[capnemo]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

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.

So true. Boundaries are blurring during the weekend as well, as a fellow BHPian has highlighted below.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

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.

I am somebody who has voted in every civic, state and national election till now, but your opinion is true and spurs so much sadness.

This city had so much potential in terms of quality of life. Weather, greenery, civic planning by the forefathers, jobs, educated citizens !

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

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.

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.

Reminds me of the time I had to catch a flight to attend to a medical procedure for a loved one in my home town. 4 in the morning, raining cats & dogs. A dip on the Hebbal flyover, yes a flyover of all places, is inundated with chest-deep water. We were stranded on the flyover - neither moving forward, nor able to go back, for 1 hour. I made it just in time after somebody had the good sense to unclog the blocked drains and let the inundated water recede.

That place sure is a hell-hole in so many unexpected ways.

[ShreyG]

Originally Posted by 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."

This is so true. Given that Bengaluru is a rented city, even the politicos don't give two hoots about it.

My recent trip to Mysore led to a lot of frustration against the current / previous political class and bureaucracy. You look at Mysore and see that it is not lack of capability that is the issue, it is only the lack of will and a complete, rowdy mindset to loot everything that emanates from Bangalore e.g. it rained almost the entire time while I was there (the full weekend) and not once did I encounter any standing water whereas we, in the fabled Bangalore city, have 2 feet of water accumulated (on bridges nonetheless) in a minor splash and dash.

The loot mindset seems to be ingrained in every strata of life of the city. On the way back, there was a massive 5kms jam on the entry of the city, all because there is a huge restaurant / food joint right opposite the Panchmukhi temple (fortunately the road is no longer cratered but let's see how long that lasts ). Car volumes are obviously huge, with a lot of them wanting to visit this particular restaurant which causes commuter to cut across 5 lanes causing a massive cascading effect. BTP seems to be trying their best but there is only so much that can be done.

One, albeit faint, silver lining is the traffic discipline I observed during this massive jam. There was very little honking and no unnecessary lane cutting. Of course there was an odd idiot (sorry to be stereotypical but a KL70, black tinted Thar) that was causing havoc, but otherwise everyone around was on their best behavior.

Kudos to us, the commuters to keep a calm head amidst this failure of an entry to point towards the city. Not sure of what the planning was, but it is baffling how the BME did not directly connect with the NICE road to keep the flow on. I am sure another hairbrained tactic to cause maximum inconvenience and sabotage any kind of comfortable commute that could have been possible

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

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.

Curious to understand what satisfies these criteria? I would add some greenery (e.g. a park) at a walking distance; if not within the society. Very vital for that age group especially.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

a complete, rowdy mindset to loot everything that emanates from Bangalore

That’s because its a mix of low-hanging-fruit, effort reward ratios and bigger stakes.

Rowdies wouldn’t loot stuff from a Malavalli or a Srirangapatna. Not worth their time.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Curious to understand what satisfies these criteria? I would add some greenery (e.g. a park) at a walking distance; if not within the society. Very vital for that age group especially.

We checked a few options in localities along Mysore Road and finally settled on a large gated community just beyond Kengeri.

In their budget, plenty of open space, dedicated walking paths, benches to sit around the campus, decent greenery and importantly, a sizeable retiree community to mingle with.

Under 10 minute drive to Rajarajeshwari Medical College campus, ~15 mins to BGS Gleneagles (Uttarahalli Rd) via internal residential roads, Fortis Nagarbhavi is under 30 mins away via NICE Rd (Kengeri-Hosakerehalli interchanges), and we could if/when needed, get to the biggies on Bannerghatta Rd (Fortis, Apollo and others) reasonably conveniently using NICE Rd too. NICE also makes getting in & out of town in multiple directions very convenient for still-loves-to-drive Appa


Challaghatta metro is across the road from the medical college, and Kengeri metro the same distance (accessible via an internal road), safer for them as no highway crossing involved (though Challaghatta has now added a pedestrian skybridge a bit further down the road). The community runs shuttles periodically through the day to the two metro stops (BMTC route for the area also terminates inside the campus), and autos are easily available too, so they don't have to worry about last mile connectivity or driving themselves to & fro.

Has its pros and and cons like anywhere else, but they're pretty satisfied with it overall.

[ShreyG]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Rowdies wouldn’t loot stuff from a Malavalli or a Srirangapatna. Not worth their time.

Exactly. And best of all is the smoke screen created in the garb of being the protector and savior of the language & culture, creating, nearly violence driven, divide between the apparent "local" population and "rude and ungrateful outsiders".

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

...though Challaghatta has now added a pedestrian skybridge a bit further down the road...

Oh that's new! When did this come up? I use the Metro to Challaghatta about once a month, crossing the highway was always a pain. Good to hear this is an option now!

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by am1m

Oh that's new! When did this come up? I use the Metro to Challaghatta about once a month, crossing the highway was always a pain. Good to hear this is an option now!

A bit down the road where the U-turn under the expressway is. I saw the nearly complete structure a while ago. Not sure if it's open to public yet, should hopefully be soon.

