Speedbreakers to Progress
P for Paschimbanga. P for potholes. Why not P for progress or P for pride in our achievements? But one thing is certain: P is for peculiar. Things that happen in Kolkata cannot be explained by any logical reasoning. The case in point are the so-called speedbreakers on strips that are passed off as roads. Driving on these roads are directly responsible for vehicle damage, manifold increase in fuel consumption and irrecoverable loss of precious time. A short journey of around 12 km takes more than half an hour which gives an average motorable speed of 24 km per hour. This too around 7:30 in the morning, much before the rush hour! Somehow it never occurs to our wise police department to speed the traffic up. They do not realize that the sooner each person reaches his or her destination, the lesser will be the number of cars moving on the streets. The situation has worsened to such an extent that it takes almost 45 minutes each way traveling for a 10-minute errand. And this is a best-c...