[Sangre]

Had been sitting in my company shuttle near Kadubisanahalli jn. for the last half an hour. Just cleared the jn. Road towards Bellandur looks choc-a-bloc from the top of the underpass. Towards m'halli looks surprisingly clear. Hopefully stays like this till Domlur.

[sansvk]

From Domlur signal towards Manipal hospital is jammed. Possibly because 2 wheelers had parked under the flyover to avoid the rain. I took the left towards Indiranagar to reach home.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

It seems it didnt rain in Mahadevapura and beyond areas!!!

Rained in Marathahalli and beyond Mahadevapura (towards KR Puram), but nothing beyond a momentary slight drizzle in the stretch betwixt.

[Sangre]

Took about an hour from Kadubisanahalli jn. till Domlur. Reached around 9PM.
It was pretty smooth throughout apart from the Total Mall Signal near Murugeshpalya. Spent about 20 minutes near the signal.

Raining in Domlur currently.

[JD1]

Once again Kadubeesanahalli became swimming pool today! ORR is still jam between Doddanekundi till Agara flyover. Agara junction is in mess and 27th Main HSR layout is fully jam as well due to standstill ORR traffic.
This is 3rd time in last few days when traffic moving from Agara towards Iblur junction is standstill due to water logging. Looks like best to avoid ORR during monsoon. If nothing has been done so far, nothing will be done now. Only 2018 can save us.

[joslicx]

Thank God I took the bus today. From marathalli to Intel flyover it was only 2 hours in the bus. But my God what a mess under the flyover!! Not an inch of space, all the roads and side roads totally gridlocked. This was one horrible evening. Not taking the car out on any day there's any chance of rain.

[Chetan_Rao]

My boss left office in Doddanekundi @10PM. Last I heard from him around 12 Midnight, he was still @ Ecospace.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

My boss left office in Doddanekundi @10PM. Last I heard from him around 12 Midnight, he was still @ Ecospace.

Originally Posted by joslicx

From marathalli to Intel flyover it was only 2 hours in the bus.

Originally Posted by JD1

Once again Kadubeesanahalli became swimming pool today! ORR is still jam between Doddanekundi till Agara flyover. Agara junction is in mess and 27th Main HSR layout is fully jam as well due to standstill ORR traffic.
This is 3rd time in last few days when traffic moving from Agara towards Iblur junction is standstill due to water logging. Looks like best to avoid ORR during monsoon. If nothing has been done so far, nothing will be done now. Only 2018 can save us.

Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday was a new record for the traffic on ORR. This is the state of it at 2330 hours:



And to add to the horrid stories,
My cousin - Left whitefield at 1815, reached home in BSK 3rd stage at 2330hrs that too after getting down from her bus in silk board at 2300 and coming with another cousin in car.

Another cousin - Parked her car in ecospace, walked out till the road and came in her colleagues car - At 2230 hrs. Thats because she couldnt move out of ecospace for one hour.

Third cousin - No office cab since it was stuck in traffic, no uber, finally got another cab at 2300 hrs.

The government has made a hogwash of laying roads. Instead of sorting these issues, they have permitted the construction of another tech park right next to the chain of tech parks near Ecospace.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by audioholic

The government has made a hogwash of laying roads. Instead of sorting these issues, they have permitted the construction of another tech park right next to the chain of tech parks near Ecospace.

Is work from home the only solution to this mess. IMO companies should start identifying teams that need to come to office / can come to office on need basis say once in 2 weeks. By doing so, that many vehicles can go off the roads. Most important aspect, productivity will be lot better. This spineless govt is devoid of brains.

[dark.knight]

When I was a kid in the mid-late 90's, I remember this city had a unique charm to it.. Bangalore never was meant to be a big city type, we were all used to a small, quaint life when people flocked into their homes well before 9 p.m and started their day early in the crisp weather. Traffic was never a bother for anyone and public transport worked well with auto drivers readily willing to take anyone to any destination and tender exact change (today that is unimaginable), and buses arriving on time with about 10% seats available at all times. Areas like Sarjapura and Old Airport Road were literally unheard of and were army areas in those days. The main developed areas of the city consisted of that little stretch from Johnson market to Residency Road and then St.Marks Road & M.G/Brigade Road. Also pubs were more like the Olde English Pub's where there was no loud music, no "hip" factor.. rather a dimly lit, quiet place where beer was served (not that I drank but I was aware of that). The only known semi-posh residential areas were Indiranagar, Jayanagar & Koramangala (a distant 3rd), although today Koramangala has jumped to the top by a huge margin. The weather used to be bright yet not so warm during summers and monsoons used to be all about light showers save for a couple of times a year.. not this mess that we're having presently.

