[Surya_bh00]

Originally Posted by airguitar

There seems a new phenomenon called "Drive at an angle" or "Trojan Driving" - which is you giving a perception that you are sticking to your lane, but you are driving at a small angle to the vehicle in the next lane and at an opportune moment you will put your vehicle in such a spot that the other guy cannot now move and will have to let you go. Trojan because, you will appear to be an innocent/distracted driver just lurking at the periphery of your lane until they suddenly make that move in a trice and freeze you.

I completely agree and in fact, I have been talking to many colleagues and friends about this behaviour of driving at an angle for quite sometime. Unfortunately, the driving habits in Bangalore (my observation) stems from Taxi and tempo travellers, Buses. Not only do they try to push with their muscle, but at times with the body too! And, most of us learn this trick immediately to navigate through the traffic. Apart from bad driving style causing inconvenience, I am afraid most will suffer from lifestyle diseases in due course due to the stress and anxiety they inflict on themselves and others.

[ShreyG]

Originally Posted by condor

Has happened on a few roads in South Bangalore. While the roads will become smooth for now...

So recent rains exposed the make up that was applied to make them look good. Not sure about the south side (which anyways has had pretty decent road quality compared to the rest of the city), but on the dreaded eastern side, all the patchwork / repair / make up done has been washed away. The deadly craters are back, filled to the brim, destroying hopeful travelers' dreams of a smooth commute. Crores of our Rupees wasted yet again, filling the coffers of you know who.

Come to think of it, can we really trust the sarkari nincompoops to actually be able to build the tunnels to connect the city underground? Who’s to say that they won't be simply enlarging and connecting the existing connections between lakes as roads, which would then serve as superb water storage systems, every time there is a hint of rain. It is ironic that the city becomes a river whenever it rains but we struggle and pay through our nose during the dry months (there are already warnings of zero water days for the next summer).

Personally, I simply refuse to accept they have the capability and know how to conduct such an extensive experiment. More or less, anytime a new infra project has been opened admidst full bore, shameless fanfare, it is too less, too late and of horrible quality (does not matter who is in the state guv)

[condor]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

Not sure about the south side (which anyways has had pretty decent road quality compared to the rest of the city),..

One cannot generalise.

Two parallel roads from Jayanagar 4th block - one towards Raghavendra Math, and then to Ring road: It's forever bad. Almost 2.5km. A smaller length of a parallel road that goes towards the Jayanagar Tel exchange - again bad. These are just two examples I can give. And both these roads are in prime locations.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

Personally, I simply refuse to accept they have the capability and know how to conduct such an extensive experiment. More or less, anytime a new infra project has been opened admidst full bore, shameless fanfare, it is too less, too late and of horrible quality (does not matter who is in the state guv)

Dont we already have tunnels for metro and in mountains ? The road tunnels will be sheltered from rain at the openings unlike our underpasses. Also, the same people who build metro tunnels will build these. If things are designed right, it should not face any problems. Our infrastructure is designed to fail. Funding is not an issue, you get loans. So whatever fraction of money goes for personal coffers still needs to keep happening. Development has to keep happening but not for you and me !

Also, its the maintenance of roads thats really bad. They do a band aid which is not stable with the underlying road. I think they should use only concrete to patch up roads which is much stronger. We have done this in our area when BBMP doesnt even know about our road conditions.

I am not proposing tunnels since its very expensive and not needed.

[Rajeevraj]

It is so sad to see that 1-2 hour thunderstorm rains of not more than 30-40mm on an average is now sufficient to send everybody scrambling. Roads get flooded, schools promptly declare holiday, companies WFH and the media is like Bangalore is under heavy deluge.

In most parts of the country, including other metros and cities, such rains would be completely uneventful. The deterioration in the quality of life here with no light at the end of the tunnel is quite depressing.

