[Horizon81]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

He said that potholes filling is complete in Electronic City, Hosur Road and Bomanahalli.

I don't know what part of Electronic City, Hosur Road and Bommanahalli he's referring to. May be he had a dream or something that the work in these areas got completed. The Begur-Manipal County-Singasandra road that comes under this area is peppered with potholes. The 80 ft road in otherwise excellent condition that connects this road to the hosur road service road is unutilized because a 30 meter patch has no surface because of an RMC plant.


In the last two weeks, two menacing potholes have formed that opens up in to drains below smack in the center of the road. God save the poor souls who doesn't spot them at night.

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

So this happened.

Bull Temple road in Basavanagudi caved in.

Aren't those jackhammer marks on the edges?

[ambivalent_98]

I don''t know if this possibility has been discussed but cant citizens , corporates adopt and maintain the roads since the administration and concerned authorities are making a complete mess of it ?
I mean we have lots of people donating money to charities as their philanthrophy , they can route a small percentage to this cause. This is for the well being of the city and common good. Maybe that way they can do a good job of it and then maintainence of well made roads will be lesser than is now.My doubt is that the road being laid is being done with substandard stuff hence it keeps getting eroded and washed away.
For eg if team-bhp as a website leads by example I am sure many of the members would donate , I am sure I would in my own small way. We will get publicity and earn good will and also be doing good for the society.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

He said that potholes filling is complete in Electronic City, Hosur Road and Bomanahalli.

Point to be inferred - Only pothole filling, no tarring of roads or anything. So what we have now are bumps all over the road, instead of potholes.
.

Let the mayor ride his 2 wheeler on Kodichikkanahalli Main road in Bommanahalli for 1 week. I bet at the end of the week he will automatically admit himself in the hospital ward for complete health check up. That's the state of affairs on that so called Main road.

[naveenroy]

I am getting tired of the Madiwala market road. They just patched it shoddily and it is back to a back-breaking road. I have re-opened my petition online at IChangeMyCity - http://www.ichangemycity.com/bangalo...adiwala-market

Please upvote.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

I am getting tired of the Madiwala market road. They just patched it shoddily and it is back to a back-breaking road. I have re-opened my petition online at IChangeMyCity - http://www.ichangemycity.com/bangalo...adiwala-market

Please upvote.

I have voted. Infact I commute on this road on a regular basis. In addition to broken tarmac, we also have potholes. Mere patchwork will not work on this road. It has to be relaid fresh.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

I don''t know if this possibility has been discussed but cant citizens , corporates adopt and maintain the roads since the administration and concerned authorities are making a complete mess of it ?
I mean we have lots of people donating money to charities as their philanthrophy , they can route a small percentage to this cause. This is for the well being of the city and common good. Maybe that way they can do a good job of it and then maintainence of well made roads will be lesser than is now.My doubt is that the road being laid is being done with substandard stuff hence it keeps getting eroded and washed away.
For eg if team-bhp as a website leads by example I am sure many of the members would donate , I am sure I would in my own small way. We will get publicity and earn good will and also be doing good for the society.

Corporates heard you.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga.../49066474.cms?

Niranjan Kirvadi, manager, WEPPIA, told Bangalore Mirror, "We have often heard of companies not being able to understand the best way to use the CSR funds. Some have their internal foundations as well, but for others it is a matter of concern. We believe this is the first step towards proving that CSR funds can be made impactful as well. We believe that the other tech parks will soon follow suit." CSR representatives of the 40 companies met regularly for the past five months and have come up with a comprehensive report on the five big challenges that Whitefield faces and for which funds will be used. The challenges identified are: Swachh Bharat, clean air, water conservation and lake rejuvenation, condition of government schools, and finally, improving the living conditions of the migrant population. The companies have also come up with proposed activities that can be carried out to tackle each of the challenges which include cleanliness drives, adopting streets, adopting parks, adopting schools, reducing vehicles, among others.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

I don''t know if this possibility has been discussed but cant citizens , corporates adopt and maintain the roads since the administration and concerned authorities are making a complete mess of it ?

