[binand]

The Bellandur lake road from Yemalur till Bellandur has been widened. Looks quite shoddy, and the benefit will not be seen until the new bridge at Bellandur is completed (even then, narrow roads within Bellandur, Yemalur and Kempapura mean there will still be bottlenecks), but it is a start.

This is the road from which a car was driven into the lake yesterday.

[novicefreak]

Car lands in Bellandur lake, minor injuries to driver

Link to the news article:
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...ref=sliderNews

[sdp1975]

There are sharp turns on the Bellandur lake road. I've seen motorists speed on it without realizing the dangers. I once saw a truck lying turtle on the lake bed.

With the road being widened and the potholes being filled up, it will get worse now. It's a matter of time before speed humps come up on the road.

[sdp1975]

BBMP has started demolishment drives in flooded areas that were blocking SWDs. Several houses have been razed down by bulldozers.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/53578209.cms

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...mony-home.html

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

BBMP has started demolishment drives in flooded areas that were blocking SWDs. Several houses have been razed down by bulldozers.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/53578209.cms

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...mony-home.html

Absolute knee-jerk idiocy from BBMP!

It's obvious they had no real plan and made adjustments on the go based on various 'considerations'. What's the point in clearing up storm water drainage when a good chunk of lake bed areas are encroached, where a lot of this water eventually ends up? Any news of clearing up lake encroachments beyond the annual promises to take action?

I'll believe their claims of punishing the builders/bureaucrats when I actually see it happen. This is action for the sake of it, with no planned end result and just creating some chaos to deflect attention away from their own incompetence. But then, what else can one expect from an organisation that openly offers to legalize illegal construction/encroachment in return for money.

[Acharya]

Major pileup on ORR from ecospace to prestige tech park, probably caused by an accident between Ion and i10, which are parked on left lane now.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by Acharya

Major pileup on ORR from ecospace to prestige tech park, probably caused by an accident between Ion and i10, which are parked on left lane now.

It was actually between Eon and a mini bus. i10 rear ended the Eon.
Just posted it on the accidents thread.

[babu.sundaram]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

....
And one fine morning you see this-

Attachment 1538413

Has it served any purpose, no one knows. And I do not think so being a daily commuter through this service lane. Who has put this? Will it be the traffic police or civic authorities or some moral police? Can they blatantly dump all these things on to the road and say the road is closed? No regulations and no sign boards.

Originally Posted by raghuram.cg

Yea - really not sure what is going on.Seems like they dont want the 4Wheelers and HCV,LCV to use this lane to go towards Whitefield.Just a hypothesis though. Two wheelers can use it though (as can be seen)

That would have been to close off vehicles reaching Hyundai Junction from Mahadevapura flyover towards KR PURAM! (Yes, you can see a HUGE steam of vehicles in the evenings using wrong side service lane as by pass). Who would have put this? Not likely police, as they had made arrangements to receive that flow. Likely, someone who is affected by that flow. But, now with all these, all ORR folks must get a share of KR Puram waiting!

BTW, what is with Ramamurthy Nagar under pass? I saw service lane next to under pass towards Hebbal was closed.

[sairamboko]

Hoodi railway station to be a reality soon

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/53588922.cms

Wipro vacates EC and moves to Whitefield. More traffic jams expected?

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/53588764.cms

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Absolute knee-jerk idiocy from BBMP!

It's obvious they had no real plan and made adjustments on the go based on various 'considerations'. What's the point in clearing up storm water drainage when a good chunk of lake bed areas are encroached, where a lot of this water eventually ends up? Any news of clearing up lake encroachments beyond the annual promises to take action?

I'll believe their claims of punishing the builders/bureaucrats when I actually see it happen. This is action for the sake of it, with no planned end result and just creating some chaos to deflect attention away from their own incompetence. But then, what else can one expect from an organisation that openly offers to legalize illegal construction/encroachment in return for money.

The people affected should get together and go to HC or SC. Will they get their registration amount, property tax, plan fees etc back ? That should be a big chunk of money and should help them little.

Its the middle classes that suffer. Poor get them regularized and you rich will get the drains re-routed. Pathetic state of affairs. If they are really serious they should do it all over the city and not here and there.

[sachinpk]

I did not find any broken down vehicles or accidents, but there was a huge pile up at Varthur village today. No idea why it happened. It took me nearly 45mins to clear the area.

