గణనాథుల యందు ఈ గణనాథుల తీరే వేరయా... సర్వ విఘ్న హరం దేవం... సర్వ కార్య ఫలప్రదం... సర్వసిద్ధి ప్రధాత.. వందేహం గణనాయకం... ఇలా చాలామంది శ్లోకాలతో బొజ్జ గణపయ్య ప్రార్థనలు చేస్తూ... విభిన్న రూపాల్లో ఆయన విగ్రహాలు ఏర్పాటు చేస్తూ.. భక్తిశ్రద్ధలు చాటుకుంటున్నారు కొందరు. స్వాతంత్ర్యానికి పూర్వం నుంచి విజ్ఞనాథున్ని కొలుస్తున్న అనేక చారిత్రక మండపాలు నేటికీ అదే ఉత్సాహంతో కొనసాగుతున్నాయి.
జంటనగరాల్లో అపార్టుమెంట్ల సంస్కృతి పెరిగిపోవటం వల్ల మండపాల సంఖ్య కూడా పెరుగుతూ వస్తోంది. ఈ ఏడాది మరింత పెరిగినట్లు ఉత్సవ సమితి అంచనా. పాతిక, ముప్పై ఏళ్లుగా వినాయక నవరాత్రులు నిర్వహిస్తున్న భక్త సమాజాల సంఖ్యకు హైదరాబాద్లో కొదువలేదు. వాడవాడాలా చాలాచోట్ల వీధికి మూడు నుంచి ఐదు వరకు విగ్రహాలను ఏర్పాటు చేశారు.
విభిన్న ఆకృతుల్లో గణనాథులు
బేగంబజార్, మహారాజ్ గంజ్, న్యూ ఉస్మాన్ గంజ్, గన్ ఫౌండ్రి తదితర ప్రాంతాలలో ఫైలావన్ గణపతి, మూషిక వాహన గణపతి, గజవాహన గణపతి, మయూరంపై గణపతి, హన్మాన్పై గణపతి, శివ పార్వతుల మద్య కూర్చున్న గణపతులు కొలువుదీరారు. తిరుమల బాలజీ, నర్సింహాస్వామి సెట్టింహగుతో కూడిన గణపతి, ఐదు నాగసర్పాలపై తాండవం చేస్తున్న శ్రీకృష్ణుడు, రాంమందిర్ సెట్టింగ్తో కూడిన గణపతి, శంకరుడు తాండవం చేస్తున్న ఇలా అనేక రూపాల్లో స్వామి ప్రతిమలను ఆకట్టుకునేలా తీర్చిదిద్దారు.
గణపతిని ఏ రూపంలో పూజించినా.. ప్రసన్నుడవుతాడని... భక్తుల నమ్మకం. ఆ విశ్వాసంతోనే ఆధునిక, శాస్త్ర సాంకేతిక అంశాలను కూడా జోడించి గణపతి ప్రతిమల్ని తయారు చేస్తున్నట్లు భక్తులు, నిర్వాహకులు చెబుతున్నారు.
12వరకు ప్రదర్శన:
విభిన్న ప్రత్యేకతలతో అలరించే గణపతి విగ్రహాలు ఓ వైపు కాగా.. మండపాలకు విద్యుత్తుదీపాల అలంకరణలు మరోవైపు ఆకట్టుకుంటున్నాయి. దర్శనానికి వచ్చే భక్తులను అలరింపజేసేందుకు సాంస్కృతిక కార్యక్రమాలు విస్తృతంగా ఏర్పాటు చేస్తున్నారు. నవరాత్రి ఉత్సవాలు ప్రతిచోటా పెద్దసంఖ్యలో భక్తులు రావడం వల్ల సందడిగా సాగుతున్నాయి. ఈ నెల 12న నిమజ్జనం వరకు విభిన్న రూపాల్లో గణపతులను దర్శించుకునే అవకాశం లభిస్తుంది.
ఇవీ చూడండి: హిమాచల్‌ప్రదేశ్ 27వ గవర్నర్‌గా బాధ్యతలు చేపట్టిన దత్తాత్రేయ
Intro:Body:
CAN IMPOSING MORE FINE FOR TRAFFIC VIOLATION BRING ROAD SAFETY ?
India has the dubious distinction of being the world number one in road crash deaths. Every year nearly 1.5 lakh people are killed in road crashes and another 5 lakh are severely injured, many of them disabled for life. The government wants to put India on safer road with landmark Motor Vehicles Bill (Amendment) 2019 to reverse the reputation as the world’s single largest contributor to road accidents. It is to be noted that India overtook China in 2006 as the country with the world’s deadliest roads. The road accident fatalities jumped 54 % in the decade to 2015 in tandem with a sharp increase in the number of vehicles on Indian roads and rapid urbanization and expansion of the road network.
With the new law, the government through stringent rules wants to bring a change in the road behavior of vehicle drivers to improve the road safety. It also envisages highest penalties for drunk driving and imprisonment and or penalty for non-compliance with production standards of vehicles for vehicle makers. The new law enabled higher penalty for offences such as driving without a license, speeding, dangerous driving, drunk driving and for vehicles plying without a permit. Additionally, those who do not give way to an ambulance or fire brigade may have to face a hefty fine of as much as₹10,000 and/or imprisonment up to six months. The fine for not fixing seat belt increased from Rs 100 to Rs 1000, helmet less driving from Rs 100 to Rs 1000 and also disqualification for 3 months, speeding/ racing from Rs 500 to Rs 5000 etc.
Though the new initiatives under the new law may bring a change, the people in social media are abuzz against the steep increase in penalties for traffic violations. The suggestions are pouring asking the government to study the successful road safety models adopted in other countries. The many defects in road engineering and faulty upkeep of national and state highways, have been found to be one of the major cause for road accidents. But, never ever, the concerned agencies responsible for accidents by road defects, held responsible. Neither the government nor the construction companies or the private sub-contractors, which lay the road or engaged in maintenance have faced the legal liability.
