Commute

Bahujana hithaaya, bahujana sukhaaya - for the good and convenience of the largest number of people, is an old maxim adopted nationally as a motto for public policy. The administrators of Namma own ooru seem to have turned this rule upside down. Consider the following examples - To ensure a "signal free" passage to those going to the new airport, the flow of  traffic  at  Mekhri circle has been changed to force buses proceeding towards Bellary Road to take a sharp U turn after passing the BDA office and the Guttahalli stop. The diversion is such that buses slow down…

The committee set up by the state government to review the zonal regulations in the Revised Master Plan (RMP- 2015), submitted their recommendations on October 15.Three committees were originally set up - one to review Bengaluru's building byelaws and two to examine the negative aspects of ZR. During the reviews it was felt that since the ZR anchor the building byelaws, it would be best if the review of these regulations were done first; then once the government decided on these recommendations, the building byelaws could be suitably amended as well. The review committee that submitted its recommendations on zoning…

I tried to balance myself very carefully as I took each step with great caution. No, I was not performing any acrobatics or balancing trick. I was just walking on a busy street in the city. I could not walk on the footpath as the slabs of the pavements were removed and piled up in a half hazard manner. Some parts of it were dug up and the remaining parts, occupied by the vendors. It was impossible to walk on the road, as the traffic was very heavy. Walking on the streets of Bangalore City is indeed a great feat.…

Between Jan 1 and Sept 4 this year, BMTC buses were involved in 81 deaths, 12 major accidents and 318 minor accidents.  Last year, the BMTC Accidents Division recorded 28 deaths, 20 major accidents and 126 minor accidents. File pic. According to the records, Yelahanka recorded the most accidents, 16, from Jan 2010 to Apr 2010. In the previous year, for the same period, it was Subhashnagar with most accidents. Records show 18 accidents. More than 3,000 buses crisscross the city out of 36 bus depots, says Nithin Hegade, a division traffic officer. 31 thousand drivers operate these buses. Hegade…

The morning's paper said Bengaluru was "among the fastest growing cities in the world". On inside pages there were glowing accounts of Dasara celebrations, our 400-year-old tradition of Jambu savari, and the 150th anniversary of Sir Visweswariah. Reading all that felt good - and then my day began, with a bus ride, from Majestic to Jayanagar. I was Jayanagar-bound after a weekend in north Bengaluru, to pay my BESCOM bill for my flat in south Bengaluru, the last date for which was just a day away. Bus no. 2 that I waited for at Majestic (specifically so that I could…

Variable Message Signboards (VMS) have been installed to inform the motorist about safety messages, traffic diversions and road accidents to enable the motorist to plan their routes. Right now they have been installed at ten locations such as Hebbal Road - Towards Bengaluru City and Towards BIAL, and Basaveshwara Circle on Race Course Road The traffic police plan to install VMS at another 10 locations in the city. Bengaluru's traffic police department has collected 36 crores as fine amount between January to September 2010 compared to 23 crores in 2009 for the same period, registering an increase of 50 percent.…

One of the few surviving "circles" of Bangalore, which looks much the same way as it must have, when it was laid out, is the Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar:It's one of the circles to have two names;"Mariyappa Rasthe":and "Ashoka Sthambha Vrittha":Shaded by trees all around, and bounded on one side by the wall of Lalbagh, it is a gracious landmark of Bangalore...still there, but who knows for how long! ⊕

Two months after their first auto boycott on August 12, Meter Jam - an initiative against menacing auto drivers - is organizing another boycott on October 12. In addition to Bangalore, the boycott will be held in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi as well. Jammers in the city are hoping that the initiative will be successful, unlike the last boycott, during which autos were plying smoothly and many drivers did not even come to know about the initiative. "Last time the focus was on Mumbai, and Meter Jam was only starting to get popular in Bangalore. This time, around 40,000 online…

Vinay Sreenivasa and I organized a photowalk to document the last of the beautiful promenade known as Ambedkar Veedhi. One would think that a Government would have the aesthetic sense to leave this most historic of boulevards alone...but no, the Metro must needs run right through this last bastion of public spaces and greenery.So, to mark the murder of yet another public space, and the funeral of the greenery, we decided to photo-document the stretch of Ambedkar Veedhi...We started with the desecration that was a tree-shaded Minsk Square, not so long ago; now it's a desert of cement and concrete:We…

A new option to get your auto woes addressed is holding out promise for Bengaluru, thanks to the Transport Department's initial enthusiasm to respond. Auto Watch, an initiative by the technology platform Kiirti, is co-ordinating with the Transport Department to address the grievances of auto commuters. The complaints that the public reported have been forwarded to the concerned RTOs for action. Transport Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has instructed officials to ensure that each RTO should seize five autos against which there are complaints. The action taken by the RTOs will be updated in the site soon. Kiirti is an initiative by…