[Mnjdnght]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Is it just me or has anyone observed the massive increase in traffic on Bangalore roads ? I have noticed a consistent increase of 40 min of extra travel time since last week. If at 8.30 in the morning, the KR Puram flyover is clogged with traffic, then at what time will it actually be free ??

I've noticed this too and I am relating it to the sudden action from BWSSB in digging up several roads which end up making a lot of alternate routes impossible thus forcing more traffic onto main roads. Even when BWSSB gets done with their work, roads will still be rendered unusable since they don't leave it in its pre-dig state. For that we'll have to wait until the right dept. wakes up. I am not sure of the traffic dynamics around KR Puram area and hence there may be other factors at play as well.

[ankan.m.blr]

Yesterday I crossed KR Puram twice. First at 6:30 PM while going towards Hebbal from Marathalli. The traffic pile-up started from Mahadevpura EMC2 bus-stop. It took me 30 mins in pathetic stop-n-go traffic from Mahadevpura to Tin-factory. But I attribute this to peak-hour rush when people are returning home from office.Anyway, I returned via KR Puram at 11:00 PM and surprise! the Tin-factory junction was then also choc-a-block; took me a good 20 minutes to cross that section. A sumo break-down on the start of hanging-bridge made matters worse.

[joslicx]

Namma Bangalore's very own Traffic Baba



Name : Mr. Ramprasad B M
Age :64 years
Work History : served Mico ( now Bosch) company for 39 years , was the assistant finance manager in the finance department of the company. Now retired from job.

CURRENTLY : You will find him controlling and managing traffic at the 5th main cross road of the AREKERE LAYOUT near Bannergatta Road Bangalore.

He does this every day from morning 6 am to 10 am and evening 5:30 pm till 7:30 pm.
He is not employed as a traffic police officer by the government. He does this as a voluntary service to society last 5 years. He does this work every day without fail in all seasons for the society. He lives in 9th cross main road but he come from there every day morning to control the traffic and avoid jam.

We are happy and grateful for the service he does to the society - selflessly, without getting paid that too for last 5 years with a discipline of managing traffic everyday from 6 am. He stands constantly everyday and breathes the dust and pollution. When we asked him " dont your legs pain? dont you feel exhausted and thirsty after constantly blowing the whistle? dont you get bored of doing this again and again everyday and that too for free ( i mean you are not even paid for it plus the people hardly bother to thank you for your service to the society). ?

He replied i do it because someone has to do it. My legs do pain, I do get breathing problem but if i don't do then here it would be a huge traffic jam and road block. People wont reach office on time. I have done this last 5 years and no one cared. I can continue doing it till i am alive without bothering for people to care for my service. I hope the crossroad finds someone after me to manage the traffic."

This is lifted from my Facebook Wall. Has anybody from this forum noticed him? People like him make this city a better place to live than it otherwise would be. My sincere salutations to him.

[Rajeevraj]

Any idea why the minor work pending on the Intel flyover is not being done and is not being opened. I noticed that there is one portion on the end towards Marathahalli where there is a concrete drain (I think) which has not been covered and asphalted.

The work on the Belandur one seems to have slowed down to a crawl.

On the positive side noticed today that asphalting is being done in the Kadubeesanahalli underpass. Did not expect this to complete so soon.

The only inference I can make is that they want to open all three together. Anyone has any other info?

[mempheS.D]

I'm going to start ranting. That too, profusely. Without even a drop of appreciation for what happened today on BETL.

This is in reference to the incident near GB Palya earlier today. Here's the news link - http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/f...visible-290047

I was able to see thick black smoke emanating from that area from the Silk board flyover as I was approaching the BETL ramp. The smoke sure looked like something really bad had happened.
Reaction:
And then a glance at the BETL ramp! My reaction:

The express flyover was packed with vehicles while the usual Hosur Road was strangely less crowded. I decided to use the Hosur Road below the elevated highway. Saved the toll! yeah right..

2kms ahead and closer to the fire incident, I see the traffic piled up once again. At this point there was a firebrigade and ambulance growing bigger and louder in my RVM. I wish I could do something to pass them vehicles but I'm stuck!!! The traffic pile-up gradually starts inching forward as I was wondering what could be causing the traffic jam. Especially because, the road ahead seemed absolutely clear and traffic-free.

