close to u.r.ananthamurthy's valid outbursts against the energy guzzling malls of bangalore, there was another unrelated story that shows how malls in maharastra are asked to pay more for the electricity they use.

this is a pleasant and welcome surprise. malls, glass walled energy sucking software companies, huge industrial offices that don't allow an iota of light or air inside their rooms, government departments that are pitch dark even in mid afternoon when sun outside hits you at 100 degrees, mysore palace that wastes electricity every night by using the old lightning system of bulbs, etc - all need to be taxed more.

by taxing more, these luxury components will make a habit of saving electricity. not only that the energy authorities should step back and slap a separate building energy tax for buildings that are not built with green standards (standards like LEED or common sense green standards).

kishore biyani the multi crore mall entrepreneur sounds funny when he says and i quote "So this is the public space that people come to in their spare time to meet others and have a good relaxing time"

and precisely this 'relaxation' is screwing up our forests, rivers, coastal regions, etc to pump more energy. more energy for leading a fancy, unsustainable life - called relaxing by the CEO though.

let us be clear. with pollution, global warning, slamming of ecosystems and their people the rule of the game has changed. if you want to guzzle energy in care free manner you should be prepared to pay 100% more taxes. if you want to save money, you can always go green and not only save money but also save our ecosystems.
(kishore biyani's pantaloon 'relaxation' mall. 'relaxation' for urban rich means destruction for our ecosystems on which millions of poor people live. when will ceo's like kishore realise that doing business green not only means 'sustainable relaxation', but also saves money and protects our fragile and abused ecosystem)