traffic

On June 29th, hundreds of JP Nagar residents took part in a peace walk from MLR Convention Centre to Nandini Junction along 24th Main road. Our walk was against the illegal commercialisation and bad traffic planning along this stretch. Over 15,000 residents live around this 1.8 km-long stretch of 24th Main road. Thousands of commuters use it as well, but they take as much as 40-45 minutes to traverse it on a regular day. The reason is the unethical commercialisation of the area, which has led to infrastructure breakdown and deterioration of the neighbourhood. As per the Revised Master Plan (RMP…

“We began the tourist season on a happy note, mid-way we crumbled,” says Anup Thakur, President Manali Hoteliers Association. “Highways got choked, the 40-45 km Kullu–Manali road turned into a nightmare, while the administration slept through it all”. Unprecedented summer heat in the northern plains saw tourists flocking to Shimla, British India’s winter capital, in search of a cooler haven. The other popular tourist destination, Kullu-Manali, with its scenic drive to the 13059-feet high Rohtang Pass got crowded too. And while the rush was a boon for hoteliers and the state’s tourism industry, for visitors and locals alike, it proved…

Work begins on Vellara Jn-Pottery Town Metro line Work on the 5.63-km underground Metro stretch from Vellara Junction to Pottery Town began on May 30th. L&T had been awarded the project, worth Rs 2628 crore, to build the tunnel and stations along this stretch. The company has 42 months to complete the project. The stretch is part of the Gottigere-Nagavara line of Metro. The iconic Fatima Bakery and Hotel Tom's, as well as a portion of the All Saints Church, will be demolished for the project in spite of protests by citizens. Work on the stretch is expected to worsen…

On the 24th of April, 2019, as I passed the IIM-B/HSBC junction in a bus, I found this elderly gentleman working very hard to direct traffic. He was working with a smile, which is not usual for any traffic policeman around that time of day, 9am, which is peak traffic and congestion time. I was definitely struck by his enthusiasm and cheerfulness, so I wondered if the Traffic Police are enlisting the help of volunteers? I would certainly like to know...and to thank this particular gentleman for stopping my bus driver, who was creeping forward, with a smile...whether or not…

Two retired bureaucrats -- IAS and former commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation (BMC) Aparajita Sarangi (BJP) and retired IPS officer and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Mohan Patnaik (BJD) -- along with Janardan Pati, the CPI (M) candidate supported by Indian National Congress (INC) were among the 13, mostly fresh, faces in the MP elections in Bhubaneswar. The city voted on April 23rd to elect both MLAs for the Odisha Vidhan Sabha and MPs to the 17th Lok Sabha. However, the primary legislative role of an MP notwithstanding, many voters in the Odisha capital, are still looking at their elected…

With general elections in the country underway, all political parties have promised to prioritise public transport. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party promises to launch an “Urban Mobility Mission,” one of whose aims is to “increase the use of public transport.” On similar lines, the Indian National Congress says it will formulate a “policy on urban transport” that emphasises public transport including “metro rail, suburban rail, public bus transport” and non-motorised transport. Yet, despite these stated aims, transport policy and investment remains resolutely oriented towards road building and private vehicles, particularly in Bengaluru, as evidenced by the controversial elevated corridor project…

On Saturday, March 16th, Bengaluru saw a gathering of thousands of people who came together to demand for cancellation of the controversial elevated corridor and to better public transport, footpaths and safe cycling and a more balanced and sustainable development of Bangalore and rest of Karnataka as well. This mass action was organized by a large coalition of citizen groups’ in response to the awarding of environmental clearance for the controversial elevated corridors project and floating of tender for Phase 1 of Elevated Corridors. Since the govt. announced its intention of taking up 100 km elevated corridors in the city,…

On a bright winter Sunday, you may feel the warm sun beckoning you. It seems to say: Take your car out and enjoy my glory even more. Surely, there would be little traffic on a holiday. But not in Delhi. Especially not if you plan to drive from South Delhi to Gurgaon or vice versa, through the mess that is the Rao Tula Ram Marg flyover. The beautiful sunny day soon becomes a sweaty anger-spewing, abuse-hurling one. And this is the road that connects South Delhi to the airport, which should have a smooth hassle free ride. The bottleneck you…

Bengaluru has transformed from a city which was known as the “city of gardens” to the “Silicon Valley of India” because of the major IT boom it has witnessed since the 1990s. This transformation has, however, come at a major cost of widespread damage to the city’s vegetation cover, increasing pollution and concretisation of land. A problem that has crippled the city the most is the increasing traffic congestion. While most of the major roads in Bengaluru are plagued by traffic congestion, Hosur road is one of the worst affected. A 9 km-long elevated expressway was constructed on Hosur road…

Bannerghatta Road is already a mess, as one-third of the road is blocked for the work on the Metro. There is no transparency on how long the work will take, and no timeline for completion, though a vague time of 2020 AD has been given. Meanwhile, residences and hospitals as well as malls and offices bear the brunt of the noise, often unbearable at night. Pedestrians, who were finding the road hard enough to cross after the grade separation, are now finding it impossible to do so. No thought has been given to the hapless people-who-walk; they fight for their…