Closer, and to my horror- there are buses and cabs and riackshaws and people all on the road looking at the fire incident. Of course, its human to either care for the incident or walk away. But, this reaction from people was even worse and inhuman - all of them had their cellphones in their hands capturing pictures of the incident. Is it really that important and exciting and entertaining to catch a glimpse and shoot of a factory burning down? Especially when there's a fire brigade and ambulance trying to squeeze it's way through?
There were teenage boys running around with huge smiles glued to their faces as though they were at a 'MELA'.

At this time, a quick run down memory lane reminded me about how a colleague of mine lost his 'carrying' wife to the horrendous Carlton tower incident.

I cannot digest the fact that many (not few) STUPID people derive joy from someone else's pain that have cost the lives of many other people around. Fortunately, there have been no casualties reported today but, I doubt people would have even thought about it for a moment before capturing their "shoot of 2012".

Worse still.. I reach my destination and I hear that some extremely intelligent people thought they could get a better glimpse of the incident and decided to use the elevated highway instead of the Hosur Road that they normally take. So, the cause for the traffic jam almost 2kms long....was because some people took the joy to another level by pulling over their vehicles exactly "on" the two-lane-road instead of "by" the road and hence jamming traffic for hours together.

Wake Up people!! It could be your house that's burning next and the best part is when you are looking outside through the window for an escape route, all you will find is thousands of people outside your house capturing pictures of your last moments.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

Wake Up people!! It could be your house that's burning next and the best part is when you are looking outside through the window for an escape route, all you will find is thousands of people outside your house capturing pictures of your last moments.

Rubbernecking. Thats what it is.

Can the common "fool" be far away if our great media persons themselves indulge in it?

Remember blighted Barkha the Dutt at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay?

Perverse curiosity - much the same as what allegedly caused the tragic death of Princess Diana.

What else is Page 3 but a form of vicarious pleasure? Same as rubbernecking, give or take!

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

Wake Up people!! It could be your house that's burning next and the best part is when you are looking outside through the window for an escape route, all you will find is thousands of people outside your house capturing pictures of your last moments.

I just came here to rant about this incident, but you got here first.

I was stuck in the same jam on BETL today, but luckily I was able to get out in about 15 - 20 mins. I passed by this way at around 11:45 today and saw this jam on BETL. The reason, people had parked up their vehicles on BETL and were taking photos, videos and what not of the paint warehouse fire.

I just cannot understand this craze to capture everything on phone cameras.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

I'm going to start ranting.
And then a glance at the BETL ramp! My reaction:

The express flyover was packed with vehicles while the usual Hosur Road was strangely less crowded. I decided to use the Hosur Road below the elevated highway. Saved the toll! yeah right..

You beat me to a rant too. I wanted to but got tired of wanting to even rant about it - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post2957034

What is this inherent sick attitude of wanting to just gawk at a "spectacle" like this? What if there were casualties? Would we have been proud to capture it all on camera even then?

[NPV]

Last week on my way to Vidyaranyapura I took the Nandidurga Road and it was a harrowing experience. There was extremely slow moving traffic and then it came to complete standstill near the Brigade apartment. Up ahead were cops directing some (BBMP?) workers to fill potholes (actually huge craters!) with debris. This continued almost till the junction near the Airtel office. The road was so bad, that it needed urgent reapirs was obvious but I don't think this round of filling with debris will help much!

[vinu_h]

Courtesy BBMP's function in Bishop Cotton or on St.Marks Road, massive traffic jam from Ashok Pillar to MG road. Took me 1 hour instead of the usual 20 minutes to get from Jayanagar to Cunningham road. This is despite they having deployed 50+ traffic police rep's all over Residency and Museum road. Hire someone to improve Bangalore and they do the exact opposite.

[hrman]

Was stuck in traffic for 40 minutes today outside Palace Ground, Mekhri circle for a VVIP movement. Why don't these so-called VVIPs travel by helicopter. Doesn't anyone think of the massive waste of fuel and business loss due to the traffic stoppage? What about people in ambulances fighting for life??

Or better still like I can elect my government, let the common citizen decide whether a Neta needs to be provided security or not. Thats the least I ask for the taxes I pay!!!

There. Wanted to rant about it. Im done!!

[sam_boy]

I paid a price for being a good guy yesterday.

