
A Business Standardreport, also from 2019 stated that Ola had tied up to offer the Qute to its riders.
Here is the picture of the Qute that I snapped.
Bajaj Qute being used as a Taxi at Kalena Agrahara, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia) CC-BY-SA 4.0
While I haven’t got the chance to take a Qute yet, I will be on the lookout for one soon.
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To all those transport enthusiast there who want to study a course related to transport, but not do a Masters in Planning or Engineering, the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) has two options. Both of them are one-year, full time Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) courses: PGD Electric Mobility (PGDEM) and PGD Metro Rail Technology PGDMRT).
Do note: The admission window for the 2020-2021 batch closed in July 2020. You can use this post as a reference for the next year (if the Institute continues with the course; which it probably will).
Here are the links to the brochures of both courses. I’ll give a brief description of both below:
The PGDEM course is offered by CoEP along with Cummins College of Engineering for Women, the Savitribai Phule Pune University in association with Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
The course involves EV System Design and Integration, Energy Storage Systems including Lithium Batteries, Fuel Cells, Ultracapacitors and Powertrains.
It also involves thermal design and the mechanical design of EV systems and their components and also Standards, Policies and Regulations on EVs.
PGD in Metro Rail Technology
The PGDMRT course is offered by the Department of Civil Engineering of the CoEP.
Divided into two semesters, the first semester has courses on railways and civil engineering, rail wheel interaction, mechanical traction and electrical traction and a course on elevated structures. The second semester looks at railway signaling and telecommunications, metro rail engineering and has a course on underground structures. The entire course includes site visits to Metro Rail projects and has a project and practical courses.
Sadly, I was too late to notice this for the current academic year. However, on the bright side, it is good that such courses are being offered in our country, especially given that Electric Mobility and Metro Rail is the future.
This is a good chance for those interested in Metro Tech and Electric Mobility.
Featured Image: College of Engineering, Pune
If you’re wishing to travel around, don’t forget to carry sanitizer, wear a mask and a face shield.
A little over four years ago, I had attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India Week where among many things, I saw a few interesting vehicles. Among these, I saw Scania’s ethanol-blend Bio-fuel bus that was operational with Nagpur Mahanagar Parivahan Limited (NMPL) and subsequently also with the Kadamba Transport Corproation (KTC) in Panaji, Goa, Volvo’s 8400 B7RLE Diesel-CNG Hybrid bus that was trial with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking and a the world’s largest dumper from Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). Note: A dumper is not the same as a dump-truck.
I also saw an air-conditioned Minibus from Force Motors, albeit with fully-sealed windows which I said would be great for feeder services to metro stations. And just like I said, similar buses ended up being used by BEST three years as feeder buses. Here is a picture of the bus that I saw in 2016.
While BEST didn’t get these exact buses, it did get similar buses.
Now, the most interesting thing I saw there was the Bajaj Qute. Note: It does look cute.
Powered by a 200cc engine that can produce an output of 20bhp, the Qute is classified by the government as a “quadricycle” and therefore can only be used to replace auto-rickshaws.
This is the picture of the Qute that I clicked in 2016. The Qute has received intense criticism, mostly from Bajaj’s peers in the auto industry, especially Piaggio which also manufactures auto-rickshaws. Piaggio in fact wanted the Qute to be deferred by at least two-three years (in 2013) in order to provide a level playing field for auto-rickshaw manufacturers. Others in the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) too lambasted the Qute for myriad reasons, from its weight to its emissions.
However, in late February this year, I was mildly surprised when I boarded one of BEST’s mini-buses at Andheri Station (West). In the middle of the sea of auto-rickshaws, I saw a Qute, with a board inside it saying ऑटो रिक्षा and a sticker indicating that it ran on CNG. While I couldn’t see where the fare-meter was, the vehicle was occupied.
Here is the Qute that I spotted at Andheri.
When I saw it, I was excited and quickly whipped out my phone and clicked a photo. And naturally, I tweeted it out within minutes.
As the ongoing Wuhan Virus pandemic goes on a rampage, the state of New Jersey in the United States has a peculiar problem. Governor Phil Murphy at a press conference earlier said that the state needs volunteers who possess “Cobalt” programming skills. He was talking of course of COBOL.
