Commute

Starting the grade separator works at Koramangala for the contested Sirsi-Agara signal free corridor has landed BDA in trouble. The High Court on May 29th ordered that emergent notices be sent to BDA and its Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena. Emergent notices are issued only in serious conditions and have to be responded to immediately.Justice Shylendra Kumar and Justice B Srinivasa Gowda passed this order on a contempt case filed by Bengaluru-based civic organisation CAF (Citizen's Action Forum) and Kuvempu Nagar RWA. These petitioners said that BDA started electrical works for the project, by violating the court's previous orders. They had…

The recent state budget has funding for projects including five signal-free corridors (Rs 426 crore), upgradation of 45 roads (Rs 200 crore) and Metro Corridor Reach-1 from Bypanahalli to Kumble Circle (Rs 65 crore). The first two are to be funded by the state government and the latter to be funded equally by BBMP & BMRCL. DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) are getting ready. I hope the tendering process gets underway in June/July. A BBMP underpass in JP Nagar. File pic: Yograj Mudalgi Pilots for each of these projects is to be ready soon for the public to suggest improvements -1.…

Most pedestrians and cyclists in the city can attest to the fact that Bangalore is as unfriendly as it can be, to them. In the wake of the recent fuel hike, I was looking at my photographs when I saw this one, that I took last November...That's the helipad at U B City, on Grant, sorry, Vittal Mallya Road. And I was wondering....how often is that helipad going to be used, given the present (and future) price of hi-octane aircraft fuel? (Helicopters cannot run on kerosene....)Oh, we have the eye-catchers, but do we have anything below that to support it at…

The pipelining work which started in the month of February is finally complete, but now we are deprived of good roads, why are we at the receiving end? why is the concerned authority not doing anything about the dug up roads?I have contacted Bangalore Traffic Police on their FB page - Bangalore Traffic PoliceThey suggested that I contact BBMP control room 080-22660000.I contacted BBMP control room and got the complaint filed. Later I learnt that the issue does not come under Koramangala ward and I was asked to contact Ejipura ward. The concerned authority explained to me that the pipeline…

 Dangerous section of Harlur Road needs quick action.Many of us who live on this road may have noticed this deep ditch by the side of Harlur Road; but it took Krishna Gurumurthy, from Coimbatore, who visits Bangalore regularly to take this seriously and send this note to Citizen Matters. Harlur Road. Pic: Meera K Gurumurthy writes:When you go from Haralur road to Sarjapur road, just before turning to left, there is a very narrow section where vehicles pass. There, if vehicles drive too far to the left, they can fall off the road; if they are  heavy vehicles like buses…

The deadline for removing films has now been extended to June 5th.From May 20th, no vehicle in the city is supposed to have films plastered on its safety glasses, as per the recent Supreme Court ban. While Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) is all set to fine offenders, vehicle owners in the city are rushing to BTP’s centres that offer to remove the films for free, as well as private garages.While private garages are charging as much as Rs 350-500, even BTP centres do not remove films for free. BTP had started service in 10 centres from May 10th. Hundreds of…

As I wait for the Chennai bound Kaveri Express at Bangalore City station on Platform-5, a train enters Platform 6 at 11:15 pm which is announced as Bangarpet-Bangalore Express. A closer look at it reveals it is only an Express for namesake as it looks more like a passenger train.This Express train leaves Bangarpet at 9:20 PM and crosses through the IT sector stations of Bangalore, the Whitefield and Krishnarajapuram and reaches Bangalore city junction at 11:20 pm.Normally after 10 pm, the bus frequency reduces and people on their way back home from office may be too tired to ride…

In what may come as small relief to disgruntled Bangaloreans, BDA says it has issued notice to the contractor building the Kadubessanahalli underpass on the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The completed section of the underpass (south going) flooded due to overnight rains on Tuesday May 1st, throwing Wednesday morning's commute into a gridlock. The flooded Kadubeesanahalli underpass on May 2nd morning. This picture, taken by an as yet unnamed photographer made the rounds yesterday both on Facebook as well on email. R K Misra, ABIDe member and urban reforms campaigner posted on Facebook about the gridlock deploring the state of…

Three years after it’s launch, Bengaluru’s popular BIG-10 arterial route service is going upscale. Starting May 4th, BMTC is rolling out AC Volvo versions of BIG-10 along three routes, to complement the current non-AC services. Fourth of every month is observed as Bus Day in Bengaluru to encourage public transport. Starting May 4th, BIG-10 Volvo AC buses are going to run along Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road and HAL Airport Road/Whitefield Road.  G-3’s AC version, will run from Shivajinagar Bus Station to Electronic City and will be called AC-3.  Likewise, G-4’s AC version, running from Shivajinagar Bus Station to Bannerghatta National…

The MG Road metro station will soon have two restrooms - one near Anil Kumble Cirlce, and the other next to the station at the start of boulevard.Restrooms will be for three categories - men, women and disabled. BMRC had initially said that the stations do not need restrooms as the time of journey is very short. "The decision to start restrooms was taken after continued demand of citizens," says Ravi Prakash, Manager PRO at BMRC. One restroom each is planned for Ulsoor and Swami Vivekananda Road stations, but tenders for these have not been finalised. MG Road and Bayappanahalli…