[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

So what's the condition on Bellandur / ORR / Ecospace area? Wondering if I should dare to head to office tomorrow?

With many companies mandating RTO and with people eager to get back to work after a week of water logging, I fear tomorrow is going to be a traffic nightmare even if there is no flooding. Unfortunately, even I have to go to attend an important meeting

[airguitar]

Must say that it's been fun going to overflowing lakes around Bengaluru and getting a picture or two.

The recent one I went to is the Hoskote Lake (Overflowing after 35 years! and feeding the Dakshina Pinakini river directly ). The river flows from Nandi Hills to Gangawara near Sulibele/Budigere, then to the Hoskote Lake and then from there to Channasandra near Whitefield, where it receives water from Yelemallappashetty lake at Medahalli - Ajjagondanahalli where it receives water from Varthur Lake/Bellandur Lake - Muthkur/Bellikere - Kodiyalam (before which it receives water from Huskur/Singenaagrahara/Muthanallur lakes - Kelavarapalli dam - Krishnagiri Dam - Sathanur Dam - Cuddalore. It was fun witnessing the Hoskote lake overflow with my 5 & 9 year-olds, the last I saw it was when I was a 5 year-old myself, so life came a full circle.

A lot of people are hearing the name of the river for the first time, but my grandma always used to say that the river is known for flash floods over many decades ( In Tamil, this is what they say about the river "Vennai Urugum Mun Pennai Perugum" - meaning the Thenpennaiyar, as the Dakshina Pinakini is called in TN can flood faster than butter melts ).

Here's the video from Hoskote Lake

https://youtu.be/LR8swL1TlzY

Another lake that I went to recently is the Muthanallur Lake which is a pretty large one ( picture and video below ). It was overflowing on the main road due to it's drain being clogged and it was an amusing afternoon witnessing cars, two wheelers, cattle, stray dogs, pedestrians all doing circus to cross the reasonably fast-flowing stream. There were minor traffic snarls at the crossing. I took a highseat on the edge and watched things go by, including a cow that fell off the ridge sadly :( but was able to pick itself up and walk after the shock.

https://youtu.be/z852MPSiTaM

As per BBMP data, 126 lakes overflowed due to the Sep 5 rains.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

With many companies mandating RTO and with people eager to get back to work after a week of water logging, I fear tomorrow is going to be a traffic nightmare even if there is no flooding. Unfortunately, even I have to go to attend an important meeting

Relatively lesser traffic than usually seen; although I left a bit early (left home by 7:45am) and even around 8 am, the HAL Airport - Wind Tunnel road - Bellandur lake sections were quite empty. ORR had traffic but manageable. Guess it'll take a day or two for normal traffic to resume.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by airguitar

It was overflowing on the main road due to it's drain being clogged and it was an amusing afternoon witnessing cars, two wheelers, cattle, stray dogs, pedestrians all doing circus to cross the reasonably fast-flowing stream. There were minor traffic snarls at the crossing.

As per BBMP data, 126 lakes overflowed due to the Sep 5 rains.

Its flowing out of what is called Kodi (ಕೋಡಿ). This is how it will be everywhere in rural areas. It overflows and roads are usually built with cobble stones and even dips on either side exactly as shown, called Halla (ಹಳ್ಳ). These are what connect lakes to lakes. They might construct a bridge over this ultimately.

The sluice gates will be in a different place which are operated to irrigate through canals/channels. Excess water from fields will flow ultimately into the hallas and reach the next lake.

[airguitar]

Yes, it actually has a Kodi, an overflow passage below the road ( the road is actually a bridge ). But the villagers said that the passage below is clogged with Hyacinth and other initial garbage the lake had and so it's path way is restricted and it flows above the road.

[am1m]

Witnessed two incidents of road rage 5 minutes apart on an auto ride of less than 4km! (From the nearest Metro station to home.)

One chap in an already battered car must have been having a very bad day, started tailing the auto I was in and honking. So the auto guy let him pass and...started tailing him and honking! I told the auto driver to let it go and stop. By the time we had come to a traffic signal, where of course these two took off on each other. Had to calm both down and advised the car driver on the sheer folly of picking a fight with an auto driver, especially over nothing- it's not like the auto guy cut him off or was going the wrong way and blocking him or anything, he apparently felt we were going too slow! Later the auto guy mentioned that had they been in "his area", there's no way this would have ended that sedately. Crazy.