If I were to reminisce I'd be doing it all day, I have said it before and I'll say it again.. life in Bangalore was the greatest and no other city can compare with such a fine balance of modernity and quaintness. This city was never meant to grow big, never meant to cater to 4-5 million jobs.. it had hit the limit of population a decade ago when there were about 3-4 million in total. There is no point in blaming the city, the people have to be blamed.. but even then there will be no point, who can refuse the largesse of billions of rupees in exchange for land, after all. Lakes are being covered, roads are being built, trees are being chopped, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands come in by the year all for that bag of money & an illusion of a good life spread by old tales of the city which today for the newcomers seem like rural folklore or mythical tales.

In either case Bangalore shall always remain my city, just because of those good old days.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I have said it before and I'll say it again.. life in Bangalore was the greatest and no other city can compare with such a fine balance of modernity and quaintness.

Lakes are being covered, roads are being built, trees are being chopped, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands come in by the year all for that bag of money & an illusion of a good life spread by old tales of the city which today for the newcomers seem like rural folklore or mythical tales.

Woah dark.knight, your post was almost nostalgic and quite literally brought back the fond memories of my childhood, and the true 'Garden City' life that we grew up in.

Though I would swap this Stupid IT, Modern, Metropolitan life to those laid back & easy going days of my childhood,..the biggest problem I think is to do with many of these brainless leaders we have.

Following are my views:

- Cash flow is GOOD but planning is IMPORTANT
- Acquiring land for urban development is good, but ensuring the equal amount of land is returned for environmental well being is critical
- Making Bangalore the Silicon hub was acceptable, but not supporting the development with good infrastructure is completely a NO-NO!!

The problem I think is the fact that many talks that happen to resurrect such moves either loose steam in a couple of days or are only intended for those FB/Twitter/Instagram moments!!

[sachinpk]

My office it ITPL looks pretty empty. Most likely folks who left slightly late yesterday would be snoring away now. Most of them go via ORR & Kadubeesanahalli etc.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Areas like Sarjapura and Old Airport Road were literally unheard of and were army areas in those days.

I landed up in Bangalore in late 1990s. The auto-wallahs seems to be pretty much the same lousy lot. In my first trip I had to go from Malleshwaram to City RS. The auto-wallah made it a small Bangalore Darshan because he took me via Vidhan Soudha etc. But what ever profit he made tricking me was gone, as he was caught jumping a signal and the Traffic SI fined him Rs.100/-. It was only when I started riding my own scooter that I realised that the auto-wallah had tricked me.

Let me also get a bit nostalgic .
1. For many buses going towards Kerala (Jabbar, National etc. were the champions then) Dairy Circle was the last stop. There was no fly over there, and after this stop the buses sped on to their destinations. It was only in early 2000s stops at Madivala Check post etc. started cropping up.
2. Madivala was more like a village, and the village post office was at a building near the Invitation Bar. This was demolished later to put a new concrete building which is now an IT company.
3. BMTC buses to Sarjapura (not Sarjapur) was very limited. Buses like Lava Kusha were the kings on the route. All of them allowed people to sit on the roof tops as well. The road towards Sarjpura was very narrow, and the next place where could you find some group of people were at Iblur thanks to the detachment camps of the ASC and CMP. There were some shops in the Sarjapur Rd.-ORR junction which sold military items (boots, socks, kit bags etc.). Beyond that was pretty much barren, and it was also the firing range of the Artillery units.
4. Even in 2001-2002 time period the road to EC was not widened (and no elevated highway off course). And at Dodda Thogur there used to be coconut plantations which also used to sell limited quantity of toddy!!!
5. When I landed up for a job here, a friend of mine was studying in the college which was part of the Sai Baba Ashram near Whitefields. I remember him telling me that the whole place was like a prison, and that even jumping the compound walls and trying to go some where was meaningless. He said, Kadugodi is such a remote place, far away from the city and reaching the city is going to take time.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

this city had a unique charm to it.Traffic was never a bother for anyone and public transport worked well with auto drivers readily willing to take anyone to any destination and tender exact change (today that is unimaginable), and buses arriving on time with about 10% seats available at all times. .

