[ajmat]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

"Trespassers will be SHOT" on walls when travelling in the city center.

The reason for this sign was that 5 years ago, one of the wheelie brigade was being chased by the cops. He took refuge and hid in one of these compounds. The military police detected an intrusion and located this person. They could hear him speaking to his mates in Urdu to rescue him or organise and escape.

You can guess how a guard would easily put 2 + 2 together. He was asked to give himself up but he tried running and was shot down. His parents tried to sue but they had no case.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Its funny to think that the Army will prevent BBMP from installing a streetlight and they like to live in darkness and talk about an Area 51

Appreciate your sarcasm as always, and taken in the right spirit.. now I don't know how long you've lived in Bangalore but with me its been all my life, in those exact areas, in ward 111, i.e Shanthala Nagar, so in summary I grew up in what is still today the center of the city and have been moving along Old Airport Road (then Victoria Road) at the beginning of Patton Tank, Wind Tunnel Road, Vivek Nagar ASC, Indiranagar etc, I've also traversed the Koramangala connection to Old Airport Road, n number of times, the footpaths were clear and clean, the lights were brightly lit for the sparse traffic of that time, and me and my friend used to hang on the fences, watching planes go by right over military land.

I happen to know military kids, and I happen to have political links as well, I know for a fact that for the past 3 years or so, there have been strict orders by the military to switch off lights wherever their presence is, as they've drastically expanded their housing and facilities accommodations, with this, not only have they ensured pitch darkness in roads touching their fences, but they've also fixed plenty of signal jammers so that calls get disconnected, just drive down Old Airport Road, if you never have, keeping a call on the line, it gets garbled and disconnects, same issue near most other roads of Sarjapur, Ejipura etc.

Hence, my question remains, what has changed so drastically and what needs guarding so much that existing lighting infrastructures are decommissioned and signal jammers, put in place, when just 4 years ago all these roads had nice, orangish streetlights aiding motorist visibility, I know accidents and windows shattering happen EVERY day on the OAR.

I write that as a taxpayer of the land, and I pay heavy taxes, maybe equal to one dozen IT folks combined, and I want to know why these things are happening as I use those roads heavily to reach Vittal Mallya Road, Embassy Golf Links and Bagmane Tech, all in utter darkness where the high-beams from the opposite lane is twice pronounced.

More sarcasm is always welcome though.

[binand]

Originally Posted by ajmat

The reason for this sign was that 5 years ago, one of the wheelie brigade was being chased by the cops.

I looked up this incident (it was before I moved to Bangalore). Here is the press report:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ow/3905620.cms

It appears to have occured just about a month after the infamous 26/11 attack in Mumbai.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I happen to know military kids, and I happen to have political links as well, I know for a fact that for the past 3 years or so, there have been strict orders by the military to switch off lights wherever their presence is, as they've drastically expanded their housing and facilities accommodations, with this, not only have they ensured pitch darkness in roads touching their fences, but they've also fixed plenty of signal jammers so that calls get disconnected, just drive down Old Airport Road, if you never have, keeping a call on the line, it gets garbled and disconnects, same issue near most other roads of Sarjapur, Ejipura etc.

Hence, my question remains, what has changed so drastically and what needs guarding so much that existing lighting infrastructures are decommissioned and signal jammers, put in place, when just 4 years ago all these roads had nice, orangish streetlights aiding motorist visibility, I know accidents and windows shattering happen EVERY day on the OAR.

I write that as a taxpayer of the land, and I pay heavy taxes, maybe equal to one dozen IT folks combined, and I want to know why these things are happening as I use those roads heavily to reach Vittal Mallya Road, Embassy Golf Links and Bagmane Tech, all in utter darkness where the high-beams from the opposite lane is twice pronounced.

More sarcasm is always welcome though.

Q1 : "what needs guarding so much... when just 4 years ago... "
A : why do you think you need to be privy to this info ?

