About Me

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Hi, this is somebody who has taken the quieter by-lane to be happy. The hustle and bustle of the big, booming main street was too intimidating. Passing through the quieter by-lane I intend to reach a solitary path, laid out just for me, to reach my destiny, to be happy primarily, and enjoy the fruits of being happy. (www.sandeepdahiya.com)

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Last nail in the coffin of scrub forest in Haryana

SC directive to Haryana Govt

Well Haryana is a small state. But the fact that it has the lowest forest cover in the country at 3.59% makes it really sound miserable. But as a silverlining to the hopes of development enthusiasts, it surrounds Delhi NCR and that is where the planners find scope of development. Politicians in India basically keep their financial spines sound primarily by managing real estate, mining and quarrying through their cronies. Haryana is no exception. With Delhi NCR getting over-bloated, Haryana politicians have always eyed construction scope in Guruguram and Faridabad. Nothing wrong with that. But the simple fact that this area covers Aravali scrub land, which is the last bulwark against total desertification of Delhi NCR, makes it really worrisome, especially given the fact that Delhi already is an intolerable torture chamber for residents due to pollution. 
Haryana govts, despite the SC directive of 1996, have not notified forest land in its territory falling in the NCR. They eye the mullah by keeping a scope for construction by clearing the semi-wilderness of the scrub forest in the area. Already a lot of it has been destroyed through illegal mining. The recent Haryana govt legislation allows the illegality to be carried out in open which till now has been carried out through dubious means. It also leaves the heavenly slice of little patch of Shivalik hills in Panchkula, having exotic species of trees and birds, for quarrying and hotel industry. Greed for money has no softer consideration for mother nature. I wonder will the reprimand by the Supreme Court be sufficient to stop Haryana politicians from raping the last remnants of scrub forest in the state?     

Joseph K. and Me

"if you have the right eye for these things, you can see that the accused men are often attractive. It's a remarkable phenomenon, almost a natural law.... accused men are always the most attractive." __Trial by Franz Kafka.
Well, at long last I find reason for my peculiar attractiveness. Ha ha. I also stand accused by state vigilance commission under Hooda govt. My crime. Actually I had cracked Haryana PCS to get selected as a subdivision magistrate. Hooda got gastric ulcer over my tiny feat. So there he orders an inquiry. They scanned my answer sheets. Lo, there they found the proof of my crime. It was an expert catch. In one of the answers, the evaluator had changed marking from 2 to 4 with his initials authenticating the change of mind. Now 15 years down the line, having lost the fruit of my 10 years of study, I still wonder how come I stand accused for evaluator's change of mind, and especially when this adding of 2 marks doesn't effect my selection in any way because even with 2 marks less I still get into the selection list. So guys, there starts the Trial protagonist Joseph K. type futile struggle. Judges won't understand the rocket science. But then my take away is Kafka's accused protagonist type attractiveness..and I like it. And equipped with my accused attractiveness, I sometimes ponder over to find out reasons how come I got only 37% marks in IAS interview even after scoring 54% in mains written because with this type of score one can easily be among the toppers. And I also remember how come one PCS BOARD gave me only 36% in interview after I had scored 55% in written mains which again is a top-worthy score. So guys here I stand like Joseph K when he was executed with final words on his lips, "like a dog!"...heee heee. Am I that bad, I sometimes think. Or to rephrase, am I too good for the system? This second option gives more solace, because it provides a sort of self-driven poetic justice. Well, to survive in this world one has to have grey shades. Not that I don't have mine. Possibly they couldn't spot it. In any case, system's loss, not mine. Hee heee. Again I derive sadistic pleasure with this thought.