Common Business Oriented Language, or COBOL was a programming language introduced in 1959 as a way to write computer programmes for people who didn’t posses an aptitude for coding but had a reasonable command over their English. Of course, I studied COBOL in 2011 in Coimbatore in a class where not everyone knew English. But then, we’re a nation of non-native English speakers.
In a blog post for Coding Horror, Jeff Atwood stated that in 2009, around 220 billion lines of COBOL existed. That’s a crazy amount of COBOL programs (considering the fact that COBOL programmes are way longer than their equivalents in other conventional languages). COBOL systems handled millions of transactions, connected mobile phones, transported shipping containers and controlled air traffic! This is as recent as 11 years ago.
In fact, in 2017, a firm named Expeditors based out of Seattle, Washington was hiring COBOL developers to run a logistics platform!
This kind of Legacy Tech, would have cost a lot in investment and would have cost a lot more to upgrade at a later stage.
Now, to be honest, getting hold of a COBOL programmer in India isn’t that difficult. Several universities had COBOL till the as far as five years ago.
The point is, COBOL and also Fortran are extremely outdated languages, thus making it difficult to provide upgrades to features. Any new feature would have cost heavily in hardware upgrades. Let’s be glad, we got too the scene a little later.
Note: This was meant to be a much longer post but kept getting delayed so I put it out as it is.
The last few weeks have been rather worrisome for many businesses due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, not only because of the state of the economy but because they deal primarily in cash. A government notification in March also advised users to avoid cash and instead digital platforms as a safety measure. Viral videos on popular social platforms of people licking currency notes and wiping their noses with them has furthered the paranoia.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation in 2016, it did lead to a boom in digital transactions, especially with wallets such as Paytm but eventually with Google getting onto the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) bandwagon, cashless payments began to soar. As per data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the UPI platform witnessed a record ₹1.31 billion in transactions in December 2019 with the total transaction value exceeding ₹2 trillion.
While demonetisation did not give digital transactions the necessary push – most people returned to cash once the shortage had ended – the ongoing pandemic may inadvertently do just that. A 2009 CNN report said that nearly 90 per cent of American currency had traces of cocaine on them. Given that hygiene is not a big issue in India yet, one can imagine the kind of substances that are present on Indian currency – it doesn’t have to be opioid, just dirt and germs.
This would be an ideal time for the government to slowly push for more digital transactions. With the 2019 Union budget doing away with merchant charges for merchants with an annual turnover of above ₹50 crore, the time is ripe for us to rethink stepping into the digital world. The sentiment isn’t restricted to India alone. An Op-Ed on Bloomberg highlights why Apple Pay is looking like a good alternative in the United States to both cash and credit cards. While Apple Pay is yet to enter India, we already have a host of digital payments systems, most of which are based atop NPCI’s UPI platform while some retain independent wallet-based mechanisms of their own.
The biggest hurdle however will continue to be the lack of banking access for many. A 2016 report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers stated that the number of Indians without a bank account went down from 557 million in 2011 to 233 million in 2015. Of these, 187 bank accounts were opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojaya (PMJDY) alone. While many of these accounts haven’t been used much since their opening, that is not a problem. While urban India can be persuaded to switch to UPI-based platforms, rural India can use the NPCI’s National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP)or *99# service that works with basic phones for smaller transactions. For those who don’t have mobile phones, the RuPay debit card is always there.
In order to start the shift to digital transactions, the challenge would not be with larger players but the smaller ones. The local grocer, tea stall and bakeries are what need to be targeted. Add to that the discounts offered by UPI apps such as Google Pay, Paytm or KhaaliJeb – the latter offers discounts to students – getting more people on the platform is relatively easier.
The next step would be to target the transit sector. While rail is generally covered with the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) app and metro rail is covered by smart cards and app-based systems, the focus should be on buses. Very few cities have managed to go completely digital in the field of bus ticketing, with Mumbai being the shining example. In order to better facilitate this, the Centre needs to rush the much-delayed National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that was announced yet again in 2018. While urban bus services are easier to handle, the rural sector needs be prioritised as that is what will lead to a mass movement.