Err but why? Isn't that the responsibility of the government to maintain roads? We already pay in taxes. The only problem here in India - we are not united. Let the IT guys - all across, decide one day to stay away from office - citing bad roads. Can we do that?

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Corporates heard you.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga.../49066474.cms?

It talks about CSR initiatives improving schools etc but not about improving the road surfaces and tarmac, the article says. The challenges identified are: Swachh Bharat, clean air, water conservation and lake rejuvenation, condition of government schools, and finally, improving the living conditions of the migrant population.

Corporates are not going to improve their day to day conditions with this. They are just doing something that many companies do individually (not that it is less in anyway and very noble). But the point I made was quite different. If WEPPIA could sponsor the road repair and road work from Brookefield and Whitefield for example it would be doing a great deal of good will for the local community in moving traffic smoothly and thereby reducing commute time and anguish of daily office-goers.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Err but why? Isn't that the responsibility of the government to maintain roads? We already pay in taxes. The only problem here in India - we are not united. Let the IT guys - all across, decide one day to stay away from office - citing bad roads. Can we do that?

Yes it is the governments responsibility. They have the machinery and the funds but they end up doing a very bad job and finally it is the road users who suffer. IT or non_IT does not matter.

We pay taxes but do we get bang for our buck ? No we don't. Well you can get aggressive and fight out a battle with the authorities for it. But still the roads remain potholed , shoddy and bad.

Staying away from office does not really solve the problem. Unite we must for sure.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Yes it is the governments responsibility. They have the machinery and the funds but they end up doing a very bad job and finally it is the road users who suffer. IT or non_IT does not matter.

We pay taxes but do we get bang for our buck ? No we don't. Well you can get aggressive and fight out a battle with the authorities for it. But still the roads remain potholed , shoddy and bad.

Staying away from office does not really solve the problem. Unite we must for sure.

Yes, IT or non-IT isn't the point.

Or let the IT companies pressurize the govt on the bad roads and infra. They won't. Why? Because they don't pay any taxes. The govt has provided a tax-free haven for them. Who loses? Us.

[binand]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Or let the IT companies pressurize the govt on the bad roads and infra. They won't. Why? Because they don't pay any taxes. The govt has provided a tax-free haven for them. Who loses? Us.

Where do you get this from? See:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia...rofit-loss/TCS - TCS, 5300 Cr. tax on 24500 Cr. profit.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia...profit-loss/IT - Infosys, 4600 Cr. tax on 17000 Cr. profit.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia.../profit-loss/W - Wipro, 2300 Cr. tax on 10500 Profit.

And so on. How do you say that IT companies don't pay any taxes?

[ashwin.terminat]

I have started an online petition on change.org that asks the Government of India to implement a warranty policy for roads.

T-BHP rules don't allow me to post that link here. But a Google search for "Warranty for roads India" will give you the link. Please do sign and share among your circles.

Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, we need you to mandate that all roads that are laid or repaired need to be completely relaid within a month of the breakage being reported at the cost of the contractor if the road is damaged on its own accord(digging by various agencies is not included) within five years of it being laid. And if the relaid road again gets damaged within five years, the contractor will need to relay the whole road again at his own cost within a month of the breakage being reported.

Only way to prevent the repeated shoddy work on our roads. The politicos and the contractors are laughing their way to the bank while we commute on these roads and break our backs. Not fair!

As for the discussions above, I strongly believe everyone just needs to stop paying their taxes. Paying the BBMP any taxes is a criminal waste of money because nothing is ever done with it. Stop paying the BBMP and tell them that the residents of an area will take care of the area themselves. I don't see any way to get that lumbering sloth of an organisation to work for our good.

As for this:

Originally Posted by naveenroy

The govt has provided a tax-free haven for them.

Call it a civic revolution or collective citizen activism; but whatever the Whitefield residents did under the banner 'Whitefield Rising', is ultimately paying dividends.