Thanks for stirring those very pleasant memories of the days gone by. I was in love with Bangalore and it felt so lovely back in late 90s upto 2001-2. I remember coming to Maratahalli ORR for weekend outings of sorts sitting along the ORR which was being built and watching planes land. The KR Puram bridge was almost visible from the other side of Maratahalli. Whitefield and ITPL was a remote area and the access to it was through some dark roads.
Whatever was the hi- tech offices were before the HAL Airport. I remember multiple times when my buddies would go bike racing on the ORR or maybe a couple of cars like Maruti 800s and Fiats running riot on an empty stretch of tarmac. It was amazing.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

I remember coming to Maratahalli ORR for weekend outings of sorts sitting along the ORR which was being built and watching planes land.

More nostalgia...
1. In the early 2000s Marathahalli suddenly gained prominence after lots of textile outlets came up with their "seconds" (discarded clothes due to quality issues) outlets in the area. Or else nobody really bothered to go there. Air Port was the maximum limit. A friend of mine who graduated from Bangalore in the late 1980s told me that in his times travelling on Airport Road was risky business. Mugging etc. were common. At that point the bus stop at Indira Nagar (Doopasandra Last stop??) near the Barbecue Nation was the limit.
2. Roads like K.H Road, Nrupathunga road etc. were all "two ways". In fact the concept of "one ways" seems to be of limited use in the 1995-2002 time line. The only one way I remember was the ones at Malleshwaram (5th cross, Margosa Road area). Anand Rao circle was at that time really a "circle" with no fly over and traffic from all sides getting regulated by signal lights.
3. The inner ring road in early 2000s were also not widely used, and riding alone in the night was again risky. Sames goes for the Gottigere, Hulimaavu stretch. Even in the year 2003-2004 roads in Harlur etc. were mud tracks. There used to be lakes near by which was a good place of a swim and bath for the soldiers camping at Iblur.
4. In the early 1990s Ragi Gudda temple was a picnic spot for folks in Jaya Nagar. In the 1980s there used to be an open air theatre (people can park their cars, sit inside and watch movies) on what is the Oracle office in today's Bannerghatta road (close to the Mundkur Fire Services Training institute, and Fire station etc.).
5. If I remember right even in 1997 the ugly bridge at K.R Puram did not exist. K.R Puram was more likely a Railway Town (KJM) with lot many Railway folks staying out there. KJM was the main loco shed for Bangalore, and near by Whitefields had a huge container depot. When the huge Container Corporation (CONCOR) Yard was laid at Whitefields & Kadugodi side the planners would have never dreamt of this area becoming a major business district (thanks to IT).

Now thinking, perhaps I also had lots of free time then. Remember going to the Malleshwaram Railway Station (which had a reservation counter), patiently falling in line to make a reservation by the 6525/6526 Kanyakumari Express. Trains towards KL side was very less, and "Island Express" was the only daily one. But with a good planning; tickets were easily available say around 90days before the journey. The mad rush (and IRCTC online booking) was never there. In bus services the Karnataka based operators (mainly Jabbar and National) ruled the line, it was only after the IT boom that KL based operators started coming in. And during 2001-2002 time frame "Air suspension" buses was a luxury. And in KL route the L&T bye pass (which I now call a big bottle neck) was considered to best laid/maintained road on the stretch.

To conclude.. do many of us know that the stinking Bellandur Lake, was once used as a landing strip for sea planes (who would go in for repairs at the near by HAL Factory)? Excess water from Bellandur lake, flowed down to Varthur lake and a small stream takes the water all the way to TN.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by audioholic

And to add to the horrid stories,
My cousin - Left whitefield at 1815, reached home in BSK 3rd stage at 2330hrs that too after getting down from her bus in silk board at 2300 and coming with another cousin in car.

Another cousin - Parked her car in ecospace, walked out till the road and came in her colleagues car - At 2230 hrs. Thats because she couldnt move out of ecospace for one hour.

Third cousin - No office cab since it was stuck in traffic, no uber, finally got another cab at 2300 hrs.

One person boarded 500C from ITPL at 7PM. Reached Banashankari at 12AM - 5 hours journey to cover 25 Km (5 kmph) . New record for him. Earlier record was 4 hours. Actually, the bus took 4.5 hours for first 15 Km to reach Iblur and just 30 minutes for last 10 Km