Here's something to chew on. A couple of weeks ago, there were some pretty heavy rains in Bangalore. I was away at that time, so I missed it (pity, I could have done with some rain in 40 Deg C Mumbai). Anyway, when I came back, I heard this totally weird story that has still not made any sense to me. Let's see if you can figure it out.
A woman who had moved to Bangalore a year ago had had a house built in the Halasur (Ulsoor) area quite close to the Ulsoor Lake. During the rains, a part of the bank surrounding the lake had collapsed and water from the lake had rushed into her house as if her abode was the Augean Stables of Greek myth and ruined practically all her belongings. To make matters worse, one wall of her building collapsed and now she's homeless. She's seeking compensation from the government.
All well so far. Nothing seems to be wrong. But beat this - she's seeking government compensation for the loss of a house that had been declared as an illegal construction. The land upon which she had her house built had been left alone by the BDA and other authorities to act as a catchment area whenever the lake overflowed. Constructing any sort of building upon that land is supposedly not allowed.
It came as no big surprise to me that there was an illegal construction in that area in the first place. That sort of thing happens all the time and with the real estate boom in Bangalore, the situation has only gotten worse. But seeking compensation for an illegal construction???? I don't know whether to find it disgusting, ridiculous or just plain funny.
Of course, the woman is probably claiming that the authorities never informed her that the site was illegal. There might be some truth in it but it's not very likely. Can it be true that in a scenario as bureaucratic as land registration, no government employee raised the matter in order to create some more red tape and try and reap some bribes from it? I don't think so, especially since the woman apparently had the house built herself and didn't buy it from some agent - surely somebody would have turned up during the construction to make some comment.
In the end, the woman lost her house. People just don't realize that you can't beat Mother Nature. Oh sure, you can deceive the President but as the old saying goes "You can fool some of the people all the time and all of the people sometimes, but you can't fool Mom!" In this case Mother Nature. She gets her way all the time. If she doesn't like that house of yours, down it comes. If she doesn't like you choking her with smoke, you get no rain for the rest of the year. If you fill up every available space with concrete and don't let water get absorbed into the soil, she'll make sure that that water will only end up bugging you.
Nope, don't try and fool her.
A woman who had moved to Bangalore a year ago had had a house built in the Halasur (Ulsoor) area quite close to the Ulsoor Lake. During the rains, a part of the bank surrounding the lake had collapsed and water from the lake had rushed into her house as if her abode was the Augean Stables of Greek myth and ruined practically all her belongings. To make matters worse, one wall of her building collapsed and now she's homeless. She's seeking compensation from the government.
All well so far. Nothing seems to be wrong. But beat this - she's seeking government compensation for the loss of a house that had been declared as an illegal construction. The land upon which she had her house built had been left alone by the BDA and other authorities to act as a catchment area whenever the lake overflowed. Constructing any sort of building upon that land is supposedly not allowed.
It came as no big surprise to me that there was an illegal construction in that area in the first place. That sort of thing happens all the time and with the real estate boom in Bangalore, the situation has only gotten worse. But seeking compensation for an illegal construction???? I don't know whether to find it disgusting, ridiculous or just plain funny.
Of course, the woman is probably claiming that the authorities never informed her that the site was illegal. There might be some truth in it but it's not very likely. Can it be true that in a scenario as bureaucratic as land registration, no government employee raised the matter in order to create some more red tape and try and reap some bribes from it? I don't think so, especially since the woman apparently had the house built herself and didn't buy it from some agent - surely somebody would have turned up during the construction to make some comment.
In the end, the woman lost her house. People just don't realize that you can't beat Mother Nature. Oh sure, you can deceive the President but as the old saying goes "You can fool some of the people all the time and all of the people sometimes, but you can't fool Mom!" In this case Mother Nature. She gets her way all the time. If she doesn't like that house of yours, down it comes. If she doesn't like you choking her with smoke, you get no rain for the rest of the year. If you fill up every available space with concrete and don't let water get absorbed into the soil, she'll make sure that that water will only end up bugging you.
Nope, don't try and fool her.
2 comments:
hey, nice blog.i really liked it specially the last para.
thanks!
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