Struggling For The Basics

 

Every coin has two sides. All this while we mostly came up heads. But the last couple of months have only thrown up tails. 

When we bought the house, the colony was in the middle of a changeover - from the hands of a struggling private company to the established government agency. Everyone was happy at the change and looking forward to better times. But good times vanished even before they could get here!

Let me list down the trouble areas for better understanding:

Roads

Were in extremely bad shape, with potholes so large that many neighbours admitted to substantial damage to their cars. 

Though repairs, carpeting and even recarpeting were carried out, they created newer issues. Manhole areas were left undone, leaving deep yawning holes where many tripped and hurt themselves. And the smoother roads led to over-speeding.

Water Supply

Was fairly regular but water quality was not good as it was muddy. Tanks and filters required regular cleaning.

Supply frequency reduced considerably, water pressure became an issue and the quality further worsened. There were days of no-show, as a result the overhead tanks became near-empty many times. The accumulated slush at the bottom of the tank got into pipelines and the filter, choking the entire system. 

Electricity

Was always a problem in this colony. Ten years back we suffered; our inverter and other appliances went kaput. 

Nothing has changed; rather the situation has gotten worse. After going through a 10-hour outage from 4PM to 2AM we thought we had seen it all. But the worst was an 18-hour outage that lasted from 11PM to 5PM of the next evening. After that they claimed to have changed transformers, cables and suppliers. But the power interruptions continued on a daily basis.

Sewage

The entire city is together on this one. The millenial city has no sewage disposal lines, and whatever is there for namesake does not work.

Waterlogging for days during heavy rains, with water even entering houses seems to be the norm here. Vehicles start malfunctioning as they are parked in water for days and their parts get rusted. There is backflow into the houses from the sewer, with slush and cockroaches getting deposited in our yards.

Garbage Collection

Has been a problem area off and on. 

Contractors were changed but that did not seem to help as garbage was not collected for days on end. And yet, they were prompt in collecting payments. Rainy days are again no-garbage-pick days.

All in all, the ground realities have been exposed within 1.5 years. Now only time and tide will tell what the future holds...

Then & Now: Front Garden

Next in the 'Then & Now' series are shots from the front garden. 

Now

One of the first things that caught my eye when we came around house-hunting was the possibilities that this lovely patch of green opened up. We had a few trees to start with - papaya, curry leaf, and hibiscus. We added more right after moving in - harsingar/shiuli, togor or wax flower, champa, moringa, tecoma, and a sago palm that we rescued.

Though our gardener propped a brinjal bush at a totally inappropriate location, I'm not complaining because the plant gives good produce. But I did insist on clearing out the patio edging and planting season flowers instead. Also, the unusually dry desert-like climate makes it the right environment for lilies. Have planted quite a few; hope they flower well.

Then

Decidedly unplanned and unkempt, with just about anything growing anywhere, it certainly looked like a gardener's worst nightmare in a lot of ways. 

The lack of fencing meant the street dogs could saunter in whenever they pleased. And those clothes drying on the railings.... Eewwww!!! Still I had the courage to take a chance... and with help from the better half managed to turn the place around within an year.