By targeting specific sectors, the financial sector has a higher chance of success rather than a generalised approach. In order to incentivise the shift, the Reserve Bank of India may need to slash a few transaction charges like 2016. Once the shift reaches critical mass, a sunset policy for incentives need to take over. Countries like Sweden allow traders and retailers to refuse cash under the Freedom of Contract and this needs to find a way into our legislation as well.
The biggest advantage of going cashless – not counting the associated risks of handling dirty money – is that it eliminates small loses in the form of lose change going missing. In the long run, it paves the way for the government to finally look at slowly doing away with Income Tax and replacing it with a Transaction Tax.
The ongoing pandemic has given us opportunities to take things forward to a new level, albeit unintentionally, and we should seize the moment and get things done.
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In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), it was met with mockery from all circles. While the Opposition chose to call it a rebadged version of the previous government’s Nirmal Bharat Yojana, many questioned the government’s priorities. Indeed, SBM became the Modi government’s most highlighted campaign and has attracted a lot of feedback. It has been praised by many such as Bill Gates, while many chose to call its “coercive nature” an attack on freedom.
The rural component of SBM focussed on building toilets for villagers, and sadly many villagers didn’t take to using them. A Nikkei report however did speak of the fact that it helped women avoid having to out to the fields in the middle of the night, thus ensuring their privacy and safety.
On the urban front, the SBM is far more complex. It looks at tackling municipal solid waste – both collection and processing – and setting up more public toilets and included a crucial section on inculcating a behavioural change. The Swachh Sarvekshan sought to get cities into a friendly competition to see who does best, but that too has its constraints.
Let’s Make Bharat Swachh Again
We must understand that the Prime Minister cannot keep the entire country clean. That is not a possible scenario in a federal structure like ours where local governments may be run by different parties with different priorities. Furthermore, we as a collective society have come to expect our government to do everything, when the real change needs to begin with ourselves.
The fact that after nearly seventy years of independence, the Prime Minister had to prioritise Cleanliness and Sanitation as a national mission speaks volumes of our mindset as a collective group. At the same time, while many accuse SBM of being a rebadged version of previous programmes such as the Total Sanitation Campaign or Nirmal Bharat with more emphasis on advertising, one thing must be kept in mind – publicity works. Good public relations (PR) is important for anything to succeed, which is why currently, it looks like PM Modi is doing little with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan comes across as a messiah.
Swachh Bharat And Covid-19
The most direct link between Swachh Bharat and the Wuhan Virus spread is the general levels of dirtiness in public spaces in urban India. The most common problems are littering and spitting in public, of which the latter is a bigger concern. Spitting has been a problem – once earning the Railways a whopping Rs 13,000 at a single railway station in West Bengal in a mere six hours. Spitting is also problematic since human saliva can carry the virus. Along with spitting, there are also numerous instances of people blowing their noses or sticking chewed gum on surfaces that are equally dangerous.
In rural areas, the concern is with people using open areas rather than toilets. Research has indicated that the virus can spread through faecal matter, and this isn’t restricted to the current pandemic alone.
Coming Back To Swachh Bharat
In an article for Mint, Manu Joseph argues that the pandemic gives us a chance to transform the country. Joseph is right, for there are many things that can be changed – right from our public distributions system (PDS) to our public transport to education to the way we handle transactions. The last few days have seen Indians order online like never before – Amazon and Flipkart have both reported a major spike in orders. With washing hands and sanitising them being a major message being spread to remain clean, this author has observed small stores, vegetable vendors and others in Mumbai – a city known for running on cash – adopt digital payments over Paytm and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). In education, Quartzreports that education technology (ed-tech) will witness a major growth. As for public transport, images of people stuffed like sardines in trains and buses while being required to maintain a social distance seals the deal.
While each of these needs to be dealt with separately, the one single thing that needs to be tackled with on a priority basis is cleanliness and hygiene.
Starting Small, Going Big
The ban proposed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on gutka and paan masala is the first step towards a cleaner environment. The state’s chief secretary Awnish Awasthi mentioned spitting in the open after their consumption as a key motivator behind the ban. By banning the products, the government is making it easier for sanitation workers.
Any plan towards hygiene and cleanliness will have to be divided into two phases – a short term one and a long term one.