[gtonsing]

I am no expert in this but being a road user, I think most (if not all) of our Bangalore roads are badly designed. For example, I was coming from Commercial street and headed to Phoenix Market city yesterday around 1pm. Roads are relatively clear with Sunday afternoon traffic reduced as expected. However, it is very difficult to drive at a reasonable speed for whatever reasons. It just seems impossible to achieve a good speed even on relatively empty roads within the city.

When I returned from Phoenix Market city around 10 pm, even then, the road to home on ORR was relatively empty (compared to my weekday office commutes) but I was taking the same amount of time to travel the distance. So, I conclude (without expert knowledge) that it much be the design because even with less vehicles on road, I am taking a similar amount of time to cross the same distance. I would love to be proven wrong.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

It is so sad to see that 1-2 hour thunderstorm rains of not more than 30-40mm on an average is now sufficient to send everybody scrambling. Roads get flooded, schools promptly declare holiday, companies WFH and the media is like Bangalore is under heavy deluge.

In most parts of the country, including other metros and cities, such rains would be completely uneventful. The deterioration in the quality of life here with no light at the end of the tunnel is quite depressing.

Thats a different issue of hype. Last 2/3 weeks 2 people were lynched in road rage in Pune and Hyderabad (?). Imagine something here and I am sure it would have appeared in NY Times, BBC etc.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

It is so sad to see that 1-2 hour thunderstorm rains of not more than 30-40mm on an average is now sufficient to send everybody scrambling. Roads get flooded, schools promptly declare holiday, companies WFH and the media is like Bangalore is under heavy deluge.

Logged in actually to comment on the same.

Not sure how other cities fare, Bangalore is under a serious threat of getting into this situation where a mild rain leaves the city in a mess with schools shutting down and offices going WFH. And these rains doesn't even continuously last more than an hour in one shot. Roads gets logged with water, traffic gets worse and the entire life outside home goes for a toss.

Irony is, and then starts the administration setting up control rooms, helplines etc to address the issues - the question is why not such measures taken proactively and prevent it happenening.

A massive layout development by one of the prominent group which is adjacent to our community is filled with half a fee of water. So does the place belongs to nature or the builder and where would this water go once everything is concretized.

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

. It is ironic that the city becomes a river whenever it rains but we struggle and pay through our nose during the dry months (there are already warnings of zero water days for the next summer).

Yeah, the reason is many people simply open up their roof drains to the streets, causing additional water to build up, which they could have either sent to their Rain water harvesting system or at the least to the sewerage system.

Another point is that the the storm water drain system is not available at each street level but only along major roads, which affects clearance of the water buildup upstream of the main road.

Originally Posted by ShreyG

Personally, I simply refuse to accept they have the capability and know how to conduct such an extensive experiment. More or less, anytime a new infra project has been opened admidst full bore, shameless fanfare, it is too less, too late and of horrible quality (does not matter who is in the state guv)

Well some of the blame lies with us too. In the name of saving cost, we disregard certain building codes and then pay off the inspecting agent/authority.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

If things are designed right, it should not face any problems. Our infrastructure is designed to fail.

That is because the intentions behind such schemes are not really not good. The wellness and comfort of the common citizen is the lower most priority.

Also, its the maintenance of roads thats really bad. They do a band aid which is not stable with the underlying road.

I have heard this from multiple mannine magas (sons of the soils and not even from IT etc.). The state is struggling with its finances. They really don't have money for any major rework. Things gets worse in areas in outer side of city limits (or are in the Bangalore Rural district). Roads have been in bad state for nearly 1-2 years, rains or other wise.

Originally Posted by Jazzybala

Another point is that the the storm water drain system is not available at each street level but only along major roads, which affects clearance of the water buildup upstream of the main road.

Storm water drains are also used as sewage & garbage pits. Last Tuesday (15th Oct) I saw a JCB in action at Silkboard (towards Madiwala PS side). It was busy clearing huge piles of garbage which was found in the storm water drain in the area. It was raining pretty steadily that morning, yet the JCB driver (and the policemen) were trying their best to get the water flowing.

