Commute

Traffic planning, road widening and mass tree felling is all the rage in Bangalore nowadays. City officials have paid scant respect to environmental activist groups who have protested the destruction of the inner city's green cover. There is good reason for this. Do you know that our city planners are extremely busy looking far ahead into the future and have some great plans in store? Here is a rundown of some stupendous new projects on the anvil and the benefits they will bring1. Improving passenger volumes on the Bangalore Metro:High passenger usage is a key to any major Metro project.…

"The city is getting beautiful," says the A K Gopalswamy, Engineer-in-Chief of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP). Amidst all the criticism, he believes that the on-going road widening drive, the newer malls under construction, new roads, Metro rail, and so on are part of this ‘beautification'.Granite slabs dug up on Seshadripuam Main Road (pic: Supriya Khandekar)The recently dug-up Seshadripuram Main Road in northwest Bengaluru is evidence of this. The granite footpath on this road has been removed by the BBMP as part of work to install a new concrete pavement. This road, like most of the lanes and roads…

Work on Bengaluru's Namma Metro stations for Reach 1 will begin in January-February 2009, and Reach 1 of the Metro will be completed by December 2010, say Metro officials. Tenders for the station construction, which were floated in August this year, were open to Indian and international companies. The companies that will undertake the construction of the stations are in the process of being finalised. Namma Metro will consist of a number of intermediate and terminal stations.While the terminal station is coming up at Byappanahalli, intermediate stations will come up at MG Road, Trinity Circle, Ulsoor, CMH Road and Old…

On 12th November 2008, Hasiru Usiru (HU) volunteers, in a symbolic act of protection, tied white ribbons around the trees on Sheshadri Road. The road is slated to be widened, with several 40-50 years old trees along its strength to be felled.Vijay Narnapatti (far left) engaging the members of the Empowered Committer in discussion (12 Nov 08, Sheshadri Road) (pic: Deepa Mohan) As Chairman, Yellappa Reddy, of the Empowered Committee, himself turned up for the inspection of the road, he was met by Vijay Narnapatti, an architect and a HU volunteer. Naranpatti pressed for the cause of retaining as many…

One of the problems that BMTC faces in the construction of bus stops is that the land on which these stops must be sited, belongs to the BBMP. It often runs into rough weather with the construction of bus stops being stalled. So it was a refreshing sight to see a bus stop being constructed on Bannerghatta Road, opposite Shopper's Stop near the Jayadeva flyover: I am not sure if the bus stop will shelter users completely from the elements, but it's still far better than having people stand at unmarked places on the road while waiting for buses!Hopefully, all…

Soon, Avenue Road won’t be the favourite destination for books and jewelry. Amidst protests, it’s all set to be widened into a main road that connects KR Market and Gandhinagar. Citizen Matters takes a look at what happens to an old Bangalore street when it confronts a rapidly growing city. For generations, students from LKG to PG have thronged Avenue Road for cheap books. Here, books have been elevated to a religion. But this religion isn’t for all. This child bookseller will only learn to read book titles. Avenue Road is an old locality, and home to thousands of small…

I've seen them at least in a couple of junctions. One at the Wind Tunnel road junction on Old Airport Road and, the other at the Intel junction on Outer Ring road. Small construction cones neatly lined up along one-car width from the meridian, indicating that if people should turn right, they ought to come in there. How do they enforce this? At Wind Tunnel road junction, they simply line the cones along the lane and then continue them all the way to the opposite side meridian. Something like this: Brilliant idea! Considering that just drawing the line and saying…

Is it difficult for citizens who are so articulate, so cultured and so well informed on conditions abroad to help evolve a traffic flow system and ensure the woes of commuters? The solution could be planned in several layers.Top on the list is synchoronised signal lights, adjusted to a moderate speed level. Moderate, because all kinds of vehicles ply on our roads and some of them may not touch the speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour.Heavy vehicles, cargo laden trucks and the like must be barred entry in arterial roads. If this is not possible, they must be allowed…

I was to board the KSRTC Meghadoota service to Chennai on 27th November 2008 at the Shanthinagar bus stand in Bangalore. The bus that was scheduled to start at 10.17 PM, did not arrive at the bus stop till 11 PM. The bus that managed to arrive so late from the depot had mechanical problems. The driver reported that the bus could not pick up speed and possibly not go beyond third gear. Apart from this, the bus also had very bad air conditioning, which added to the frustration and fury of the passengers. The angry passengers demanded that the…

This picture (below) is about one more traffic jam courtesy a rally organised at the peak hour of 9 AM on 21st Nov 08. This time the jam near High Grounds police station junction was due to the rally of school children who were participating in Chinnara Habba. A good-samaritan acts, in vain. Pic: author. This incident happened immediately a day after the political rally of JD(S) in which citizens were subjected to a horrendous time. I am not against children's rallies but it could have been held at non-peak hours. The school administrators, event organisers and the public adminstrators…