Saturday, May 30, 2009

A [Street] Light Post

i had written some time back about a slum that sprang up almost over a weekend, by illegally occupying some prime land that was under dispute.
the initial dwellings were very temporary, thatched units.
a few months after the initial 'invasion and occupation', a small fire broke out in one corner of this area.
this was probably an excuse for the residents to reconstruct more permanent structures.
now, one can see concrete, asbestos etc used for the small one- or two-room hutments.

thanks to the local politician / elected rep, this colony gets water supplied daily through tankers.

the latest development - that i noticed before the elections, and thought that it could be one of the election promises were electric poles along the narrow lanes.
you can see the line of these posts in the background - and the leaders pictures painted on the wall, representing the local 'association' affiliated to a party.
you can also see one of the water tanks, that is filled by the water tanker regularly.

i am watching this development which is now right next to a big hotel [multi-star, i assume] project.
that project had to reclaim some land that was used by another, smaller colony.
while most of those residents had taken some compensation and had vacated,a few stuck around, refusing to move and demanding a higher compensation.
a temple they had built acted as a shelter.
you can see the temple in the background.

another street light that had become a recent friend of mine is this:
this is a solar powered street light.
this picture may not be very impressive, but the shadow of the solar pane used to be my shade, while i waited for the company bus in the mornings.
the pickup spot did not have any other option for a shade and i would shift slowly with the sun - and if i waited for about 10 minutes, i would have moved a few feet at least, to keep the sun from my face, by 'hiding' under the shadow of the panel.

after the last serious post, hopefully this was a 'light' post!

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