spore

Pokemon’s car to rid India of traffic jams

Why is there so much hype surrounding the Tata Nano? I simply cannot understand it.

There is a lot of hype surrounding the Tata Nano because it is the cheapest car in the world. Not all the hype is because of this, of course. It has also received much publicity because of, as Jeremy Clarkson pointed out in an episode of Top Gear, its resemblance to the Pokémon Pikachu. It is, to date, the only car modelled on a Pokémon.

Pokémon fans are understandably thrilled, but it is not for them that Tata Motors has come out with the Nano. The Tata Nano, priced at only Rs 1 lakh, will make owning a car a possibility for millions of people in our country, and it is these millions that were kept in mind while designing the Nano. Now these millions no longer have to suffer the indignity of walking on Indian roads, the fatal dangers of cycling on Indian roads, or inhale the fragrant fumes of emissions while riding two-wheelers on

Indian roads. The Nano can offer them protection from all of these things.

Of course, as with every story, there are two sides to this one. Not everyone is thrilled about the release of the Nano. Some people believe the Nano will only bring more pollution and congestion to our roads. This is, of course, an absurd idea. Are these people trying to suggest that pollution and congestion could only be caused by the rich? Can’t the poor not have the pleasure of causing pollution and congestion for the even poorer to suffer? In any case, fears about pollution and congestion increasing are misplaced. Perhaps in the short-term there might be some additional smoke and lack of movement in traffic, but surely our concerned and responsive governments will step in at that time.

First, the governments will notice that, in the cities at least, traffic has been stationary for weeks. In order to fix this situation, they will go about widening the roads. Widening roads is, of course, no simple matter. Trees by the side of the road will have to go, as will pavements. But trees have a long history of being overrated (bananas grow on banana plants, not trees), and pavements in our cities are pretty much pointless. I mean, when was the last time you ever saw a pedestrian in India? Once the roads are widened, the problem of congestion is solved — there will be enough space for everyone to zip around in their Tata Nanos. Nobody will feel the effects of pollution, as they will all be inside their Tata Nanos with the windows rolled up. There will anyway be no pedestrians to feel the pollution, and all the cyclists will have to be removed since they are impeding traffic with their slow-moving eco-friendliness. Obviously no special provisions will be made for them, since they’re an annoying bunch. Tests have shown the Tata Nano is capable of crushing or knocking the average cyclist off the road.

Public transport will also be pointless, since everyone who was previously commuting by buses will now have a Tata Nano. All this goes to show that the Nano will only reduce congestion, not increase it! Of course, there is the minor issue of how people who can’t afford even the Nano will manage to move around. But I guess they can just sit at home, and nobody will know the difference.

Kaushik Viswanath

jinu venugopal

Nano definitly realizes the dreams of common people , but if they are able to sell the car in expected ways, it will be a big problem for Indian roads. just imagine a situation in which all motorbikes are removed by tata nano, isnt it gonna make congestion .
Government is making policies for infrastructure development, they converted 2lane to 4 lane and now thinking abt 6lanes, but how long is it possible to extend.
Think about our urban roads, most of them are congested and development of additional lanes are not possible because of structures in both sides .
in most of developed countries lot of research are going on in how to make public transport facility attractive to people.even in India researches are going on and some of them already started functioning like metrorails, monorails, brts etc.new buses with luxuary facilities are running in metros aiming at car users.this all are new attempts to make public transport more attractive .
Every people have the right to own a car, but if all the cars are entering the road in same time,it will make the roads stand still and gonna affect the development of entire nation.so i think public transport is the best suitable way of transport for daily users, except for recreational and other activities.