Commute

When I bump over the potholes, When I (don't) see the missing trees... When I can feel the pollution Because it makes me wheeze.... When I'm cycling in the hot sun Without an ounce of shade, I know that this "desert" Bangalore Is completely "BBMP-made"!  ⊕References

After battling a delay of almost two years, much to the chagrin of hassled commuters, work on the 42-metre-long railway over bridge (ROB) at the Kadugodi railway level crossing in Whitefield is nearing completion. The office of Commissioner of Railway safety in Bangalore, headed by K J S Naidu, says the (pending and necessary) approvals were accorded to the South Western Railways on June 8th. "The ball is now in the court of the railway authorities to oversee the timely execution and commissioning of the railway overbridge," said an official at the railway safety department, who did not want to…

Cycle tracks, parking space for bicycles, racks to lock your bike; all this may well become a reality soon in Bengaluru. Members of the cycling community are working towards developing this infrastructure in the city by working with the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) and other organisations. The BMLTA has been set up by the government of Karnataka under the Urban Development Department as an umbrella organisation to land transport matters in the Bangalore metropolitan area. Cycling route (Pic and graphic courtesy: Vijay Narnapatti) RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes sustainable transport through cycling,…

A few weeks ago, on a Monday morning, while I was  trying to drive away the blues, I saw a few people standing and staring at the railway track near our house. Not another one, I hoped. But when I saw people in the crowd discussing something animatedly and calling up people  from their mobile phones, I could sense uneasiness. Someone who was crossing the railway track earlier that morning or the previous night was critically or fatally injured. I was pained to learn later that evening that the victim  succumbed to his injuries. He had been hit by a…

New routes are regularly being introduced by the BMTC. This irritates me no end since, we, the citizens of JP Nagar V Phase are not at the receiving end of these new bus routes. Forget new ones, even the old routes seem to have disappeared overnight. BMTC seems to have wiped out JP Nagar V Phase from their route-maps. There are plenty of bus shelters, beautiful ones at that, but no single bus passes that way. A number of representations and meetings (with officials) have proved futile. Travelling out from JP Nagar, you have a few buses, but coming back…

On the afternoon of Sunday, 2nd May, a group of citizens came together at a dance auditorium at Jayanagar to discuss one of the city's burning issues: the “Namma Metro” project. Organised by Hasiru Usiru, the discussion  focussed on social, economic and environmental impacts of the construction of the Metro in Jayanagar. The four hour long discussion also included a critique of the current plan, alternative designs, as well as legal issues surrounding the controversial project.  The participants said that they have very little knowledge about the plans of the Metro. While some appreciated the introduction of the Metro in…

N Sivasailam, BMRCL chief, explained Metro's position to a group of citizens waiting to hear him out, while those against the tree felling and metro's way of functioning voiced their protest. However, on the question of the Metro using the Lalbagh and R V Road, the Metro's own Detailed Project Report and Sivasailam’s explanations do not sit well together. The morning of Saturday, 9th May, saw a motley crowd of hundreds assemble along RV Road (popularly called Nanda Road) in Jayanagar. Two events were being held simultaneously. The first had been called by Jayanagar MLA Vijaykumar, who at the behest…

Are you a victim of wrong footing on dog poop, while walking on a footpath? Well, you are not alone; this is the nightmare of every Bangalorean, who like me prefers to walk on the pavement, which is made for pedestrians and not for dogs to answer their morning call. One pleasant morning I decide to walk to work and my first encounter is footpaths dotted with dog excrement and I like many other pedestrians is forced to play snakes and ladders while walking. I am not blaming dogs for relieving themselves; neither do I want to punish them for…

Here's a message written by my fellow-volunteer at Hasiru Usiru, Kanishka Lahiri: The protests opposing the current plans of the Bangalore Metro in the southern reach have been well publicized in the mainstream media. As a result, they have elicited statements from politicians across party lines supporting the suggestion that the design and alignment of the metro be re-examined before further work is taken up. Interestingly, yesterday, the Chief Minister has made an adamant statement saying there cannot be any change to the current plan of the Metro. Why then, did his Transport Minister state otherwise in a pre-election statement?…

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transportation Corporation has for years allowed hundreds of drivers to get back behind the wheel after causing bus accidents that killed pedestrians, cyclists—and in some cases their own passengers, an IIJNM investigation has found. Watch the story here.   Records and interviews show the massive agency fires a small percentage of the drivers it concludes were fully “at fault” for the fatal wrecks. Most are put back to work, in some cases with punishments no greater than if they had been involved in fender benders. And in a number of cases, the pattern of leniency backfired: drivers…