At the cost of being branded "biased", I have no hesitation in proclaiming Udaipur-The City of Lakes, my hometown, a paradise on earth. The reason is simple. From being a quaint sleepy tourist town, the city is fast becoming a buzzing tourist destination, a city that was proclaimed as one of the best cities to live in by the prestigious travel magazine Travel & Leisure. So, now I have big malls along with the local stores, wider roads and express highways. Multi-storied buildings that were once just the prerogative of the bigger cities have now started dotting the landscape of the lake city.
All around the talk is about "Growth" and people and policymakers alike seem to be only concerned about development and growth. To cater to the housing needs of the ever expanding population, the hills adjoining the city are being flattened. To provide people with better roads, the Aravali ranges are being blasted off and tunnels are being bored through them. Trees and the greenery are the primary victims of the "Development " of the city and the lush greenery within the city is eroding fast.
What is more alarming is that the local authorities in cahoots with the big real estate developers, have over the years, allowed constructions in areas which are fragile in nature. Innumerous, hotels and guest houses have come up near the lakes and many residential projects have been sanctioned, which has in turn resulted in the lakes getting polluted in the absence of proper sewerage disposal.
Udaipur's USP (Unique Selling Proposition) has always been its natural beauty and its lakes, if in the name of development, we create havoc with these two very distinct things, then the question whether we are actually on course for development or destruction, begs an answer, using the business lingo, ASAP!!
All around the talk is about "Growth" and people and policymakers alike seem to be only concerned about development and growth. To cater to the housing needs of the ever expanding population, the hills adjoining the city are being flattened. To provide people with better roads, the Aravali ranges are being blasted off and tunnels are being bored through them. Trees and the greenery are the primary victims of the "Development " of the city and the lush greenery within the city is eroding fast.
What is more alarming is that the local authorities in cahoots with the big real estate developers, have over the years, allowed constructions in areas which are fragile in nature. Innumerous, hotels and guest houses have come up near the lakes and many residential projects have been sanctioned, which has in turn resulted in the lakes getting polluted in the absence of proper sewerage disposal.
Udaipur's USP (Unique Selling Proposition) has always been its natural beauty and its lakes, if in the name of development, we create havoc with these two very distinct things, then the question whether we are actually on course for development or destruction, begs an answer, using the business lingo, ASAP!!
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