Five minutes later, another mini jam because a scooter guy was exchanging words with an SUV driver over something equally minor.

Not even raining or flooding, bright and sunny morning, internal roads in a low traffic area without even any real cause for rage. Just too many variables and idiots on the road.

I'm sticking to my life where I plan most of my trips around the Metro and never want to take another job that requires me to drive/ride to work, especially for a job that can be done as effectively without wading through water or excessive testosterone!

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by am1m

Not even raining or flooding, bright and sunny morning, internal roads in a low traffic area without even any real cause for rage. Just too many variables and idiots on the road.

The frustrations are understandable TBH - most of us spend 3-4 hours on commute (for a total of perhaps 25-30 kms) and at 40, people lose their minds on frustrations such as this as there are more important things to deal with in life a feeling that there isn't enough time to do it all. Careworn people explode quickly under those circumstances. It certainly is frustrating that in some of the stretches that you can actually drive at 30-40 kmph, you will have someone deciding to enjoy their lives on a "sunny, leisurely Monday morning" and drive in the middle of the road at 10-15kmph - it's almost an anticlimax for people that were hoping to make up for lost time on those stretches. The frustration is perhaps understandable but not the action of honking and getting into a spat.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by airguitar

...it's almost an anticlimax for people that were hoping to make up for lost time on those stretches.

I don't think we can make up for any lost time on Bangalore roads, especially in a car. There will be a traffic light, another jam just a few meters ahead. There's no significant reduction to be had by honking and accelerating in short bursts in normal hours of Bangalore traffic when it comes to the overall drive time.

Originally Posted by airguitar

The frustrations are understandable

Agreed. I've done stupid things on the road myself and it's a miracle I've just gotten away with verbal exchanges, since I'm a skinny chap and anyone can beat me up. And while it may be understandable, getting in to a spat with an auto driver in any city is just asking for trouble. A lot of them have nothing better to do all day, they will gang up and support each other in a road rage incident, they are friends with local goons, a lot of autos are actually owned by local politicians, the cops won't do anything unless something really serious happens. It's unfortunate, it shouldn't be that way, but that is the reality.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by am1m

...wading through water or excessive testosterone!

An incident last week ended rather unexpectedly.

A family medical situation necessitated some commuting back & forth to HRBR Layout for a few days.

One afternoon, I'd stopped onto the ORR service/slip road (somewhere after Hebbal) to take a call, and had to wait a few minutes to merge back onto the main carriageway as nobody would let me in and traffic was thick.

Finally merged gingerly into a gap in traffic, but a fine gentleman in a Verna one lane over took umbrage: honked angrily, cut across, brake checked and finally cornered me into stopping.

'Are you blind? You could've hit me!'

'It's a straight piece of road, I was merging slowly into the left-most lane after indicating properly, and you probably saw me from hundreds of meters away. I definitely saw you'.

'You should wait, not barge in.'

'I've been waiting a few minutes, I did wait for a gap, and I wasn't even in your lane.'

'You could've barged across. How would I know with how people drive these days?'

'I didn't? Did I?'

'Umm...No.'

'Look man, I'm sorry. I waited to merge back in, nobody would let me in so did the next safest thing and merged slowly into a gap in traffic. Didn't intend to startle or barge in. I need to get to the hospital, so please move your car.'

<At this point, his demeanor changes completely as he remembered something>

'I need to get to hospital too. You seem a decent fellow, I'm sorry too, just frustrating with traffic and a sick kid.'

I saw him in the parking lot of the same pediatric hospital I was visiting, an hour later, even helped him carry coffee to his car.

Traffic is turning everyday people, worn down by a million worries, into raging nutcases, and this guy was a relatively milder specimen.

Can't be healthy, surely?

[GeneralJazz]

Read this article today:

BBMP identifies 15 buildings, including IT parks, that encroached upon SWDs

The document, dated August 17, shows that properties built on various survey numbers in Mahadevapura zone had blocked the water flow on stormwater drains (SWD).

The properties mentioned in the document include Bagmane Tech Park, Rainbow Drive Layout, Wipro, Eco Space, Gopalan in Bellandur, Hoodi and Sonnehalli, Diya School, Adarsha, Columbia Asia Hospital, New Horizon College, Adarsha retreat, Epysion and DiyaShree, Prestige, Salarpuria and Adarsha and Nalapad.