In my regular road to office after Varthur Police station I saw a middle aged couple carrying a kid each in their arms and waiting for the traffic to stop so that they can cross the road. Seemed the kids were not well and were covered by blankets. I was observing them from a distance and when i reached I stopped my car and waved them to cross the road. Then I heard a "Banggg" at car's rear and I found a bike guy just crashed at the rear of my car. I took my car next to the road and came out. Then immediately checked my car. There were 2-3 deep scratches on my rear bumper with a patch of black color from the bike, that was not the end of heart break. Then this bike guy teams up with 3-4 localities there and starts an argument showing his broken indicator and accusing me of applying a sudden brake. I was under the speed of 10 due to slow moving traffic and showed my hand before stopping. I m sure this guy did not see my car and just crashed into it. I was in 1st gear so there was no question of a sudden brake. Then one of the guys asked me why did I brake ? When I told them about the couple, I got the most disgusting answer. One of the guys asked me whether they were my kids !!! How insensitive people can be.

This followed by another Kannada - non kannada story. I have been staying in bangalore for last 6 years and in love with Bangalore more than many bangaloreans but these kind of one of incidents make me feel week and insecure staying in this beautiful city. Somehow managed to come out of the place with the intervention of an elderly person. I was trying to help a couple with ailing kids and look what I got. The damage to the car means a little to me, as it is still a lifeless object, but the pain which I got is more severe.

Will I do it again ? Yes, I will. I feel every one on road needs to be sensitive and respectful towards the next person. It is a necessary condition for building a good society.

[benbsb29]

Sam_boy, sorry about the ordeal you had to face. This is a regular occurence on our roads, and getting the help of local populace to make the other person submissive is their strategy. This same story plays out in every accident/incident.

Unfortunately, you would never get any support from the so-called educated folk plying on the same road.

Your best bet in this case would have been to ask them to come to the Varthur police station which is nearby and speak to the cops there. Some of them speak decent English and are co-operative. I once visited the Varthur police station and asked them to help out a guy on an Optra who was being surrounded by gangs somewhere near the turning towards Carmelaram and Gunjur village. The cops thanked me for informing and immediately took out their Bolero to go the scene.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by sam_boy

I paid a price for being a good guy yesterday.

In my regular road to office after Varthur Police station I saw a middle aged couple carrying a kid each in their arms and waiting for the traffic to stop so that they can cross the road. Seemed the kids were not well and were covered by blankets. I was observing them from a distance and when i reached I stopped my car and waved them to cross the road. Then I heard a "Banggg" at car's rear and I found a bike guy just crashed at the rear of my car. I took my car next to the road and came out. Then immediately checked my car. There were 2-3 deep scratches on my rear bumper with a patch of black color from the bike, that was not the end of heart break. Then this bike guy teams up with 3-4 localities there and starts an argument showing his broken indicator and accusing me of applying a sudden brake. I was under the speed of 10 due to slow moving traffic and showed my hand before stopping. I m sure this guy did not see my car and just crashed into it. I was in 1st gear so there was no question of a sudden brake. Then one of the guys asked me why did I brake ? When I told them about the couple, I got the most disgusting answer. One of the guys asked me whether they were my kids !!! How insensitive people can be.

This followed by another Kannada - non kannada story. I have been staying in bangalore for last 6 years and in love with Bangalore more than many bangaloreans but these kind of one of incidents make me feel week and insecure staying in this beautiful city. Somehow managed to come out of the place with the intervention of an elderly person. I was trying to help a couple with ailing kids and look what I got. The damage to the car means a little to me, as it is still a lifeless object, but the pain which I got is more severe.

Will I do it again ? Yes, I will. I feel every one on road needs to be sensitive and respectful towards the next person. It is a necessary condition for building a good society.

I too try to give priority to pedestrians; helping them to get across when other vehicles wouldn't stop. Although, in the case of a mishap, irrespective of our intentions, people are quick to point fingers at us.

You're right though. Such incidents shouldn't deter us from doing it again.

Edit: Hope you noted details of the 2 wheeler. Do complain. Bangalore Traffic Police's page on Facebook will be a good place to start.

[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Your best bet in this case would have been to ask them to come to the Varthur police station which is nearby and speak to the cops there.

I was seriously thinking the same until the elderly gentleman came and took me out of the trouble. So there was no point going there. I did not want to complain about any one.