namma mejura

With the ban on Jallikattu by Supreme Court and the subsequent lifting of it, Jallikattu is now a familiar name in media. And it is always associated with our city. So invariably Maduraiites living in other cities were asked by friends for their views about Jallikattu

Anyway, an ordinary Maduraiite is not that much familiar with Jallikattu. Many local lads (particularly the software guys hailing from Madurai) had seen Jallikattu only on TV.

I grew up near the outskirts of Madurai and had the opportunity to watch many Jallikattu (also called Manju-virattu) and Rekhla Race two decades ago. But I’ve never witnessed the famed Alanganallur Jallikattu in person. There were numerous Jallikattu events in every other villages around Madurai then.

The present form of Jallikattu is not enthusing. The rules were watered down, now you are a winner if you just hang on to the bull somehow for certain distance.

It’s not uncommon to see a dog lie crushed on arterial roads, particularly where high tonnage vehicles ply. When I see one while riding, my reaction would be to careful not to run over them and promptly forget it after crossing the point. If there is any road-side vendors nearby, they’ll arrange to drag the corpse out of the road (out of sight), otherwise it will lie there for hours.

When two German tourists to the city decided to care a dog with smashed hind legs in an accident and wailing for hours, it was indeed a sobering effect. The incident apparently happened in the busy East Masi Street, with numerous people passing through without noticing. (News item in Hindu)

The German girls who are clearly animal lovers, and have an interesting look on our way of life. They say, ‘Nowhere in the world, dogs and cattle move freely on the roads like here’. Was it a compliment? a defect? Should we be proud in this type of animal freedom?

The Goodshed street that is usually clogged with lorries off-loading sanitary & ceramic tiles has become a primary entrance to reach West Masi street from West Veli street.  It’s a welcome change which helps in relieving congestion.  To go with it, the usually quaint Sambandamoorthy street (opp. Ayyappan temple on west masi st.) is also made one-way in the opposite direction.

Another new one-way system has come up between South Masi street & South Avanimoola street, but the narrow roads with cycle traffic makes it look ineffective.

The technologists at Thiagarajar College of Engineering here has been testing various methods of road laying, using Vilacheri as their test area. I vaguely remember about testing with rubber. They have also tested using plastic waste.

Overall, it seems an ideal solution. The plastic wastes won’t degrade for decades & a problem in waste disposal. Using it on road seem a good idea. The roads should be there forever so non-degradable qualities are quite welcome. Dumping plastic waste literally on road is something we are naturally happy to do.

Now research details emerged favourably and they are extending the technique to a few areas (12 panchayats around Madurai). They plan to source plastic waste from the neighbourhood and use it on the road. A cost-effective solution to recycle waste plastic locally.

The Government seems to be favourable. But there are some discerning voices whether the usage will be safe (see Toxics Link site). Some of their questions like

If this a superior technology then why haven’t Western countries jumped into this bandwagon of using waste plastics in road laying

isn’t convincing.