[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

A Brand New Multi Thousand Crore Scam Loading...-->https://www.timesnownews.com/bengalu...icle-151825720

Another scheme seems to be in the works to further inflate real estate prices within 120kms of Bangalore. I am sure, builders and their benefactors will immediately start buying up plots of land to build huge apartment complexes and tech parks to sell, just a few minutes walking from the nearest RRTS station (which may never actually come up). Similar milking from the metro seems to have reached saturation. (Yellow line, ahem ahem)

No way will the start government even dare to allow any form of convenience to the general population of Bangalore. Just another likely scheme to fund the next set of elections. Center, as usual, seems to be least interested in developing this part of the country.

After renaming Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South, they want Tumakuru to be part of Bengaluru now.

Its time we named the state Bengaluru to inflate everything

[Oppanna]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Residency Road!

https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/ben...363-2025-05-30

The road is opened for traffic however the edges are still incomplete. There is almost 2 feet gap between the road and footpath.

[sachinpk]

Not a rant per-se. Two weeks back I happened to travel to Thrissur town (in Kerala) by train. The train reached Thrissur station at around 5:45AM. The home I wanted to go was around 7kms away from the station.

At the station there was a small counter, manned by a police man. The auto rickshaws waited patiently in a line. Each passenger pays Rs. 1 as service charge, and the police man issues a token with the destination & approximate fare. The immediate rickshaw available in the queue gets assigned and drives off with the passenger.

For a distance of 7km, and travel before 6:00AM the fare was Rs. 63/- as shown in the meter. And I rounded it off to Rs. 70/-.

From Chandapura (suburb of Bangalore), distance to my home is pretty much the same. And the auto rickhsaw fare I pay is usually Rs. 200 to Rs. 250. And that is if I qualify; after a strict "interview process" by the driver.

Just thought about the greed and looting which happens in Bengaluru side. And how a strong law enforcement can also make a difference.

And now read this as well. Auto-rickshaw fares in Bengaluru set to rise, unions demand minimum fare of Rs 40.

[condor]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Just thought about the greed and looting which happens in Bengaluru side. And how a strong law enforcement can also make a difference. .

Once upon a time, Bangalore had this system. But this was long before Ola & Uber came and screwed up the system.

[dass]

Originally Posted by condor

Once upon a time, Bangalore had this system. But this was long before Ola & Uber came and screwed up the system.

Not far off, Mysore still has this system, at least at the railways station and it works.

The Babus who make the rules, need to ensure the on ground implementation is adhered to as well. But we all know that never happens, not in Bengaluru at least.

[wildsdi5530]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

From Chandapura (suburb of Bangalore), distance to my home is pretty much the same. And the auto rickhsaw fare I pay is usually Rs. 200 to Rs. 250. And that is if I qualify; after a strict "interview process" by the driver.

This is Bangalore. We have to maintain a high cost of living. How can you compare prices in Trissur to Bangalore? Even KFC is cheaper there.

The auto driver has to pay much higher bribes, local fines are higher, our potholes are deeper, traffic is more unruly. When everything else is higher how can the rates be comparable?

Originally Posted by condor

Once upon a time, Bangalore had this system. But this was long before Ola & Uber came and screwed up the system.

Originally Posted by dass

The Babus who make the rules, need to ensure the on ground implementation is adhered to as well. But we all know that never happens, not in Bengaluru at least.

Most autodrivers earn in commissions on real estate and other deals and esp during elections and other such activities. Why would they ever agree to come under municipal control. When even BMTC and Metro are profit driven corporates, why should the private auto drivers be public minded?

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Why would they ever agree to come under municipal control. When even BMTC and Metro are profit driven corporates, why should the private auto drivers be public minded?

Again, this note is after seeing where the laws exists and actually are implemented. Auto rickshaws & Taxis actually come under public services, which means that people operating such vehicles have certain obligations to the public. Earlier there was a separate test/exam for operating such vehicles and a "badge" was issued or endorsed on the license book. Even profit driven corporations like Metro or BMTC buses have a fixed fare stage system, and they cannot change ticket fares without due process of law, and also cannot deny services to any fare paying passenger (i.e. no "interviews" before boarding the vehicle).

