I tossed in the towel on 28 March when I handed over our premises in South City-I to the new buyers, but the Samvada Editors still insisted on their pound of flesh one last cut …. pun in
tended.
This will be my last missive on matters pertaining to South City-I. No SCRWA update, just generic stuff. The Gaushala continues to flourish as the Colony awaits the announcement of the new liquor tenders. Unless the ‘daru ka dukaan’ moves, nothing else will and L Block will continue to be the ‘Losers’ Block’ and the South City-I Cribbers Inc weekly dose of green fodder. While on the Gaushala topic …. the cow haters must visit Sec 82 and see how beautifully strays are being utilized in community safety and service. Every morning at sunrise, the strays man all the key traffic turnings and roundabouts, leaving only at dusk. Their lackadaisical presence ensures NO over-speeding or accidents take place due to rash driving. Compared to them the South City-I gaushala herd is a useless fodder mulching bunch, confined to 2 L Block plots occupied by my good friend, ‘the invincible Kalu’. A SCRWA meeting with the Sect 82 Gaushala guy is a must …. To optimize resource utilization.
The beautification undertaken by some Blocks and hopefully being emulated by others had started before I left. Perhaps it was done in M Block from the sheer joy of seeing me leave. The Block has come up well. There is something big also happening on the Southcity-I environment front as I learnt on Earth Day. This will change the way residents live and think about the Colony …. and mind you … this will be something which will add pride and élan to the Colony besides increasing the land price value too. As Sai Baba said ‘shradha aur saburi’. Have faith and patience and watch out for some great news in June if not earlier.
Pretty hot, so let me add a few photos of the mangrove propagule plantation drive undertaken by some great environmentally aware citizens and students at Goa on 24 Apr between 5 pm to 6.30 pm. The Company I work with, planted this seed for community engagement to restore Goa’s mangroves last year and is a small supportive part of reviving the mangrove coastline, which is an environmental necessity in multiple ways to any coastline township, for both marine and man. Has to be low tide when you plant. This will be the second year and our success rate with this venture has been pretty good last year. It couldn’t be done on Earth Day as the low tide was around 4 a.m. and that was too early for the volunteers to reach the site. The positive side is that it gave 2 extra days to collect propagules.
With warm wishes for a cool summer. Beware of the new COVID strain, but don’t go overboard sealing your life unnecessarily.
by Col Anil Alagh (9312247284)
