Commute

footpath noun A path for pedestrians in a built-up area; a pavement. A path for people to walk along. Source: www.oxforddictionaries.com If Bengaluru’s footpaths could talk, they’d have many a tale to tell. Perhaps about the mounds of garbage that are dumped on them… Or about people pitching camp to sell their wares, or sometimes even build their homes. While some could claim that they have sent people to the hospital with injuries, some others would state that they have claimed lives! Even today, when there is so much conversation about road safety, and despite pedestrians being at the fore…

Continuous stream of traffic does not let people cross the road. Pic: Reji Thomas The new one-way system introduced on the stretch from the Madivala Checkpost to Krupanidhi College, on Sarjapur Road has resulted in chaos and a terrible, unbearable traffic situation on this stretch. The residents in these localities woke up on April 26th morning and were shocked and surprised to experience that they could not come out of their houses and localities where they have been living for the last several decades. The one-way system introduced on April 26th, 2015 does not allow residents to take their cars…

KSTC buses will ply as usual after 6pm. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni With Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Staff and Workers’ Federation calling for a day-long strike opposing the provisions of the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015, KSRTC and BMTC buses will remain off road in Bengaluru on Thursday (April 30th). Confirming the strike call to Citizen Matters, Staff and Workers’ Federation General Secretary H V Anantha Subba Rao said that the strike will last for 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm. “As many as 1,20,000 employees of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation…

KSTC bus on its way to Hassan. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni Anticipating that a large number of people will travel outside and into the city over this weekend on account of Friday being an off for May-day, KSRTC has arranged 30 additional buses for the three-day period between 30th April and 2nd May. These buses will operate from Mysore Road Bus Station, Basaveshwara Bus Station Peenya, Vijaynagar TTMC, Ganganagara, Malleshwaram 18th Cross bus stand and a number of other pick up points. However, not all buses have been reserved so far, and only if there is a demand for more, these…

Commuters awaiting their train at the Carmelaram station. Pic: Shinoy Prahladan Carmelaram station is a small station on the Bengaluru-Hosur line just off Sarjapur road. Several long distance trains to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as well as few passenger trains, run on this line. Many of these trains stop at Carmelaram. A huge crowd boards and alights at the station due to the sheer convenience resulting from the location. Recently, the railway authorities have done some work in the station, by lengthening, raising and concreting Platform 1 and providing a little better shelter and lighting. However, there are still many…

Traffic rearrangement at Adugodi and Madiwala. Pic: BTP Facebook page The new one-way system around Madiwala market introduced by the traffic police in response to the growing challenges of mobility in the area shows how, when we don't have a macro plan, we end up making a series of small adjustments, maybe out of necessity, but not always connected to each other. Here is the link to the image showing the new plan.  Traffic rearrangement at Adugodi and Madiwala Bengaluru traffic police have introduced a one-way system in Madiwala and Adugodi traffic station limits to avoid the traffic congestion and…

Hosur Road tops the chart in fatal accidents. The highway extending from Kudlu gate to Huskur gate near Electronic City, saw the highest numbers of accidents resulting in spot deaths in Bengaluru over the last three years. Citizen Matters tried to understand why the accident rate was so high on Hosur Road and what was being done to improve the situation, and hit upon many interesting facts. National Highway hinders city’s traffic 36 out of the 55 fatal accidents in 2014, have occurred on Hosur Road. The area falls under Electronic City Traffic Police limits. The fence between the service…

Pic: Meena ArtwaniPic: Meena ArtwaniPic: Meena ArtwaniPic: Meena ArtwaniPic: Meena ArtwaniPic: Meena Artwani‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});  Respectful Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Officials, I am Meena, a resident of 6th Cross, Manjunatha Layout, Thanisandra Main road near Elements Mall, Ramaiah North City. I would like to bring to your urgent attention that this area is becoming inhabitable, day after day. The area is plagued with many issues like the ones below: The area has open drains (gutters) and the individual sanitary connections are not connected to main underground drain (UGD) system. These drains overflow during the rains.…

Illustration: Narasimha Vedala On April 10th the Jayanagar police station in association with  Bengaluru  traffic police held an awareness programme called Pehle Aap (after you), to emphasise the need for vehicle drivers to heed the safety of others on the road, especially pedestrians, especially elderly pedestrians. Ironically, less than 24 hours later, I had occasion to visit the Jayanagar police station to file a complaint. I and another elderly pedestrian (male), were waiting  to cross the road at the busy intersection facing the shopping complex at 4th block, at 11 am  on Saturday April 11th.The signal turned  red for traffic flowing …

The period of relief for people in Bengaluru using vehicles registered out-of-the-state is over, as the High Court has ruled that the stay on collecting taxes is not applicable to all. On April 8th, the High Court limited the stay on collecting lifetime taxes till further orders, applicable only to the petitioner of the on-going case that contested the tax levied on a particular petitioner. This has in effect vacated the unofficial stay on the collection of lifetime taxes from vehicles registered outside Karnataka, traveling in this state for more than 30 days. The order issued by the High Court…