Q2 : "I pay heavy taxes, maybe equal to one dozen IT folks combined, and I want to know why these things are happening as I use those roads heavily"
A : instead of grand-standing here, use RTI and your political contacts and actually get to know the answer.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Appreciate your sarcasm as always, and taken in the right spirit.. now I don't know how long you've lived in Bangalore but with me its been all my life, in those exact areas, in ward 111, i.e Shanthala Nagar, so in summary I grew up in what is still today the center of the city

I happen to know military kids, and I happen to have political links as well, I know for a fact that for the past 3 years or so, there have been strict orders by the military to switch off lights wherever their presence is, as they've drastically expanded their housing and facilities accommodations, with this, not only have they ensured pitch darkness in roads touching their fences, but they've also fixed plenty of signal jammers so that calls get disconnected, just drive down Old Airport Road, if you never have, keeping a call on the line,

Hence, my question remains, what has changed so drastically and what needs guarding so much that existing lighting infrastructures are decommissioned and signal jammers, .

I'm impressed by the background and history you gave. For the Bangalorean you assume I am, my political links might not be as great as yours, nor do I pay taxes of 12 IT professionals, but my political links are sufficient enough to fix the streetlights in my area and keep them in top shape whenever needed

Lets leave the chest-banging aside. Bad mobile network is definitely an issue in these defense areas but I believe they are due to absence of mobile towers or micro cells in these areas which 4G networks badly need. My friend, do you think the Army guys will live in a cave without mobile networks? They are human beings like us, and they also need a mobile phone no matter what sort of secure communication infra they have since end of the day, they also need to keep in touch with their family. There could be jammers installed in sensitive areas, but I believe its due to security issues. But don't tell me the entire area has jammers and that's the reason your call drops. For me, the only call drop happens near command hospital that too when the phone switches from 4G to Edge network. There is no network blackout or call blocking which happens when signal jammers are used. I can resume the call once the Edge network is switched to.

And about darkness, I still find your argument funny that the Army is building bigger homes and for this they want the BBMP to turn off the street lights I would appreciate a much solid plot.

[jkrishnakj]

And pray, why would one think that the Army people living in bigger houses will find the dark streets with mobile jammers useful for their commutes? It is equally a problem for anyone, army people or otherwise.

The problem lies with the ‘Intent’ and ‘Execution’ from the BBMP. As much as they show interest in getting more villages under their umbrella, they have no clues on how to provide basic services for the areas already under their control.

One good thing is that the green spaces survive. If not, we will have a city that is dusty everywhere.

While I appreciate the points that the OP raises of the ‘darkness’, what I am perplexed about is the cause attributed to the same.

[UMe]

Someone usually moving around north bangalore would know the stretch of road between Gangama Circle and MS Palya junction. This road is passing through Air Force station and it is a very well maintained road with proper road markings. I have never seen this stretch of road damaged or with potholes. And it is one of a few stretch of surrounding with lush greenery.
You could clearly see difference in road condition and chaos at both end of this road

[pandey.jai]

I see the forum has a "Thanks" button but if ever there was a "Disagree" button, this post would get that from me.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I think its about time these lands are lifted and be made part of the city, the army can very well go to Greater Bengaluru like Bidadi/Ramnagara, or maybe ever further to some tier 3 village than squat on prime city space, and worse, dictate terms to the BBMP on streetlights, one look at a city like Mumbai which has super-bright streets are 2 am in the night, ALL OVER, and one wonders why Bangalore which had good street-lighting in the 90's, suddenly has gone dark, stray animals and motorists are in grave danger on such streets, connecting essential areas. If I ask anyone the usual "adjesht maadi" attitude comes up, no one miffed or baffled, at all?

I think there have been sufficient points talked about the other aspects of this post. However, I would also like to point out the following with respect to this part of the post.

