Sunday, February 15, 2009

Grand trunk railroad

Smile Du Jour
News from India

In among all the serious news from India (from anywhere, really), is this front-page bit from Times of India. This is one of the things I love about India. Sometimes, like most superpowers, they just plow ahead with progress and let nature go to hell. But there is enough combination of sentiment and common sense to come up with this kind of solution when nature meets expansion.
Patna-Gaya Highway
Not nearly often enough....but I take encouragement where I can get it.

TOI: Call it a Grand Trunk Road. The National Highways Authority of India says it will build the world’s first flyover corridors for elephants over the highway and railway line that cut through Rajaji National Park to link major pilgrim towns of Hardwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. ...The passes would be covered in foliage resembling natural environment. 

Related reading: 
The Elephant Dancer: A Story of Ancient India (Read-It! Chapter Books) 
Right of Passage; Elephant Corridors of India (Conservation Reference Series, No. 3) 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's lovely to see a firangi :) enjoying the various tastes of India, and bringing in a unique perspective, that we as Indians might oversee at times.

Hey you know more languages than I do! That's cool :) I've always wanted to learn Sanskrit, but after missing one golden opportunity when I was living down south, I can't seem to find another. Self-learning Sanskrit is not my cup of tea..

You can speak Malayalam??! Can you say 'mazha', 'puzha' and 'pazham' properly? Oh yeah... I'm a Malayalee :)

I like your blog, and shall keep track :)