[null]

Traffic seems to be muted around Majestic area off late. For last few weeks, I am commuting through the cottonpet main road towards Jayanagar and I am seeing smooth moving traffic most of the times. This never was the case few months ago. Can't visually see any changes for this to happen. I comfort myself thinking I was probably expecting worse, and hence the feeling of good because it is much better than expected.

Anyone else experienced this?

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

This is so true. Given that Bengaluru is a rented city, even the politicos don't give two hoots about it.

The loot mindset seems to be ingrained in every strata of life of the city. On the way back, there was a massive 5kms jam on the entry of the city, all because there is a huge restaurant / food joint right opposite the Panchmukhi temple (fortunately the road is no longer cratered but let's see how long that lasts ). Car volumes are obviously huge, with a lot of them wanting to visit this particular restaurant which causes commuter to cut across 5 lanes causing a massive cascading effect. BTP seems to be trying their best but there is only so much that can be done.

it is baffling how the BME did not directly connect with the NICE road to keep the flow on. I am sure another hairbrained tactic to cause maximum inconvenience and sabotage any kind of comfortable commute that could have been possible

First there was only Kadamba; now Srisailam, Rajatagiri, and some new restaurant have come up around the same place. On weekends this place looks like any temple, with devotees thronging to get a glimpse of the food inside. This is definitely not due to hunger but more due to our taste buds, which always look to eat something. Our fellow citizens have once again proved that we do not deserve such expressways, and we will go to any extent to kill the initiative. After 6:00 pm every day, this place resembles Silk Board and very shortly will compete with Tin Factory in terms of traffic density.

[ShreyG]

So in essence, top entry / exit points to the city are choked up completely -

1. From Chennai - From Krishnagiri side, thanks to the massive NL and AR registered buses competing with BMTCs on the Hebbal to Chandrapura along with horrible bus stand planning (Buses take up 2.5 lanes out of the 3 at Silk Board). You can expect traffic even during late evening hours. Additionally, the goon run Attibele toll has its moments as well

2. From Hyderabad / Airport - Hebbal flyover. The less said, the better

3. From Mysore (BME) - New restaurants right between the NICE junction and end of BME, causing kilometers of jam

4. From Tumkur - The craziness starts about 70kms from Bangalore and finally culminates at the Gorguntepalya station

5. From Chennai (2) - Starting from Budigere cross with crazy jams at traffic lights with KR Puram acting as the focal choke point here. A metro station, a major train station and makeshift intercity bus stand all at one point. What else can be expected

So not only is moving within the city painful, but entering and leaving the city is now also a task in its own. All the time saved from those massive expressways is totally neutralized by careful planning of greed by these politicos. Shame!

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by ShreyG

So in essence, top entry / exit points to the city are choked up completely -

2. From Hyderabad / Airport - Hebbal flyover. The less said, the better

So not only is moving within the city painful, but entering and leaving the city is now also a task in its own. All the time saved from those massive expressways is totally neutralized by careful planning of greed by these politicos. Shame!

Even for this route, the problems start some 40kms ahead. The STRR-NH44 intersection is a mess. U-Turns for heavy vehicles to enter NH44 from STRR Hosakote side. The left from NH44 to Hosakote-STRR is very narrow. This junction needed a proper interchange.
Numerous signals after that till Airport toll.

It will be even worse once the BLR-Vijayawada expressway via NH44 is ready.

[Rajeevraj]

On the topic of Medical Facilities- Sarjapur Road seems to be becoming a area with a lot of them (In addition to the schools and tech parks). There is already Manipal Hospital(Iblur Jn), Rainbow Children's Hospital(Near Iblur ORR), Motherhood(Ambalipura), Cloud Nine(Kaikondrahalli), Natus(Near Carmelaram), Belenus Champion(Carmelaram). In addition - Sparsh Hospital(again Carmelaram) is ready to open and Aster has announced a Hospital in the same area. Apollo also is apparently going to take over Belenus Champion.

So that is 4 Multi/Super specialty, 4 Women/Children hospitals in a 5km stretch. With all this activity happening, there is still no immediate plans at all to improve/enhance the infra of Sarjapur Road and no wonder the road is becoming a parking lot.

Only silver lining is that in case of emergency, getting to at least one of these hospitals will be easy for residents of Sarjapur Road.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Only silver lining is that in case of emergency, getting to at least one of these hospitals will be easy for residents of Sarjapur Road.

The problem I foresee is that the Sarjapura Road (from ORR Jn at Iblur till the town of Sarjapura) has now become more like a market street. Road is not wide, and big commercial establishments on both sides. During the school open & closing time, even the Traffic Police have given up and just say that - "there is traffic jam on SJP Road, due to too many vehicles on the road. It will subside, when the vehicles get away".

And the interior roads in this area (connecting to the main Sarajapura Road) is even in a worse condition (in areas near Dommasandra etc.). A drive on that road, itself may cause a visit to the hospital.

Note: Can't believe around 20-25 years back that this a road, which did not even have BMTC buses plying. Few Ka. SRTC buses plied and few private buses like Lava Kusha Transport which even permitted people to travel on the roof of the bus.

[whitewing]

While we are ranting, we ought to be grateful that we haven't reach the levels of engineering reached near penukonda Location: https://www.google.com/maps/@14.1747...5819821,33252m

Came across this is a redit sub