A. These military/army posts are not something that were built in the last decade. These have been around since the time the British ruled these parts.
B. At the time these lands were allocated to the Army, the areas were outside the (what is considered) city limits. Now they are prime real estate and within the city because the city has expanded over the years. Civilian movement in these areas was unheard of, when these army areas were established.
C. If the government were to plan to move these camps to other cities/towns that you mentioned, what are the guarantees that 10-20 years down the line, a similar discussion won't prop up regarding those areas by someone who is born and brought up around there? Do you trust our successive governments to take decisions to prevent the similar kind of situation happening there? I do not.
D. Assuming that the concern C was somehow addressed and this area was "developed" into a Manhattan skyline (as you suggested), do you really think the Ring Roads/major transportation/transit roads that was mentioned can handle all the new vehicular and non-vehicular traffic? People might come up with suggestions on building new roads there and improving connectivity by adding new roads/transit lines to accommodate the new requirements. The only problem then would be how do you accommodate the new load on the roads that these new loads link to?
For example, say, one needs to commute from A to D via B and C which happens to be the army area - now if the strech between B and C is developed as per Manhattan standards, by introducing X, Y,Z roads, there will still be load/traffic between A and B and C and D,with X, Y and Z adding capacity only between B and C. How does one go about addressing this? Do we, at the time, just meekly surrender and say "adjust maadi"? That would be a slap on the face.
E. For all the talk of Mumbai, I'm sure you are aware that there are tons of such restricted/army/defence areas within the current city limits of Pune. Even the current civilian airport in Pune is actually a military airport.

Is there a pattern here? Erstwhile tier 2/3 cities/towns having large areas granted to the military? Oh wait.


But yes, the one correct point in this is that there needs to be discussion on providing civilians with the basic infra facilities that a citizen of Bangalore can expect. The answer to that, however, is not getting rid of these areas without planning and foresight on the future state of "development".

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by audioholic

...I am not sure what your definition of a lung space is. But in the whole map, wherever you spot green, that's a defense land/PSU/Govt/water body. If not for this space, then I am sure HAL Airport/Indiranagar area would be swallowed in pollution from the non planned/congested areas around here. Instead of this, if these lands were left for development...

Absolutely right! Same story in North Bangalore as well, if not for IISC, CPRI, BEL, Defence Forces the rest of the space is taken over by concrete. The only other significant patches of green are around the lakes.
Off late I have seen that in some defence lands - ex: the Military farm near hebbal, is now being taken over by a housing complex for officers.
In summary, given the proven inability of the administration and greed of developers, Bangalore is better off having land locked in PSU/Defence land rather than seeing the remaining open spaces being taken over by concrete.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

....Road) at the beginning of Patton Tank, Wind Tunnel Road, Vivek Nagar ASC, Indiranagar etc, I've also traversed the Koramangala connection to Old Airport Road, n number of times, the footpaths were clear and clean, the lights were brightly lit for the sparse traffic of that time, and me and my friend used to hang on the fences, watching planes go by right over military land.

I happen to know military kids, and I happen to have political links as well, I know for a fact that for the past 3 years or so, there have been strict orders by the military to switch off lights wherever their presence is, as they've drastically expanded their housing and facilities accommodations, with this, not only have they ensured pitch darkness in roads touching their fences, but they've also fixed plenty of signal jammers so that calls get disconnected, just drive down Old Airport Road, if you never have, keeping a call on the line, it gets garbled and disconnects, same issue near most other roads of Sarjapur, Ejipura etc.

Hence, my question remains, what has changed so drastically and what needs guarding so much that existing lighting infrastructures are decommissioned and signal jammers, put in place, when just 4 years ago all these roads had nice, orangish streetlights aiding motorist visibility, I know accidents and windows shattering happen EVERY day on the OAR.

I write that as a taxpayer of the land, and I pay heavy taxes, maybe equal to one dozen IT folks combined, and I want to know why these things are happening as I use those roads heavily to reach Vittal Mallya Road, Embassy Golf Links and Bagmane Tech, all in utter darkness where the high-beams from the opposite lane is twice pronounced.

More sarcasm is always welcome though.

