Alleged TOVP Design Flaws by Bima das
Following is an August 31, 2013 letter from Bhima das to Praghosa das and the Mayapur GBC's about reportedly serious design problems with the TOVP:
Dear Maharajas and Prabhus
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I need a reality check here regarding the TOVP. Is it true that the original architect Premnath was dropped from being the architect? Is it true that Premnath's replacement was a couple of ladies with less experience?
Is it true that there are serious design flaws in the construction? Are there design flaws in the TOVP regarding:
1. Structural load of the main dome i.e.
A. cannot support the load of the planned heavy chandelier
B. will not be able to support the planned Kailash
C. Will not support the architectural ribs, acoustic panels, electric cables etc.
Is it true that where the requirement for all of the above load is 450 kg per sq meter and 1200 kg per sq meter only 20 kg per sq meter has been provided for? Is it true that the theater for the planetarium has not been planned with proper support from beneath? Is it true that the original drawing of Premnath planned sufficient support and after he was removed the new team made a new drawing not taking into consideration the load of a slanting slab like that required for a large auditorium?
Is it true that the person claiming to be the chief architect of the TOVP has no formal training let alone experience in architecture? Is it true that the certain parts of the project were handed over for finishing over 18 months before? Is it true that for lack of a common sense plan the finishing work has not started and costs are escalating? Is it true that the idea of importing marble with the Rupee in free fall is still being considered?
As GBCs of Mayapur are you ultimately responsible for this project? Are you taking stock of the situation from persons who were never trained to handle such a huge project with so many variables? Considering all the questions above would it be a good idea to appoint an independent architectural firm to audit the situation?
I hope that I can wake me up from this nightmare and see the above is all a bad dream and that everything is "ok".
Ys Bhima das
Following is an August 31, 2013 letter from Bhima das to Praghosa das and the Mayapur GBC's about reportedly serious design problems with the TOVP:
Dear Maharajas and Prabhus
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I need a reality check here regarding the TOVP. Is it true that the original architect Premnath was dropped from being the architect? Is it true that Premnath's replacement was a couple of ladies with less experience?
Is it true that there are serious design flaws in the construction? Are there design flaws in the TOVP regarding:
1. Structural load of the main dome i.e.
A. cannot support the load of the planned heavy chandelier
B. will not be able to support the planned Kailash
C. Will not support the architectural ribs, acoustic panels, electric cables etc.
Is it true that where the requirement for all of the above load is 450 kg per sq meter and 1200 kg per sq meter only 20 kg per sq meter has been provided for? Is it true that the theater for the planetarium has not been planned with proper support from beneath? Is it true that the original drawing of Premnath planned sufficient support and after he was removed the new team made a new drawing not taking into consideration the load of a slanting slab like that required for a large auditorium?
Is it true that the person claiming to be the chief architect of the TOVP has no formal training let alone experience in architecture? Is it true that the certain parts of the project were handed over for finishing over 18 months before? Is it true that for lack of a common sense plan the finishing work has not started and costs are escalating? Is it true that the idea of importing marble with the Rupee in free fall is still being considered?
As GBCs of Mayapur are you ultimately responsible for this project? Are you taking stock of the situation from persons who were never trained to handle such a huge project with so many variables? Considering all the questions above would it be a good idea to appoint an independent architectural firm to audit the situation?
I hope that I can wake me up from this nightmare and see the above is all a bad dream and that everything is "ok".
Ys Bhima das
[PADA: This is amazing, the GBC gurus are spending maybe $20,000,000 ($20m) suing the ritviks, and now it turns out, they are cutting costs elsewhere by doing things on the cheap. The only factual "experts" they want, are lawyers, other areas do not need experts -- like the architects of a huge building?
Which, if it has structural design flaws, can collapse, and kill a lot of people in the process, since its such a huge structure? What about the safety of the people? Not so important, what they spare no expense on is -- having "expert" lawyers to sue the Vaishnavas. Buildings are not so important, only expert lawyers are important.
Of course they keep putting up the date of the TVOP building completion, "moving the goalposts." They said it would be done in 2008, then 2010, then 2014 and so on and so forth. Lets face it, the main goal of the GBC is to harass the Prabhupada devotees. And if their building collapses in a heap, they will say "so what, people got their karma," which is what they said when there was a big a child abuse problem going on under their "expert guidance," so what people are getting their karma? OK, so who authorized them to dish out karma to others? ys pd]
I visited my parents one day, and, being a pure devotee I had no desire to watch tv with them, but they decided to play Schindler's list. So in order to pacify them I sat down to watch. At one point during the movie a lady architect tells a Nazi the building they are constructing is being built wrong, if they do not do what she says it will ultimately collapse. She was a Jew as were all the people making the building.
ReplyDeleteSo the Nazi officer asks exactly what is wrong with the way the building is being done and then takes out his pistol and shoots her dead. Then he tells the next one in line, do it as she said. He did not care if she was right, she shouldn't have tried to correct him. That's the way it is with the GBC. They don't care if you are right or wrong as long as you don't try to correct them.
PADA: No prabhu, we never EVER said we should NOT employ meat eaters for certain jobs, such as building codes, architectural codes and so forth? That would be very silly for us to even suggest? Srila Prabhupada told us to hire a (karmi) accountant to fix our messed up book keeping in Amsterdam, because the books were totally out of whack. Srila Prabhupada said, hire an expert, and we did.
ReplyDeleteAnd he fixed the books, because he is an expert on that topic.
Why would we say, we do not need experts on making a huge building structure? We would never even dream of saying -- do not consult with the experts on such a project? That would be dangerous and foolish.
With such a huge building, you'd better make it right because in India buildings are already collapsing and killing people all the time, so we'd need to get our building done right or face a potential disaster. If our building collapses, then this would be all over the media and would look very bad, never mind people would be factually hurt.
That is why we are complaining that the GBC spends millions on lawyers and meanwhile they let some of their ISKCON buildings in the USA get out of government health and safety codes, let in cock roaches, bed bugs and sometimes rats, which is dangerous and foolish. They clearly have a policy that only their lawyers should live in marble mansions -- and Krishna, well maybe He should live in the ghetto.
That has been their policy almost all along. For example, some devotee fell over in the kitchen and got hurt because they failed to buy a $150 rubber mat. Meanwhile the GBC lawyers get $150 for two minutes of talking to the GBC gurus or their agents? So the GBC are mainly buying new Mercedes for their lawyers so their lawyers can go out and buy some chicken tikkas, and if the devotees are suffering, so what, that's great, that's their policy all along.
That has been our view all along.
Of course, in the USA you'd have to hire an expert to build anything, or they will not even let you build a bird house over here. That is because there are safety codes and regulations to save people from faulty construction.
We have said all along, we should work with the experts on these fields, and if there is no devotee expert then hire a karmi expert. When our car has a flat tire, we do not wait to find a devotee who can fix it? Are you saying you only allow a fixed up devotee to fix your flat tires, paint your house, fix your plumbing, repair your computer, give you medical treatment, fix your teeth, grow your food and so on?
Well most of the rest of us cannot afford that luxury, we have to hire whomever is available at that moment.
We just recently hired a "karmi" tire person from the tire repair shop, and he does the job in five minutes. And then we drive off -- knowing it was done right. Are you fixing your own tires? And if so, are you taking your medications too?
We have also said all along, it has been the "karmi" police, media and FBI etc. whom are the ONLY reason we were not whacked by the GBC goondas already. We never said meat eaters are not qualified to help us on all these types of issues, rather we said, in many cases they are the only people who are going to help us at all. We also said, our survival may depend on these people. What we have said all along is that the karmis have had this bogus GBC guru program figured out decades before most of the devotees, and they saved us from certain death in the hands of these bogus gurus programs, and we see these folks as the agents of Krishna, because Krishna, dwelling in their hearts, guided them to help us. Otherwise, we'd be dead a long time ago. ys pd
Actually this whole TVP is such a big external exercise and it is being pushed by the child molesters and supporters of the child molesters. True, ACBS asked for a planetarium to show the Vedic cosmology but that could have been done while he was still alive. This Iskcon Disneyland attraction is a symptom of a westerners approach to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, all bahiranga (external). The maintenance on these super structures will be so high that no one will have time for Hari Bhajan! But then did we ever have time for Hari Bhajan in Iskcon?
ReplyDeleteSuper structures like these are all the fad in the modern world, the amount of tourists going to old historical wonders of the world like the pyramids has dropped off, the big bucks in tourism these days is the man made wonders like these super structures.
But in Iskcon everything has meaning not necessarily spiritual meaning, This the legacy left by that group (child molesters and supporters) designed to sweep all other issues under the concrete of the TOVP, a project so big that jaws will drop when it is revealed (not mine it’s just steel and concrete). They think when they cut the ribbon on this baby all the bad bath water that has passed before will dissipate like rain through the cracks in the ground.
PD what’s all this “The MEAT EATERS”? Is it necessary to refer to them by what they eat? This shows you have no respect for anyone except followers of the Iskcon/GM tradition. Is it necessary on one hand to praise them that they are experts in their field and yet with the other hand back slap them across their faces and insult them? No wonder every outside of Iskcon hates Iskcon, and with your approach this will also be the same for the Prabhupadanugas. We are supposed to be on a spiritual path not a path of hate!
Just remember you were also probably a meat eater before you came across Iskcon, you probably came from a family of meat eaters, we shouldn’t be so proud to speak like this. Wouldn’t it be better to be a little humble and refer to them as people outside of the organization?
Krishna says in BG: 14.4 …ahaḿ bīja-pradaḥ pitā
ACBS PP “In this verse it is clearly explained that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the original father of all living entities.”
So even they the people outside of Iskcon or GV are also the sons and daughters of Krishna, we should not be disrespectful to anyone.
Ys jsr!
Tower of Babel, yes, they think their big building will take them back to God, while they mistreated all the devotees. Now it seems they will also not have the big building either, they will have nothing.
ReplyDelete