Last May, the common Bangalorean voted for a change in the hope that this would be a change for the better. Basic needs such as commutable roads and better civic amenities are turning into luxuries for people living in Bangalore. Even after four months, the new administration is unable to make any real progress. Nothing has changed.

While we painfully negotiate and move from gutter to gutter, all the while suffering bumpy rides, life-size posters of political leaders smile at us, ridiculing our plight. Previously, the poster boys were all from the rank and file of the BJP. Now it’s Congress’ turn. That is the only visible change that one notices in and around Bangalore.

A ride from Hennur to Mahadevpura was just a matter of 20 – 30 minutes; now it takes an hour and a half to two hours. The only reason for this is the bad state of the roads.

Who is accountable for the lost man hours, the foreign exchange for wasted fuel and the inferior quality of life of the common man?

BBMP has upgraded to superior technology; now piles of rubble are being used to repair roads instead of the conventional bitumen. In my childhood it used to be the other way around. What a paradox! IT companies in Bangalore enable the rest of the world using technology and no one enables the poor Bangalorean.

Slow moving traffic at NGEF on Outer Ring Road now builds up all the way to Tin Factory. An important fact one has to note is that this traffic build up is not due to high traffic density but because it is a bad stretch of road.

Official apathy continues and the common man spends most of his time on the road navigating potholes. When will the Bangalorean wake up and demand his due share?