In few towns/cities in Kerala, auto rickshaws also have another "permit" (and a number), and only with that they can ply and pick up passengers from the town/city limit. The number of permits are limited, and to increase the numbers the decision is taken at the Municipal Council or Municipal Corporation level. So much so that, now old rickshaw drivers actually sell their old permits at premium prices to new auto rickshaw drivers.

The problem of auto rickshaw drivers in Bangalore seems to be a very long history of tolerating their non-sense behaviour (by public & police), as well as a big chunk of them being also the goons-on-demand-24/7 of the local politicians. In Kerala, this was never the case and that state had other groups like the head-load workers unions playing that role.

[capnemo]

Another ORR rant.

Things have gone so rapidly downhill in the last 2 weeks.

The service roads and main carriageway near Embassy Tech Village are perennially clogged, showing a deep red from around 4 pm itself.

Had a fellow resident who took 2.5 hours to cover 9 odd kms in the evening. That was the same day that my kid's school bus took more than 1 hour 10 min to cover 9 km and reach home even after starting before 3 pm, a distance that usually takes 25 min.

I shudder to think about bringing my aged parents to live in Bangalore, they have regular medical visits. And forget emergencies, there is no way we can even think about stepping out in the mornings or evenings here for routine visits to their doctor.

How are you folks staying sane amidst all this? Is there absolutely no recourse that us citizens have?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by capnemo

Another ORR rant.
I shudder to think about bringing my aged parents to live in Bangalore, they have regular medical visits. And forget emergencies, there is no way we can even think about stepping out in the mornings or evenings here for routine visits to their doctor.

If you have to bring you parents to Bangalore, better to stay in close proximity to a preferred hospital away from the IT Corridor. In an emergency during weekdays, there is nothing anyone can do even if they want to. That is how choked the roads are.

Originally Posted by capnemo

How are you folks staying sane amidst all this? Is there absolutely no recourse that us citizens have?

I am generally a very calm person and attempt to not get stressed out by this chaos. Having said that, I must admit that I have also reached a stage where I am unable to do this. I mentioned in another thread yesterday. Commuting has become a soul sucking mind numbing affair, and this is with my relatively short commute of 5-6km. I don't know how people commuting to ORR from far off places manage it.

There is also no off-peak hour now. In order to manage, commuters seem to be trying to stagger their timings and because there are so many people commuting, all slots are the same now. Morning peak hour ends only by 1PM and the evening peak hour starts by 3PM.

Absolutely no solutions in the horizon. This is a frog boiled in hot water scenario. We are slowly being cooked without realizing it. There should have been a massive visionary push on road, rail, metro infrastructure for the area bounded by ORR-Sarjapur Road- Varthur Road- Hosur Road maybe back in 2010s when it was very clear that this area is going to explode. Now it is too late to fix anything. Blue Line ORR Metro is the sole big project that is coming. Expect it to be operational maybe 2-3 years from now, Sarjapur Road Metro is 10 years away. Suburban Rail is stuck. No big road infra projects are happening or planned. Unlikely that anything can happen now as the area is too built up already.

Companies also don't seem to care. More and more full time return to work is being mandated, new companies keep taking up space in the same corridors and generally don't seem to care about the commute issues.

In short-No solutions.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by capnemo

How are you folks staying sane amidst all this? Is there absolutely no recourse that us citizens have?

I’ve been on and on about this since a while now.

Bangalore does not have a Master Plan.

There is no Metropolitan Planning Committee.

While most if not all large cosmopolitan cities across the globe have hundreds and thousands of master planners and qualified competent city planners employed by the government, out state government has employed none.

There is no Mayor. There are no elected representatives in the Municipal Government because elections have not been conducted for over 5 years.

BBMP is not being run the way it should.

All this is in violation of The Constitution.

The present state government has now introduced new legislation called the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, to essentially legalise all these violations and remove all forms of citizen participation.

All this is terribly unconstitutional. But it is the way it is because of the poor citizen participation and poor voter turn out.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by capnemo

...

I shudder to think about bringing my aged parents to live in Bangalore, they have regular medical visits...

When my parents decided to move to Bangalore in 2022 after 40+ years outside the state, the only requirements (in addition to the usual paperwork due diligence) I enforced on their choice of property were:

1. Proximity to medical facilities
2. Proximity to Metro
3. More than one way in & out

It's tragically amusing just how much of Bangalore fails these bare minimum requirements.

