Colony Makeover

 

Our current location has been getting some long-pending upgrades in the recent post-monsoon months. A repair and clearing of drains was a major exercise. Much needed but badly timed and executed. Followed by newly recarpeted roads.

The drains had not been properly cleaned by both the previous governments in over a decade, and the accumulation of filth was causing waterlogging in the monsoons. Moreover the sewage line was leaking into the water supply in places, and that was making matters worse. So the repair work was more than welcome but digging up half the colony in the middle of the festive season (read Durga Puja days) meant that the car was stuck and our movement was restricted. There was also unnecessary expenditure as parking ramps had to be rebuilt.

However, what was gratifying was how the recarpeting of colony roads was handled. Virtually overnight over a couple of weekends, the entire colony got brand new roads. No fuss, no mess. Just evenly laid and smoothly finished, as a well-executed project should be. No wonder that one ministry has changed how the country travels now. 

Brand new recarpeted roads with a brush of powder in the autumn sun

Timely announcements by the RWA ensured all cars were removed by the cut-off time. State-of-the-art machinery was brought in with minimal human involvement, only for monitoring the equipment. And the results were for all to see next morning... Now think back to our childhood days when all this was done manually. Every road took at least a week of work, and even then the tar would stick to our shoes whenever we walked on the newly remade roads. 

The excellent execution of this job genuinely brought a sense of pride, however small. Wish all government departments would function as efficiently making optimal use of the taxpayers' money. Time the largest democracy in the world deserves this!