Power Transformers: Lurking Danger

Power outages at my house are rarely a quiet affair. They are often preceded by a loud thud from an electrical transformer located some 50 feet away from my flat. This squarish weather beaten, ageing and bulky metallic contraption perched on two rods on an electric post with numerous wires dangling around always exudes a sinister look. Sometimes from my balcony I do see sparks emanating from the transformer.

The condition of most transformers dotting the street corners and footpaths of the city is no different. Moreover, there is no protective fencing around most of them and these spots often degenerate into garbage dumping points. The fact that they are located overhead multiplies the element of surprise, with hapless pedestrians and motorists blissfully unaware of the dangers. Quite often on some footpaths one can also see hawkers selling their wares right below these transformers.

Electrical transformers are meant to transfer energy between circuits, switching energy from one voltage to another. But when flooded with too much electricity, the sudden surge can cause a transformer explosion. They do contain mineral oil to keeps the circuits cool, but during a spike in electricity the circuits fry and melt which often leads to sparks and sets the mineral oil aflame. A corroded or a faulty wire is enough to trigger a disaster.

The city had its fair share of electrocutions caused due to faulty transformers - the latest one being at Koramangala where a man sustained burn injuries and later died after a transformer explosion led to leakage of hot oil. He was riding a two-wheeler and happened to be near the transformer when the explosion took place. Quite a few times the matter have reached courts and the city's power supplier Bescom has been ticked off by judges for its cavalier attitude.

Despite High Court directive to shift these transformers from crowded footpaths and street corners little has been done and around 9,000 of them still lurk over pavements in various parts of the city. Some of them are located on footpaths adjoining roads that witness high traffic volumes during peak hours. Motorists are often forced to halt near them due to traffic jams, and they have to thank only their lucky stars for surviving unscathed.

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Underage Driving: Menace on Wheels

A scene near a junction in Koramangala: Three boys clad in school uniform on a scooter graze past a Volkswagen Vento resulting in scratches on the rear end of the car. The trio had a minor fall but they immediately get up and race away before the middle aged car driver could do anything other than come out of his vehicle and throw up his hands in helplessness. The school kids fled unmindful of their minor injuries because they had breached three traffic rules (a) Riding triple on a bike (b) None of them were wearing helmet and (c) The guy riding the bike probably was nowhere old enough to have a licence!

Though the above incident may be dismissed as a harmless prank by restless teenagers, but quite often the consequences are far more disastrous, often causing serious injuries and even deaths to the riders and pedestrians.

The presence of a vehicle at their home often works as a huge motivator to learn how to handle them, especially when it happens to be of their siblings. A beginning is made by fiddling with horn and then, in case of two-wheelers, sitting on it to check if their legs are long enough to touch the ground. Then they graduate to getting a hang of brake and gear. Nothing gives them a bigger kick to impress their friends by flaunting their driving skills.

In many cases the parents too encourage and even feel proud that their underage ward has become an 'expert' driver of a scooter or car and see it as a sign of being adventurous. They see in them something they couldn't accomplish while they were young, in those licence-permit raj days even a cycle was a luxury. For many affluent parents it is the guilt of not have much time for their children that motivates them to gift them two-wheelers to keep them happy or else to keep up with the neighbours. Some are conscientious enough not to let their wards use two-wheelers to school, but allow them to use it while going for tuition, in order beat poor bus connectivity, and save time.

However, these coming of age rides do go awry leading to accidents and the subsequent brush with law makes the whole picture messy as the law sees accidents caused by someone without licence as criminal offence and makes parents too responsible. They are also barred from claiming insurance.

For parents it’s a huge embarrassment to step into police stations and they use all their clout to avoid it. Then they move heaven and earth to keep their children out of juvenile homes. Hence in most cases when an underage driver gets involved in accident, he flees the scene and later an older person with driving licence shows up to claim responsibility, to dilute the offence - as it happened in the recent episode involving the scion of India's richest family in Mumbai. The same trick was unsuccessfully tried at an earlier accident involving a prominent realtor's son in Bangalore. This tendency to go to any extent to save their wards only encourages underage driving and then even graduates to dangerous stunts like wheelies and drag racing.

Another issue that gets hardly reported is that of cleaning boys taking over the wheels of trucks on highways or while driving water lorries and tractors within the city. Drivers, who may be either tired or drunk, happily hand over the wheels to these boys, who may be barely aware of concepts like licence, often with disastrous consequences.

The business of preventing underage brats from using vehicles rests mainly with parents, followed by the police and schools.

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Adding Zing to Nightlife

For the city's glitterati it was time for euphoria. They have been smarting under jibes from their counterparts in Mumbai and Delhi that Bangalore has no night life. The closing time of restaurants and bars at 11.30 pm was seen as too uptight. Now the government has decided to take baby steps towards extending the deadline to 1 am for eateries on all days and for bars on Fridays and Saturdays, though with a caveat of 'trial period' for three months.

The city youths and some advocacy groups drawn from the who is who of technology economy had all along felt that such early closing hours does not jell with a city of international repute. With general elections round the corner the netas feel tempted to toss crumbs to the electorate and what better way to woo first time voters than increasing party hours. However the guys who are actually smirking and hoping for a windfall are those from the liquor lobby.
 
The men in khaki were always seen as party poopers as they had all along been saying that the existing staff has been stretched to their limits and they badly need some fresh recruits. But they had to willy nilly fall in line after being assured the cold comfort of support from home guards.
 
However they are not the only ones opposing it. The message boards of various news reports on many web sites have a legion of naysayers saying that crime graph would spike. Those nostalgic about end of pensioner's paradise era in city felt it will only help rich 'outsiders' get sloshed and drive cars and motorcycles under the influence.
 
Many also point out that though it would be okay to keep bars open for longer hours at the central business districts, but those located in predominantly residential suburbs could make lives miserable for nearby residents. It would only mean loud music, eve teasing and alcohol fuelled wheelies and drag racing  in their neighbourhood.
 
But the advocates of extended nightlife counter that crowds out on roads well past midnight will provide the safety of numbers and crime will actually come down. Keeping bars open well past midnight will discourage binge drinking.
 
However amid this din of heavily polarised debate nobody is asking what actually constitutes night life? Is it just keeping bars and restaurants open? What about public transport system such as BMTC buses and Metros? Shouldn't they also ply till the closing hours of nightlife? In its present form the only people who can enjoy nightlife are those who have their own vehicle (preferably chauffeur driven as police alcometers will be working overtime) or can afford taxis and autos. For others the extension of nightlife has little meaning. Hence, the argument about safety of numbers rings hollow.
 
The reason why a city like Mumbai has a bustling nightlife and continues to be fairly safe is because its public transport system functions almost round the clock. The last suburban train from Churchgate and CST leaves at 1.45 am and then begins services for the next day by 4 am. Same is the case with its BEST buses. It not only provides the safety of numbers on the streets but dissuades auto and taxi drivers from charging a fortune.

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