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Not sure how other cities fare, Bangalore is under a serious threat of getting into this situation where a mild rain leaves the city in a mess with schools shutting down and offices going WFH. And these rains doesn't even continuously last more than an hour in one shot. Roads gets logged with water, traffic gets worse and the entire life outside home goes for a toss.

There are smaller (tier 3) towns in US who similarly shut down when it snows. They know that its not going to snow heavily more than 3-4 days a year, and their town finances do not justify spending on the machinery it takes beyond the usual salting. So they have made peace with snow and it becomes a play day for the kids.

Bangalore by any measure is a tier 1 city in India which has arrived at a similar conclusion. Not by planning, not by someone from showing the BBMP the lack of finances, not via any debate. This conclusion has been forced on the citizens of this city by the sheer incompetence and corruption of its leaders.

People who talk of 'viksit bharat' and 'smart city bangalore' should not have much difficulty in finding a water logged street or a crater sized pothole and jump right in.

PS: This is not a political rant, all parties who operate in Bangalore are equal opportunity offenders because we the citizens ignore competence and vote by looking at the surname of the candidate instead.

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

In most parts of the country, including other metros and cities, such rains would be completely uneventful. The deterioration in the quality of life here with no light at the end of the tunnel is quite depressing.

Equally, the common people have become craven. I woke up at 5 to a bit of lighting and thunder and my children's school group was already flooded with messages 'Oh how do we send our kids to school', 'it's dangerous', 'I don't want them to get marooned in the bus', 'hope we have a holiday' etc. I know for a fact that none of the roads are dangerous in this context and when I woke up it was the last thing on my mind if the kids would go to school or not - cause the rains were not that scary (and as you pointed out, people in other cities take more rain without whimpering away to glory).

Overall, many folks in the society (educated, reasonably well-off, safe ) don't get to see real dangers in life so we start playing up the smallest of inconveniences as grave dangers. I'm not absolving the guys in charge of the infra surely, but just pointing to the bits about how common people react to small things as well ( and that translates to social media outrage, which in turn leads extreme decisions etc )

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Equally, the common people have become craven. I woke up at 5 to a bit of lighting and thunder and my children's school group was already flooded with messages 'Oh how do we send our kids to school', 'it's dangerous', 'I don't want them to get marooned in the bus', 'hope we have a holiday' etc. I know for a fact that none of the roads are dangerous in this context and when I woke up it was the last thing on my mind if the kids would go to school or not - cause the rains were not that scary (and as you pointed out, people in other cities take more rain without whimpering away to glory).

While your point is also true, my comment was more on how the infrastructure cannot even handle rains that are non-events in most other places. I do empathize with the parents dread also. Like the situation that happened in the rains of last Tuesday in Panathur-ORR area, a place notorious for jams and floods. Multiple school buses were stuck for hours and ultimately parents and officials had to bring tractors and JCBs to offload the kids. While elder kids can still cope, the trauma small 4-7year old kids go through in such situations is not insignificant. Of course, there will be lot of people encountering worse situations, but my point was no one should have to deal with such situations happening which is primarily due to a failure of the government bodies in effectively doing their jobs.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/in...-12842724.html

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

I have heard this from multiple mannine magas (sons of the soils and not even from IT etc.). The state is struggling with its finances. They really don't have money for any major rework. Things gets worse in areas in outer side of city limits (or are in the Bangalore Rural district). Roads have been in bad state for nearly 1-2 years, rains or other wise.

Not sure about the finances. Depends on who you ask. Govt keeps allocating funds for many projects as evident from newspaper reports. Maybe huge projects might face some financial difficulties but there are loans for that.

IMD does not have rain monitoring stations everywhere. RR Nagar received total 177mm in 2 days and 106 mm on Saturday. Kengeri received 140mm according to weather union who collect data from private stations. Problem with rains is the drainage is slow which causes water logging.

[balenoed_]

And the funny thing is there is no rain since morning and infact brighter and sunnier than usual.