Articles by Mukund Kumar

The infamous Outer Ring Road (ORR)-Sarjapura Road traffic chaos is something every Bengalurean knows of. Some of us living in the neighbourhood live through this every day. All thanks to the poor quality of both the road network and public transport services. Neither planners nor politicians have paid enough attention to this area to make it livable! Sarjapura Road is an integral connection to the IT corridor of south-east Bengaluru. Given that the Outer Ring Road (ORR) is almost fully developed, with a focus on tech parks, new residential projects are happening on or around Sarjapura Road, especially the sub-arterial…

Hosur Road and Sarjapura Road are two arterial roads, cutting across the important south-east suburbs of Bengaluru. Sarjapura Road has become strategically important over the last few years due to the exponential rise of the IT corridor on Outer Ring Road (ORR), which has propelled development on Sarjapura Road. This development has led to the consequence of traffic bottlenecks. At the crucial junction of these two roads is the junction of Hosur and Sarjapura Road at the St John’s hospital. This area is perennially congested due to the complexity of two adjacent traffic junctions: the Marigowda Road and Koramangala National…

BBMP is constructing an underpass at Sarjapura Road at Harlur Road junction, much against local residents’ objections. Despite numerous attempts to engage with BBMP, the authorities are insisting on going ahead with this project. This insistence is surprising even as BBMP itself has recently talked about rejecting underpass solutions. Announced in 2016-17, the project to construct an underpass on Sarjapura Road at Harlur Road Junction was estimated to cost Rs 23 crores. While the proposal was based on the situation back in 2016-17, the ground situation has changed now with traffic management measures being taken, as well as a post-pandemic…

Namma Metro construction on Outer Ring Road (ORR) is just starting. If the speed of execution on other lines is anything to go by, the next few years could very well be hell for residents living off ORR. But it need not be torturous. It is possible for the BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) to follow certain steps to ensure daily life is not inconvenienced while construction goes on. Unfortunately, we have no regulations or guidelines on how to execute civic projects without putting citizens through risk and pain. Here, though, are some pointers for BMRCL to consider and…

With construction of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) Metro line starting recently, there has been much discussion about traffic congestion on this stretch. BMRCL has clearly made this line a priority, and has signalled to the companies along ORR to continue encouraging work-from-home. We are also seeing an increase in traffic post-lockdown, as workplaces and institutions open up. Now is a good time to reflect on the overall plan for Iblur Junction, a major choke point along ORR. lblur junction is the intersection of two arterial roads - ORR and Sarjapur Road. An additional road, Iblur main road, forks out…

Legislators from the ruling Congress have submitted a petition in the Assembly to remove Upalokayukta Justice Adi, on charges of overstepping jurisdiction. Meanwhile a group of citizens have written to the Chief Minister opposing the move. The Assembly also admitted a motion to impeach Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao. Upalokayukta Justice Adi addressing the press at Kaikondrahalli lake that he visited in 2013. Respected Chief Minister Shri Siddharamaiah, We, the citizens of Bangalore request your kind attention and intervention in the case related to the motion initiated in the State Assembly to remove Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi. The Lokayukta is…

A couple of weeks ago, towards the end of October 2015, many concerned residents started observing raw sewage entering Ibbluru park at Sarjapura Road - ORR Ibbluru junction. It was not clear what was driving this. There had been unseasonal rains prior to this too, but it had not led to any adverse effects on the park. What triggered this destructive course of events? To understand it better, it is necessary to understand the chain of events that took place in the last five years. Local residents fondly recollect, seeing a beautiful quiet lake at Ibbluru up until 2009 -…

A decisive action was taken to restore encroached land by the officials of the Bengaluru Urban district. Dayananda, Tahsildar (Bangalore South taluk) must be commended for braving all obstacles in doing the job and restoring the encroached land on Ibblur lake bed. These officials must be given due credit that they stood the ground, followed the procedures and rescued illegally encroached land, sometimes bringing grave danger to their lives. Ibblur lake has 18 acres and 6 guntas per the certified survey records. Of that, a good chunk went to Outer Ring Road during the early 2000s. With real estate booming…

Ibblur lake is a small lake situated on Sarjapura ORR road junction, roughly 12 acres in its current state. In the beginning of 2013, local residents and RWAs came together and instituted Ibblur Lake Forum, an informal federation of RWAs and united in their goal of the restoration and rejuvenation of the lake. The lake has rotated jurisdiction a couple of times in recent times and is presently under the purview of the BDA. JCB clearing encroachment on Ibblur lake bed. Pic: Mukund Rao After much engagement by the community with the authorities, the BDA finally approved the fencing of…

Observe the stretch coming down on Sarjapura Outer Ring road from Agara going towards Ibblur Sarjapura/ ORR junction. As the road veers towards the left, you may have seen a beautiful serene lake a few years back. Now, all that is left to see is a bed of water hyacinth, with sewage incessantly flowing into the lake and heaps of garbage dumped into the lake. Ibblur kere is a sad story of neglect. Local residents recall a beautiful lake till 2009 with migratory birds visiting during the winter months. Then, it all changed. As the development in neighbouring Ambalipura and…