I am a big fan of pedestrian day, not because I live in campus but because it time we slow down and think before we reach a time we have never anticipated. I have other reasons in loving this initiative which was reflected in a post last week:
Friendly Road for Walking. While I was writing that piece I was only worry about the sun, as was the weather in Wangdue all the while, and totally ignored the rain.
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Get Out in the Rain. Source: Kuensel |
Today I see a Kuensel report of Pedestrian Day in Gelephu by Dawa Gyelmo, and though the report reads bright the picture along with the report tell another story. It was raining on Tuesday (of all the days) and people are expected to walk their way to schools and office anyway. Shouldn't we consider this? While umbrella will cover the head and body, who will take care of the wet shoes? We can't control the rain but there are things we could.
Another things to consider is- are the monitoring authorities ready yet? Considering the cases in Wangdue I think officials themselves need to understand what they are to do and where to do it. My brother was heading for Thimphu yesterday and he really had to convince people to let him go, and one of them told him that it's not allowed at all, since Thimphu is observing the day as well. Look who is talking!
And one last thing that didn't do justice to the divine intention of the pedestrian day is allowing taxis to do their business. This idea is attracting taxis from other dzongkhags to join the feast in Thimphu. And so many taxis in the town is more than enough to nullify the whole idea of reducing whatever...
Pedestrian day is a great initiative however I was also wondering along the same line with regard to taxis...My opinion is that rule should apply for all regardless of the types of vehicles...
ReplyDeletegreat initiative towards green planet. However there are always a darker side of the moon. I like the idea. :)
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