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METROSCAPE
Roar To Freedom
India's wildlife constabulary has been
showing its mettle. Thirty-one lions and one bear rescued from circuses
in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh arrived at a rescue centre at the Bannerghatta
National Park, 45 km from Bangalore, after an exhausting 2,300-km road
journey. The animals were carted in seven trucks from New Delhi with two
veterinarians and four animal keepers and will now give company to 14
lions and four bears already rescued from circuses in Karnataka.
According to the Bannerghatta National Park
Director G. Vidya Sagar, the lions looked healthy but a trifle tired.
Their arrival was befittingly ceremonial: a mantra-filled aarati done
by a priest specially called for the occasion. The priest avoided putting
tilak on the lions' foreheads, though.
-Stephen David
 SOCIAL
ART: To lend itself some necessary dignity, the exhibition
of "Page 3 Art" at Delhi's Grand Inter-Continental hotel claimed
inspiration from Dadaism, the irreverent art movement of the 1920s. Dadaism
here meant hundreds of photographs-I.K. Gujral extending a handshake to
an oblivious Sanjay and Amita Singh busy in namastes; Malini Ramani in
a halter-neck number with underwear on display-somewhat predictably installed
as collages on a wallpaper of society pages from newspapers and magazines.
The mysterious non-appearance of the Page Three People (barring a few
like Annie Thomas, below) was explained by curator Naresh Kapuria (below,
left): "Actually they arrived later-the timing of 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
was too early for them." Err ... if they did they must have met with
closed doors.
-Shuchi Sinha
SKY
BUS METRO
How Sky Bus Metro could
be Mumbai's gridlock solution
 What
is it? Think suspended cable trams. A transport solution where sky
bogies and coaches will hang from rail guides over regular roads while
small sky stations will allow access to them (above).
In Mumbai? Yes. Proposed by the Konkan
Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), the idea is that the project could
be executed in busy areas without disturbing the existing traffic pattern.
When will construction begin? Techno-feasibility
tests which began in late April are about to end. By end July, a definite
plan will be drawn as to fix a date when the project would begin. At the
moment only one route-Andheri to Ghatkopar (8.3 km) has been okayed. But
once this is functional KRCL maintains that establishing other routes
will be easy
Fare: Standard ticket rate of Rs 5 for
any length of travel for every entry. There will be smartcards sold at
10, 20, 50 and 100 units rechargeable at any station. On an average, a
commuter will travel at 45 kmph at 15 paise per km.
Advantages: No land acquisition problems
and no demolition of structures or gardens except at terminal points.
No dangers of being run over. And since it operates on electricity, no
air or noise pollution.
-Natasha Israni
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METRO TODAY
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