I think your point on expecting good infrastructure is taken. I'm also appreciative of the fact that the IT blokes are the ones who have made our real estate inheritances and investments more valuable. The political and administrative people are the ones to be blamed for the mess we are in. Since you have political connections, may I suggest that the best way to give back to society would be to lobby to these connections to get amenities in place, especially when working in tandem with the RWAs. You have the privilege, hope you use that to make Bangalore better.

The wind tunnel road (beyond the CABS complex) used to be unlit in late 90s when I used to regularly travel on that stretch, also remember a spate of robberies around that time. But those roads used to be maintained better than the other roads and was a pleasure to ride on 2 wheels (bike/bicycles).

I happen to live in close proximity of defense land, and over time I actually have seen the lighting getting improved. Sadly due to the security situation, the compounds are growing higher and security increasing by the day. But for sure it is not engulfed in darkness and mobile signal do work, so, these restrictions perhaps limited to certain establishments?

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by shamanth

NICE Road toll will be the only Toll Road without Fast Tag from Jan 1st. Fastag sensors were installed 1 year back but no fastag implemented with huge serpentine Q at NICE toll Booths it's creating problem to bengalurians. Need to put pressure on Govt and Nice road owner Khenny to implement fastag. I have created hashtag with series of tweets, retweet, comment and make this popular so that it reaches people in govt https://twitter.com/hashtag/NICEROADNEEDFASTAG?s=08

After sending lot of tweets and messages about fastag in NICE road to Khenny and other politicians, looks like TOI picked up my tweet, and NICE has responded to TOI question. So it looks like application of FASTAG is pending with Sate Govt, hope these approvals go through without babus delaying it further.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by shamanth

After sending lot of tweets and messages about fastag in NICE road to Khenny and other politicians, looks like TOI picked up my tweet, and NICE has responded to TOI question. So it looks like application of FASTAG is pending with Sate Govt, hope these approvals go through without babus delaying it further.

That is +ve news! When implemented, it should speed up things at the toll entrance and exit IF they enforce a FASTAG only lanes.

[arun_josie]

This thread is about "Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation" but here is an opportunity for you to help improve this situation by joining the "Bangalore City Police Traffic Warden Organization".

Bangalore City Police Traffic Warden Organisation (BCPTWO) is a voluntary organisation and was formed to assist the Bangalore City Traffic Police in various enforcement and regulation activities. This voluntary organisation is functioning since 1985. So, people who would like to volunteer can reach-out to the number mentioned in the below poster or PM me for more details.

You can also refer to, http://www.bcptwo.com/

[itwasntme]

Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) project finally commences from Dobbspet (Tumkur Road) to Hoskote via Doddaballapura. Very much required to route HCVs away from entering the ORR.

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.c...w/80219831.cms

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) project finally commences from Dobbspet (Tumkur Road) to Hoskote via Doddaballapura. Very much required to route HCVs away from entering the ORR.

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.c...w/80219831.cms

How many ring roads can they keep constructing ? Wouldn't that add lot of travel time to trucks ? There are very less signal free roads except NICE. Hope they construct something similar and also keep the road free from other commercial activity like NICE has done.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by srishiva

How many ring roads can they keep constructing ? Wouldn't that add lot of travel time to trucks ? There are very less signal free roads except NICE. Hope they construct something similar and also keep the road free from other commercial activity like NICE has done.

Not really, HCV drivers hate entering crowded cities with awful traffic. They would much rather transit through a ring road at a steady pace.

The original Outer Ring Road (ORR) has long been consumed by BLR city, the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) would have helped a lot but still exists only on paper, and the STRR will help to connect the numerous towns (Dobbasapete, Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, Sulibele, Hoskote, Sarjapura, Attibele, Anekal, Tattekere, Kanakapura, Ramanagara and Magadi) which are rapidly expanding themselves.

For example, the STRR will allow truckers from HYD & BOM/Pune to totally avoid BLR traffic. They will come only to Devanahalli (HYD highway) and turn off towards Dobbspet (Tumkur Road). The potential savings in time and money and decongestion is huge.

https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/...e-impact-39601