In the short term, Swachh Bharat for urban areas needs to be carried out on a war footing. This includes proper sewerage facilities across the municipal limits of all major cities. To give an example, in 2013, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board said that the city would require a minimum of ten years for each household to have a water and sewerage pipeline. Such projects need to be fast-tracked at both the Central and State Level. Solid waste management needs to be improved across cities along with efficient garbage disposal systems. Redevelopment of slums too needs to be taken care of. It is disheartening that Asia’s second largest slum is located in Dharavi, Mumbai and despite the best efforts by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the project did not take off. While bans on gutka and similar products are welcome, municipal corporations need to focus on tackling the menace of spitting, urination and defecation in public. Psychology plays an important role in this – a dirty space will attract more dirt, and cleaning it remains the only solution.
In the long term, the concept of cleanliness and hygiene needs to be given a heavier presence in our education system. Just like Swachh Sarvekshan gets cities into competition, each individual resident needs to take pride in their personal cleanliness, and this can only be achieved by ensuring its active presence in their education. Students must be taught not to litter, spit or defecate in public, and to segregate biodegradable waste from non-biodegradable waste – a crucial requirement that will also eventually bring down pollution in the National Capital Region. We also need to slowly shed our consumerist mindset and return to our roots of reduce, reuse and recycle as compared to the current use and throw model.
The Swachh Bharat Mission has a lot of impact on every individual present in society. Right from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, everyone is impacted in various ways by the lack of cleanliness of public spaces and the associated risk of disease.
Bringing In More Innovation
When SBM was launched, it eventually saw a series of apps that helped users locate the nearest public toilet. Eventually tech giant Google too jumped on the bandwagon with a massive list on their Maps app. The next major innovation saw unmanned public toilets such as the eToilet being developed. Eventually, we might someday be able to offer cleaner toilets on long-distance buses as well.
On the matter of plastic waste, with the Railways’ setting up water vending machines that sell water for one-third the cost of a water bottle at major railway stations, we can slowly look at phasing out water bottles from railway stations.
With so many problems to be solved – from solid waste to landfills – the scope of innovation is endless. It is here that the Centre must consider giving focus to these sectors under the various StartUp India and the Atal Innovation Mission to get more research and development flowing in these sectors. The global pandemic might have sent our economy into a turmoil, but its silver lining is that when we emerge from this pandemic, we can build ourselves better and stronger.
This article was originally written in March 2020 and submitted to an online publication who decided not to run it. I’d really appreciate it if you could back me up by maybe becoming a patron?
We’ve all read Harry Potter. We’ve all seen the movies as well. In the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, we are introduced to the Knight Bus, a triple-decker bus. However, this variety of buses aren’t just a figment of a fantasy writer’s (I’m talking about J. K. Rowling) imagination, but did exist, but just not in the form that we’ve imagined.
Presenting, the triple-decker bus!
Built in 1932, the first triple-decker bus was made in Italy. While not much is known about the manufacturer, it ran between Rome and Tivoli and carried 88 passengers. The third level was essentially a smoking compartment and the bus had space for 440 pounds (200 kg) of luggage and space for dogs. It was 33.5 feet long and 11 feet wide and had a speed of 28 miles per hour (45 km per hour).
According to the Museum of Hoaxes, a second such bus was designed in the 1950s by the General American Aerocoach Corporation. This bus was similar to its Italian counterpart, that is the third level wasn’t much of a level. Here is an image of that bus.
GAAC’s Triple Decker
Fun fact, a video was uploaded on YouTube with a picture of a BEST Triple-Decker. This was essentially a Double-Decker photoshopped to have a third level. The uploader was obviously a prankster for they claim to have been shocked when they saw it outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and shot a video of it. (This was in 2013).
The closest we’ve ever got to making a real Triple-Decker bus, was the Knight Bus in Harry Potter. It was made by taking apart the upper deck of a London AEC Regent III RT bus and grafting it atop another such bus. Below is a picture by Robert Clarke.
In 1926, a German magazine called Echo Continental which was the trade magazine of German automobile parts manufacturer Continental AGpublished a picture of a triple-decker bus. Sadly, it was on 1 April. Here is an image of that bus.
Triple Decker Bus from Echo Continental
So, will we ever see a Triple Decker Bus? Maybe. You never know, but someday, we might just see one. Till then, you can have fun on a Double Decker bus.
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