A senior BBMP official confirmed to The Hindu that these properties on different survey numbers have encroached upon the SWD. “A notice has been issued to these builders and soon we will conduct an anti-encroachment drive against these properties. The survey was conducted last month and notices were served to these properties,” he added.

Link

I'm not very familiar with Bangalore, but these are very large IT parks right? So what happens now? Demolition? Or just fines (+ x% commission)?

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

I'm not very familiar with Bangalore, but these are mostly IT parks right? So what happens now? Demolition? Or just fines (+ x% commission)?

How this plays out will be interesting. The whole area of Mahadevapura (which were all classified as villages even during 1990s) was 'developed' (!?) as part of the IT boom. All buildings in the list are not IT parks, but would generally have a clientiele of largely IT company folks. Cannot consider of any of these establishments as exactly 'middle class'. Rainbow Drive, Epysion, Divyashree etc are all layouts where properties are sold for crores. Columbia Asia is a hospital again mainly for the IT employee crowd.

Many of the IT parks and few apartment complexes are said to be connected with certain politicians - who are not in power today. Also don't know how the public sentiments are going to be, as at least in social media there was a slug fest between the IT crowd (more prominent in social media) and the people from other parts of Bangalore (who have been here for a much longer duration).

The best bet would be for BBMP (or GoKA) to release a very clear map indicating Rajakaluves (storm water drains), lakes and government land. And then start demolishing the parts of buildings which are stopping free flow of water. For other encroachments, they can go for a very high penalty and regularise it.

Mean while ORRCA wants ORR to be classified as a different municipal zone.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

Read this article today:

Link

I'm not very familiar with Bangalore, but these are very large IT parks right? So what happens now? Demolition? Or just fines (+ x% commission)?

Nothing happens. They will go there and act like they are clearing the silt from drains. Orion mall encroaches the drain, nothing happened. Some people who talk about these in public get their few hours of fame like this Ramesh person. They need to address the approvers of these buildings from the govt side. Why do they allow and then create this tamasha ? Without approvals, electricity/water/sewage connections should not be provided.

Sometimes courts take suo moto actions. But never seen those in Bengaluru either by High court of NGT. If you consider the building demolished in NCR, there was (and still is) a building in whitefield area where the judge asked if there can be a compromise between builder and govt to regularize the building

[dailydriver]

While we rant on the traffic mess in Bengaluru, a doctor ran 3km because of it.

In a piece of news widely shared in news and social media, a gastroenterologist working at Manipal Hospital in Sarjapur Road was seen swiftly covering a stretch of 3km by foot in order to perform an emergency surgery.

On 30th August 2022, Dr. Govinda Nandakumar was on his way to the hospital when he was stuck in a jam on the Sarjapura-Marathahalli road. Although the distance could normally be covered in 10 minutes, the ETA on that day was being shown as 40 minutes. Since a patient was waiting to be operated, the doctor got off the car and ran for 3km, reached the hospital and did the needful.


(Kannadaprabha, 13/09/2022)

The doctor’s car arrived a good two hours later!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

I'm not very familiar with Bangalore, but these are very large IT parks right? So what happens now? Demolition? Or just fines (+ x% commission)?

I would probably guess a lot of finger pointing (BBMP -> Firms running in locations -> Real Estate firms building/managing those firms -> BBMP and Firms -> repeat); some fines and some basic levels of demolition/clean-up to showcase to the larger audience (there's already work going outside Ecospace - shifting a few poles and clearing drains).

[am1m]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

I'm not very familiar with Bangalore, but these are very large IT parks right?

Whichever government is in power, the builders will win out. The money that flows from them to officials in civic agencies and ministers of every and all parties are what wins elections. So I would be very, very, very surprised if anything really fundamental or significant changes (or gets demolished!).

What will most probably happen is a host of proposals and fanciful plans that will be used to draw more funding from the central government and emergency funds and will find their way into different pockets.

What I pray will happen is at least some cleanup and some improvement while pressure is put to complete the ORR Metro at least on schedule.

What companies can do in the meantime is spare their employees this misery and try and minimize their return to office plans. That at least will free that road for the other users and schools who really can't do their jobs without commuting. (All obviously just IMHO points.)