roads

Vittal Mallya Road was built about five years ago. When it was built, it was proposed as a higher order of design than the roads that BBMP usually builds. The difference consists of three key elements: a level and continuous footpath ducting of all utilities a concrete surface of uniform width Plus some nice things like better lighting, and a little vegetation. In Tender SURE, most of these became standard, and in BBMP we improved the design by re-doing the way the storm water drains are built. The road cost a lot of money to build. But it was a…

The road connecting Kanakpura road and BDA 80 feet ring road has been in a terrible state for years now. It has open manholes and the road is covered with potholes which are potentially fatal in nature. Open manholes dot the road. Pic: VK Srivatsa The pothole-ridden road. Pic: VK Srivatsa There are multiple instances of two-wheeler riders getting injured every day. If they try avoiding a pothole by swerving to the left or right, they could fall into one of the open manholes. And if they try to avoid the manhole, there is a good chance they can break their…

In October 2015, I had written an article on the absence of asphalted roads in Akshayanagar Layout, off Bannerghatta Road.  In the past 2.5 months, much work has happened on the Hulimavu-Begur stretch. The stretch of road, which previously looked like this...  ...has been tarred as seen below here. The entire Hulimavu-Begur road stretch till DLF New Town has been repaired and asphalted. Having said this, the Yelenahalli Road continues to remain a nightmare. (This picture was taken in November 2015) Along with complaints and concerns, it is also essential to highlight the positive action taken by local administration. Hoping…

We recently protested against, and stopped, an illegal meeting by the Bangalore Metro authorities, to ratify cutting trees in Reach 2. However, we can't protest all the time, and I recently found several large trees cut down on Bannerghatta Road. When will this tree-cutting mania stop in our city? Cutting the trees and widening the roads is a double whammy...we remove the beings that cleanse our air, and add motorized vehicles, each of which produces noxious fumes. It's been proved that widening of roads only causes more traffic to jam them in a downward spiral of destruction and pollution. When…

The adage says, "there's safety in numbers". But our Bangalore citizens seem to apply this out of context. Here's a photo I snapped on Sunday.  I wonder how many more people can ride on that two-wheeler, all without helmets....

Outer Ring Road traffic on a usual weekday. Picture Courtesy: Mayur Channagere   The ORR stretch from Ibblur to Marathahalli is home to Ecospace, Embassy Tech Village, Prestige Tech park and Cessna Business Park. In addition we have a world class hospital, scores of commercial buildings, offices and approximately 50,000 residential units (and still growing). Several lakh square feet of space, both residential and commercial, is under construction. The Sarjapur road, adjoining ORR, houses Wipro corporate office - currently 10,000 employees. A new Techpark sprawling on 65 acres is coming up in Carmelaram, near Decathlon Sarjapur road. Many more residential…

Whitefield. I know the very mention of that name is starting to remind people about all the things that are going wrong in that part of town. In my recent visits to that side too, I have been surprised by the degree to which the city has collapsed over there, and wondering what can be done to retrieve the situation. Rather than continue the litany of complaints, I thought I would put together the things that can be done to tackle the problem, initially focusing on roads and transport. A beeline of vehicles waiting on Varthur Main Road, near Kundalahalli…

The resilience of birds never ceases to amaze me. All around us, in the face of "development", I see so many birds which manage to adapt to urban life, and live amongst us. The crow, the kite, the myna, the pigeon... these are the common examples, as are cattle egrets and pond herons. But yesterday, at the busiest of places... the Silk Board junction, I saw these beautiful Red-rumped Swallows flying and perching on the wires! Long may our urban birds last!

I clicked this bus stop being constructed, and it seems like a good time to ask some pertinent questions. When there is so much space for advertising, why cannot BMTC (or BBMP if the bus stops belong to them) have two vital pieces of information prominently displayed; 1. The name of the bus stop, and 2. A list of the bus routes that stop there? Why does BMTC not give these essential pieces of information?

This is Akshayanagar Layout, situated off Bannerghatta Road (Note: Akshayanagar is also the name of another layout situated in Ramamurthy Nagar, Bangalore). Sandwiched between Hulimavu Lake on one side and Begur Lake on the other, Akshayanagar is an upcoming locality with several residential projects under construction currently. Owing to its proximity to Bannerghatta Road, Electronic City and Jigani, it is a much sort after locality by Bangalore’s techie population. Akshayanagar Layout can be accessed from Bannerghatta Road via the BDA 80 feet road (one of the many access points), which joins the Hulimavu-Begur Road, and further connects to the Yelenahalli…