God Save Bhubaneswar And Its World-Class Dreams

Hello Bhubaneswar!

The Master Canteen roundabout is gone, replaced by concrete plazas.

For the first time since my birth, I had to wait on a bicycle to cross the road, as earlier it was just a roundabout.

Perhaps this shows how far wise men are involved in the Smart City.

I have no idea whether such spaces are created for community frying pan to have omelettes in summer, feel like London by feeding birds, inhale polluted air seating on a bench or put some pots with ornamental flowers, etc.

Even though I am not in favour of roundabout destructions, I will advise plantation of huge canopy trees like banyan etc. so that it won’t just reduce temperature, but also provide a shed to the traffic waiting for green light.

Those born post millennium won’t ever know how close people were to the power corridor of Odisha. They won’t understand how their ancestors were once able to walk between the State Secretariat, now called Lok Seba Bhavan, and State Assembly, and the road behind State Assembly. The circular walk would make one feel close to being inside temples of democracy in those few kilometres in the morning, evening or afternoon.

The adventure of making Bhubaneswar look like a cosmopolitan city out of its Temple City is certainly not what modern urban planning is all about.

Odisha and Bhubaneswar have had a complicated history, and they are going through difficult times of dealing with poverty and the rich.

For Bhubaneswar, it has been a roller-coaster ride since 1948, some sort of ‘paradise’ for the retired and nearly everybody made good money and live well.

In 1999, the capital city of Odisha became a ‘ghost city’, post Super Cyclone.

Yet I said then India’s dream neighbourhood would come from Bhubaneswar, what was imagined in 1948 for the city.

There is a saying the Dutch car fatality rate was once higher than that of America, but now it’s one-third of it. It’s been made possible due to the fact that street design is more important than speed limit.

If Master Canteen Square looked ugly then, it was due to negligence of the authorities. In fear of losing votes, they did not manage encroachers around it, the vandalism created by notorious alcoholic people, the railways passengers who used parks as public toilet and some who broke ornamental lights inside the park’s open bar and brothel.

How did the idea of breaking down parks and roundabout come up for discussion?

The answer could be real estate, which is important nowadays for urban planners and city decision makers.

With a Smart City in the making, authorities who at first attempt couldn’t get the entire roundabout removed have a plan to reduce the size. Don’t know how much Smart City employees, consultants, advisors understand Bhubaneswar, but they are smart enough to convince our political as well as bureaucratic leadership to achieve their goals.

But the emotions Bhubaneswar attached to this square would be little understood by an outsider who has not grown up in this beautiful city that turned 75 today.

Those hoping for uninterrupted shopping, pandal hopping, dining out or enjoying the immersion of Devi Durga like a carnival on the streets and Master canteen roundabout, just don’t get surprised.

Still don’t understand why the ruined structure is standing tall in between those making their dream of highway inside city to facilitate more automobile and concrete culture.

Interestingly, the horse-shaped state emblem made of rock is not a heritage or something that the city should celebrate. It’s rather a piece that survived the tsunami and now left for next generations to explore how their Bhubaneswar was.

“When you have a big, wide, straight road in the middle of the city, you’re going to drive faster,” is their logic.

That’s where you invite trouble for your seniors, youths, women, children, school children etc.

The sad story is that Bhubaneswar is neither respecting its own urban planning, nor jumping into fully American or European-based city planning. Rather, it’s venturing into somewhat damaging the city.

No one has been able to save roundabouts in the last 20 years of world-class journey of Bhubaneswar. So will the next massacre take place at Governor House Square and Gopabaandhu Chaka, the last two remaining roundabouts?

Reducing the size of roundabout is meaningless without keeping those parks and the stories that are associated with it, like the fountains.

God save Bhubaneswar and its world-class dreams.