An uncorrected defects on the prime highways is leading to many thousands of fatal deaths and injuries of road users. Though it was the responsibility of the agency that lays the road and overseas its maintenance, they hardly focus on correcting the defects like huge potholes, missing traffic signs, malfunctioning of traffic lights, inadequate lighting, excessive grades and fallen branches or debris on highways. Any of these defects can cause a driver to lose control of a vehicle.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari too admitted that the improper road engineering is responsible for road accidents and it is wrong to blame drivers alone. In this regard, the Highways Ministry had identified 786 fatal spots with improper road engineering, which are proving to be death zones. The ministry has already cleared Rs 14500 crore on safeguarding these fatal spots which are vulnerable to road accidents. It is imperative for the state and central government to rectify their road engineering and identify all those danger zones on state and central highways.
Fixing accountability: The government also realized that not all road accidents happen due to negligence of the driver, many are caused by other factors. Though the new law failed to look into all the factors that are leading to accidents, to some extent, it seeks to fix the liability of contractors for faulty road designs. If the contractors or authorities fail to follow prescribed road designs and standards, and their failure results in injury or death of a person, they will be held responsible for the same. No such provision existed earlier.
Brasilia Declaration : India is a signatory to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, which is well known as Brasilia Declaration, where the country made a commitment to reduce road crash deaths by 50% by 2020. It is to be noted that the statistics reveal that India accounts for more than 11 percent of global road accident fatalities. The 2020 deadline is fast approaching, and India is nowhere close to meeting the target. In order to save lives, India must urgently update and modernize its road safety infrastructure besides implementing the new law. India is witnessing one of the highest growth rates of vehicles in the world and rapid urbanization over the years. It is even more disconcerting to know the road accidental deaths of young people in the productive age group, causing substantial loss of productivity to the nation. The UN has announced 2011-2020 as the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’ with an aim to reduce fatalities by 50 per cent. Five pillars have been identified by the UN to achieve this target - road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer road users, post-crash response, and safer vehicles. India too needs to focus on all these points instead adopting few measures like increasing the penalty to reach the target of reducing the accidents by half.
FOCUS: The experts in road safety suggest that the government should focus on top three challenges to bring a change.
- Education & Awareness: Lack of safety awareness among people – helmet and seatbelt usage, over-speeding, improper overtaking, rash and negligent driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, non-adherence to the traffic rules, driving in the wrong lanes, overloading of trucks, transporting people in trucks, overload of people in auto rickshaws, illegal modification of the vehicle by adding extra attachments, such as bull bar, bumper guard, etc.
- Infrastructure: Poor and unscientifically designed roads - parameters like visibility, alignment of intersection of roads, removal of blind spots, clear marking and road sign warnings as per the standards
- Vehicle: Non-usage of proper safety standards like airbags, antilock braking system ABS, electronic stability control etc. Eighty per cent of cars on Indian roads does not meet safety regulations and all these cars are zero star rated (as published by Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) results).
Role of Technology in Reducing the Risk of Accidents and Improving Road Safety
- Electronic Stability Program (ESP): The research by Bosch highlights that the installation of ESP can avoid around 70 per cent of all skidding accidents on highways in India. ESP saved many lives in Europe since its introduction. In India, approximate 140,000 fatalities, accidents arising due to loss of control is estimated to be nearly 12 per cent.
- Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS): The Bosch accident research findings suffested that 20 per cent of all passenger car accidents with casualties on highways could have been avoided with ABS. The ABS for powered two-wheeler (PTW ABS) could have helped prevent 33 per cent of rural accidents involving motorcycles.
INDIA SHOULD FOLLOW SINGAPORE AND SWEDEN MODELS : The small island city-state Singapore, with highest density of vehicles and high population per sq km, has strictly introduced car safety features like lane keep assist, pedestrian avoidance and collision warning systems, besides automatic braking systems and alarm systems. This led to a decline in accident frequency and severity. Singapore is also doing its part in creating awareness about pedestrian safety, drink driving and motorcycle accidents and conducting practical driving lessons to get the desired results.
Now, entire Europe is following the Swedish model of Vision Zero adopted in 1997. It turned the traditional view of road safety work upside down. Instead of focussing on accident prevention in general, Vision Zero “puts people first” Statistics do also show it. Now, the Swedish roads are among the safest in Europe. Roads in Sweden are built to prioritise safety over speed or convenience. Low urban speed limits, pedestrian zones and barriers that separate cars from bicycles and oncoming traffic have helped to reduce road mishaps. India should also focus on prioritizing the road safety than counting and claiming over number of kilometers of new road built in a day or a year.
- Saibewar Neeraj Kumar
The following can be taken in a BOX
Note: If the story is long, it can be ignored
India could gain Rs 18 lakh crore by cutting road deaths : Reducing road fatalities by half in India and keeping it at the same level till 2038 could generate additional national income of about Rs 17.64 lakh crore, according to a study conducted by the World Bank and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The erstwhile Planning Commission had also projected 3 per cent loss of GDP as the cost of road crashes. More than 60 per cent of people killed on roads in India in 2016 were in the age group of 18 to 45 years, which is the most productive age group. The world bank study shows that by reducing road traffic mortality and improving the road infrastructure conditions by 50 per cent and sustaining it till 2038 could generate an additional flow of income equivalent 14 per cent GDP in India. This puts into perspective the magnitude of economic benefits that the country can realize with sustained action if they were to achieve the UN targets on road safety, The estimates have been calculated based on the effects of road traffic death rates and disability metrics on income growth.
Conclusion:
