A futuristic Bangalore?

Traffic planning, road widening and mass tree felling is all the rage in Bangalore nowadays. City officials have paid scant respect to environmental activist groups who have protested the destruction of the inner city’s green cover. There is good reason for this. Do you know that our city planners are extremely busy looking far ahead into the future and have some great plans in store?

Here is a rundown of some stupendous new projects on the anvil and the benefits they will bring

1. Improving passenger volumes on the Bangalore Metro:

High passenger usage is a key to any major Metro project. Namma Metro has been routed providentially along M G Road, Bangalore’s main artery. What could be better if large volume passenger traffic can be created to use the M G Road (Trinity) metro station?

To achieve this, we need to build many more steel and glass office towers nearby. An impossible task given the high land costs and congestion around M G Road. There is however a neat solution to this issue.

The government could undertake to drain and reclaim the historic and scenic Ulsoor Lake and build a vast number of offices there. Just a 10 minute walk from the M G Road Metro Station, this gigantic IT / BT Park will be a godsend to the Metro and will avoid thousands commuting to far off Whitefield or Electronic City.

Most of the city is a lake anyway during the rains, so why do we need a small one at Ulsoor?

2. Mega Traffic Project – Global First

We are now witnessing a major traffic project to widen Seshadri Road with scores of great raintrees already axed. This by the way is just an appetizer. Since this road is expected to get choked again in a few years’ time, this will give rise to an unprecedented project of widening this famous avenue (sorry, desert track) to sixteen lanes one-way. This is when Bangalore really overtakes Shanghai, Beijing and other such cities.

Very simply, this mega project will be carried out by taking over the Race Course and a few other minor buildings and colleges in the way. Now, a sixteen lane road must have cross roads of at least eight lanes and so, Kalidas Marg passing by the Old Jail will also be widened by bulldozing all the trees in this area which has the name Freedom Park. The new name after this project is completed will be "Freedom (from Oxygen) Park."

The designers of this project have an astoundingly clear vision of the global balance of gases. Those living near the Race Course and Seshadri Road will of course get an additional dose of Carbon Monoxide. With great foresight however, our city fathers shifted the jail to a large area outside the city. The prisoners there (may their tribe increase) have access to fresh and unpolluted air. Our city planners have upheld the universal principle: "One man’s Oxygen is another man’s Carbon Monoxide"

If you have any suggestions on how to improve traffic flow in Bangalore, please write in, but do make sure that each project is certain to get rid of those troublesome parks, trees, lakes and heritage buildings.

Comments:

  1. Dr Kadiyali M Srivatsa says:

    To improve traffic flow in Bangalore, please try and educate people who use them.
    I was shocked to see how young motor cyclists, autos and cars don’t give oportunity for people to cross roads.
    I initially thaught paedestrian crossing may help but noticed young, educated and children don’t seem to take any notice.
    Here in UK, young children are trained not to cross roads when the light stays red.
    Once people driving autos & cars don’t block access to roads and allow others to turn or overtake half the problem will be solved. People who walk must make the effort to walk up or down to a light signal insted of just crossing any where and every where, the other 50% of traffic jams will reduce.
    Widening or adding too many lanes will not make any difference unless people change. “A Dream unlikly”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Walkability and affordable transit ignored as elections focus on big projects in Mumbai

Political parties are harping on big-ticket projects, while hardly anyone is focusing on the city's lifelines — BEST and railways.

As the Maharashtra state elections get underway, the daily struggles of Mumbai's citizens, especially their commuting woes, seem to be overlooked in the electoral discourse. Political parties are focusing on massive infrastructure projects, sidelining the city's lifelines like the Railways and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking in favour of the Metro Rail. Despite being partially operational, the Metro has yet to make a significant impact. Surveys reveal that 52% of Mumbaikars walk to work, yet on many roads, pedestrian infrastructure remains neglected, encroached upon, and unusable. While traffic congestion has made commuting a nightmare, trains are perennially…

Similar Story

Explained: Key risk factors behind 60% of road crashes in our cities

Rampant overspeeding, incorrect helmet use and drink-driving are behind most road crashes, finds this study in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region.

Road crashes and related fatalities have surged in metros like Bengaluru and often human behaviour may be responsible for raising the risk of traffic accidents. Since 2021, the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JHUI) and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, have been conducting roadside observational studies in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region to assess human behaviour-related risks for road crashes. The ensuing report, 'Status Summary Report-Road Safety Risk Factors' highlights the prevalence of speeding, incorrect use of helmets, improper seat belt and child restraint use, and drink-driving. Dr Gautham M Sukumar,…