The area which generates Rs 26,000 crore for the state's exchequer is being allocated Rs 55 crore by the state government with immediate effect - a decision that brings tremendous relief to techies working in Whitefield and its harassed residents.

Source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/46221450.cms

Originally Posted by binand

And so on. How do you say that IT companies don't pay any taxes?

Perhaps he was referring to the SEZs created for them?

Looks like pillion riders will need to don helmets too, November onwards. Good move IMO. But what if a person who takes a bus usually decides to come with me on the bike? Will I need to carry two helmets henceforth?

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/re...vember-2127875

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Yes, IT or non-IT isn't the point.

Or let the IT companies pressurize the govt on the bad roads and infra. They won't. Why? Because they don't pay any taxes. The govt has provided a tax-free haven for them. Who loses? Us.

The tax part is not correct. They do , but getting them to lobby in the government is time consuming and will take a year at least to see the effect. Its like this. Someone who pretends to be asleep cannot be awoken. The local authorities are pretending. Even probably the very tragic deaths due to potholes is not reason enough for them to wake up.

I even thought someone might file a PIL stating that tax paid but no services given in return and thus default on tax. However this process is just too long and a commoner like me would not want to be caught up in the process of law and courts and it might take so much longer.

So united citizens doing philanthropic work and beating the civic body at its own game would be quick efficient. Anyway they would not care as they do not now.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Let the IT guys - all across, decide one day to stay away from office - citing bad roads. Can we do that?

1. The biggest opponents against such moves would not be government or any politicians. It would be the IT head-honchos themselves.
2. Secondly, for major projects etc. Disaster Recovery Plans are in place so using that people would have to run the show. Many of the senior IT people any way can "work from home". So other than making the roads look empty (and non IT folks drive happily), it would not make an impact.
3. The IT companies during the last 15+ years have cultivated a culture in which more than unity, "individualism" is nurtured. So, getting IT folks to think alike and take a day off is not going to practically materialise.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by binand

Where do you get this from? See:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia...rofit-loss/TCS - TCS, 5300 Cr. tax on 24500 Cr. profit.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia...profit-loss/IT - Infosys, 4600 Cr. tax on 17000 Cr. profit.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/financia.../profit-loss/W - Wipro, 2300 Cr. tax on 10500 Profit.

And so on. How do you say that IT companies don't pay any taxes?

I stand corrected. I was also referring to the property tax evasion by some companies. And in my defence, I remember reading that IT companies were provided a tax-free time during which they could operate in Karnataka. Has that time run out?

Originally Posted by sachinpk

1. The biggest opponents against such moves would not be government or any politicians. It would be the IT head-honchos themselves.
-------
3. The IT companies during the last 15+ years have cultivated a culture in which more than unity, "individualism" is nurtured. So, getting IT folks to think alike and take a day off is not going to practically materialise.

Perfectly put. Point 3 is why what I have suggested will not work. No one will unite. And this is why the companies push the govt each year to put away the need for bringing IT companies under labour laws.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Horizon81

The Begur-Manipal County-Singasandra road that comes under this area is peppered with potholes. The 80 ft road in otherwise excellent condition that connects this road to the hosur road service road is unutilized because a 30 meter patch has no surface because of an RMC plant...

That 30 metre patch has been there for years, and the reason is a property dispute between one of the property owners and the govt. The owner claims the "road" goes through a portion of his property, hence it is private land and the govt has no authority to let it open to public. When some good souls did what they could to make it usable by leveling it and removing some boulders, somebody dumped construction debris and dug up that complete stretch overnight.

Now the smooth stretch preceding this 30 metres is being used by "ricers" once it's late into the night.

The alternate options, that is, 9th main and the adjacent road parallel to the road where the 80ft road merges into, are dug up at regular intervals. The local populace get some tipper truck carrying loose soil to dump a little mud, after they've had enough of breaking their backs, to fill the dug up areas. During any sort of election, the authorities do a "stellar" job of re-laying the entire road, but the rains ensure that the new layer disintegrates like soaked paper