[drive2eternity]

Originally Posted by capnemo

I shudder to think about bringing my aged parents to live in Bangalore, they have regular medical visits. And forget emergencies, there is no way we can even think about stepping out in the mornings or evenings here for routine visits to their doctor.

How are you folks staying sane amidst all this? Is there absolutely no recourse that us citizens have?

This exact scenario happened in my house today. It was not for a medical emergency rather a second consultation, recommended by a family friend that we had to go to MS Ramaiah from Sarjapur Road.
Totally unavoidable situation.

Anyway, the appointment was set for 1:30pm and we left at 12 from home. Following AET junction> Ecoworld> ORR route. Crossing AET took 10mins and then ORR was mostly fine but a few places had slow crawl. And then we reached Hebbal where it was madness. Somehow managed to cross it and finally reached the hospital at 2:15pm. That is 2 hours 15mins for 29kms on a Saturday afternoon!!

Started back at 3:45pm, it had rained, skies were dark and maps showed the route inside the city, not via ORR.
Multiple jams and crawls later, reached home at 6:15pm. That is 2 hours 30 mins for 27kms.

All in all, my Saturday was spent driving 55kms in 4 hours 45 mins, an average speed of 12 kmph.

Colossal waste of time, fuel, money and mental health!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

In short-No solutions.

I really thought Sarjapur junction to Marathahalli on the ORR is the biggest pain ever. Then I realized Manyata and Hebbal are even bigger black holes of traffic.

And many rightly think, that despite an enablement of Metro on these sections, traffic wont come down at all. But I still hope they bring up the Blue line from KR Puram to Belandur if that can be brought up early (assuming the Byappanahalli Metro Depot comes up)

And god save us all when it rains. Driving below the "Metro Waterfall" is a big hazard too.

[sachinpk]

"I do believe Bengaluru is a rented city. Everyone rents it. No one owns it. In this harsh statement lies the truth. We make the best out of the city, but do not give back to it what it deserves."
From a very timely article from Deccan Herald news paper. Up, down and forward: What's in store for Brand Bengaluru?

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Having said that, I must admit that I have also reached a stage where I am unable to do this. I mentioned in another thread yesterday. Commuting has become a soul sucking mind numbing affair, and this is with my relatively short commute of 5-6km.

I am lucky that I stay outside the city limits, and also not a party animal. So no interests in movie theatres, malls etc. Two days I have to commute to office (21kms one way), and now I leave home at around 7:00AM. Breakfast & Lunch during these days are from a hotel near the office. I start my journey back at around 3:00PM. I have been waiting for the yellow line metro to commence operations, but looks like it is a long wait. Age is also catching up, and ideally we should have been focusing on reducing stress by now. But here in Bangalore, it is the reverse.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

But it is the way it is because of the poor citizen participation and poor voter turn out.

The rented city statement in the news paper article, refers to the above only :(. There is complete apathy from the governing bodies, and if there are any major concerns raised they have "attention diversion tactics", with the latest tactic being the language related issues.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by ampere

I really thought Sarjapur junction to Marathahalli on the ORR is the biggest pain ever. Then I realized Manyata and Hebbal are even bigger black holes of traffic.

As a daily user of this road for decade+ now, here is my perspective. The Sarjapur to Marathalli junction atleast has the vague excuse of a number of software companies lining their roads contributing to the volume, there is just Manyata on the the Hebbal-KR Puram stretch. The fiasco in this stretch is purely man made. Back in the days, the sharp right anglish curve near Ramurthy Nagar and the bus stops near Ramurthy Nagar, Kalyan Nagar, HRBR Layout and Nagavara used to be the hotspots on an otherwise smooth traffic. Hebbal used to be a pain point but not a nightmare.

Then the construction nonsense started. First it was white topping, then it was constructing the cross Manyata ramp and finally the metro construction. The roads have been a mess for more than 8+ years now. Today it takes me 15 minutes just to clear the Hebbal signal on the way to Manyata and it takes me 25 minutes to go from Hebbal to get on to the Nagavara Ramp all because the 2 lanes in each way have turned into 1.5 lane or 1 lane in few places. Add to it the heavy truck traffic between 10AM and 3PM and again 8PM to 6AM and throw in the rains, the road is hell on earth!