Not this black hole!
It is quite probable that one may stumble upon a friend when on their way, but this gentleman stumbled upon a hole in a pavement on a Saturday evening.
Daily users of this footpath, like this SJ team member, are aware of this treacherous hole at one point of the footpath next to the state highway near the basketball ground in Jhalupara. But scores of people still find their foot sucked in any given day after the sun sets.
On Saturday however, this SJ team member found a man bent down while putting on his shoe just a foot away from where the hole was. Being a Good Samaritan that he was, he cautions about the hole there, while wiping the dirt off his shoe. “Watch out! There’s a hole, my leg got stuck there, and now my shoe is dirty too,” he said while shaking his head from side to side.
He complained about a whole bunch of things that could’ve been in the right place, but they weren’t.
He was nonetheless unscathed, since that is a concern, but the frustration in his voice was so overwhelming that passersby were also drawn to the scene. All casually conversed, some hurled suggestions while others criticism, but eventually they left for their respective destinations; the road became secluded again and the hole waited for its next victim.
This stretch of road is pitch black, no streetlights as well, or if there were any, they did not work on that day. Apart from the sporadic illumination by the headlights of vehicles that ply on the road, there is nothing to light the way; one is almost coerced into carrying a flashlight, especially after seeing the state of that poor man.
The footpath definitely needs repair but what pedestrians most certainly need is caution.
The “secret affair”
This is an affair that has got everyone in the city talking. But it’s not a new thing. It has been going on for some years now. How it came about is a mystery and how it is going to play out is, at best, a wild guess for now.
Before you start wondering about the main protagonists of the affair, let us shed some light on the same.
We are talking about the strange relationship between rainfall and power cuts. Have you, the readers, ever wondered about it? Why does it happen? Why are we facing power cuts for hours in this age and time? What is the remedy?
The answers to the above questions are hard to find. We do know about the terminal illnesses afflicting the MeECL but will there be an end to all this, ever?
The first downpour of the season greeted us last week and power cuts happened almost simultaneously. The power cuts go on for hours and residents are left wondering when the supply will resume.
Power cuts happen at any time of the day or night leaving one exasperated.
The examination season is not yet over and students are at the receiving end. Mothers at home, office goers and businesses dependent on power supply are left at the mercy of the MeECL.
The SJ team hopes that the Corporation would care to throw some light on this major crisis affecting our lives on a daily basis.