It is the end of tax rebates and a software giant is all set to move out. One of the Wipro office clusters in Electronic City 4 (EC 4), which enjoyed its 10-year tenure of rebates doled out by the state industries department, is in the process of shifting its offices from EC to another space in Whitefield.

Wipro's EC-1 campus was the first to reach this situation and the company then moved their entire admin staff to occupy these buildings. There were also rumours that EC-1 campus may be leased out to Happiest Minds which is just down the road. This also shows on negative aspect of this SEZ business. Wipro (and other companies) also want to reap profits and also get tax rebates at the same time. It would be now nearly 20 years that Wipro, Infosys etc. got into the IT business. What is the point in giving them these tax rebates for nearly two decades? And to utilise these tax rebates, these companies do not mind hopping around the city, with no thoughts on employee comfort or the traffic situation. And Karnataka politicians being businessmen themselves, would also have no problems in all this.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

BBMP has started demolishment drives in flooded areas that were blocking SWDs. Several houses have been razed down by bulldozers.

Again, knee jerk reaction. It is sad that none are able to take these thugs to the courts. The people who find their homes demolished today, all were given 'A' Khathas, which is taken as proof of ownership. The politicians seems to have taken looting and thuggery to absolutely new levels.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I'll believe their claims of punishing the builders/bureaucrats when I actually see it happen. This is action for the sake of it, with no planned end result and just creating some chaos to deflect attention away from their own incompetence

.Nothing of that sort is going to happen. No BBMP official is going to get punished for it. No buildor or realtor would even see the court for a few days. The whole strategy of the state seems to be welcoming businessmen with open arms, since they know that these large business firms would also bring in lots of "sitting ducks" who want employement. Leave the businessmen (or strike deals with them), but fleece the "sitting ducks" to the maximum level possible. To trick others to believe that some thing good is being done, strike against the "sitting ducks".

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Absolute knee-jerk idiocy from BBMP!

What then should BBMP do to clear the storm water drains?

Any news of clearing up lake encroachments beyond the annual promises to take action?

They have to start somewhere. Clearing SWDs will ensure there is path for water when the lakes overflow.

I'll believe their claims of punishing the builders/bureaucrats when I actually see it happen.

Most likely the builders got the required permissions when the area was under panchayat. Those areas moved under BBMP jurisdiction later. Yes, the people responsible must be punished. That will take few years. But rain falls every year. So the immediate job is to clear the encroachments and later file a case on those responsible.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by msdivy

What then should BBMP do to clear the storm water drains?

How about not taking money and/or looking the other way when the encroachment happened in the first place? How about not allowing lake beds to be encroached where a lot of these drains (man-made or natural ones) empty into?

Clearing storm water drains without clearing natural water collection areas (lake-beds, swamps etc.) could actually make the situation worse in/around such areas. What then? Demolish all the posh but illegal lake-view properties? Did we reach a level of more than 1/3rd encroachment of lake bed areas in Bangalore overnight?

Most likely the builders got the required permissions when the area was under panchayat. Those areas moved under BBMP jurisdiction later.

Best not to indulge in hypothetical scenarios. There are building laws to be followed irrespective of jurisdiction, and blocking a natural drainage path is a matter of common sense (the water needs to go somewhere, duh!), not law. But then humans have long demonstrated their lack of any sense, common or otherwise. Greed comes foremost, often even to their own detriment.

Yes, the people responsible must be punished. That will take few years.

Like I said, I'll believe it when it happens.

But rain falls every year.

So do the promises.

If we had easy access to newspaper archives, I bet the yearly 'we'll take action' statements were a copy/paste ad infinitum job.

Originally Posted by msdivy

........the immediate job is to clear the encroachments and later file a case on those responsible.

Again, I'll wait and watch if this whole 'clearance' drive goes beyond the usual show, or they actually clear all encroachments. Call me cynical, but this city has been burned far too many times at the hands of incompetent/unscrupulous municipal babus to take them at face value.

Actions speak louder than words, let's see whether BBMP is full of action or hot air before absolving them of blame.

[ajmat]

Note from Mod

Can we get back onto topic please?

[binand]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Can we get back onto topic please?

Er... topic is "Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation". BBMP is one of the agencies involved. So rants against BBMP ought to be on-topic, no?