There are no traffic jams, they are blockades, vehicles from all four directions meet at centre point and don't move forever.

BHPian tiagoatrix recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello Bengalurians,

I am here in Bengaluru for a week to spend my vacation at my sister's house (In Belathur).

My observations as an outsider:

• There's only sand, dust and gravel and some ditches (Like the great ditch of Whitefield), I'm yet to see a road here.
• There are no traffic jams, they are blockades, vehicles from all four directions meet at centre point and don't move forever.
• Without non existent roads, Bengaluru traffic police have no moral right to fine /impound vehicles.
• Karnataka has the highest road tax in the country, eager to know where these taxes are pocketed.
• The only time I ever despised driving is while driving here, how do you guys do daily?
• I can't stop comparing Chennai and Bengaluru's traffic and roads, Chennai is at least 10 years ahead in road quality and ease of traffic.

Here's what BHPian balenoed_ had to say on the matter:

Hello there. Happy to see an outsider contributing to this thread as we were bored of doing it. Thanks for holding the fort as this week we gave rest to this thread and we will be back here from next week onwards.

Bangalore is usually forgiving to its road users during this week of the year.

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

Yes there is no comparison at all between Chennai and Bengaluru with Chennai being way superior in most respects which impact common tax paying citizens (other than the weather!).

I am just ‘fresh-off-the-plane’ from Sri Lanka via Chennai; I have the following observations, having been driven around multiple parts of the Island for a week when on holiday. I haven’t visited there for many years and this week was a real eye-opener.

The glaring contrasts that I now see between anywhere in Sri Lanka and India, in particular, Bengaluru, are numerous, with Sri Lanka being far superior:

• Traffic lane discipline.
• Following road rules.
• Following all speed limits.
• Yielding to traffic where necessary.
• Smooth traffic movement around the numerous roundabouts.
• Uniformly excellent road surfaces and road banking (except some minor surface issues on the road from Awissawela to Colombo).
• Respect for other road users.
• No honking and hurriedly cutting in front.
• Mutual respect between road users, drivers and the traffic police.
• Excellent road markings, traffic signage and scientific, progressive increases and decreases of speed limits along various stretches of road such as one sees in ‘developed’ nations.
• Orderly queues everywhere with no pushing, shoving, jostling and creating alternate queues as we do here in India because we are ‘more equal’ than others.
• Did not notice any VIP behaviour with abiect Police subservience and tons of Red Beacon cars and sirens and motorcades holding up any traffic anywhere. (Despite staying in and around the parts of each town where these ‘dignitaries’ generally hang out. (But then again, maybe they were all on holiday in London!)
• An overall ‘patience’ and ‘calm’ which are in absolutely stark contrast to the frightful levels of noise and anger and indiscipline and impatience that one sees as a matter of daily routine on the roads here in India.

Some road and traffic pics placed here of Sri Lanka, for illustration purposes and to help alleviate our daily misery of Bengaluru roads and traffic:

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Your presence of mind to apologise as a response was wise & de-escalated things immediately.

BHPian krishnakumar recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I got involved in a road rage incident on 11 Dec in B'lore. We were returning from a long drive when this happened.

Fortunately, nothing happened to us. I captured the whole incident on my dashcam and here’s the video.

Update 1: Car was already going below 30km/h and the puddle was not visible on the road. I noticed the puddle when the Duster ahead causes a big splash (again, clearly because it isn’t visible) and slowed down to move to the left, but didn’t expect the puddle to be so large.

The splash was primarily because there is a depression in the road. So the car dipped into it which I don’t think is apparent in the video. At that point, speeds would be just about 20kph and I would have had to literally stop the car to a crawl if I were to prevent a splash. So up until that point, there was no flags which reasoned that I should come to a crawl.

It was a judgment call because I was worried about losing traction as the surface was extremely slushy. At least based on all my learned experiences so far, it shouldn’t have splashed the guy. Yet it did. So it’s a new learning that I should keep in my mind. Driving in India is crazy.

Udate 2: Two Reasons:

1. I honestly didn't think the splash went inside and even when my wife said the water went inside, I thought that it is unlikely because of the low speeds.
2. Before the guy waved me down, I did apologize (with my hand and bowing of head, didn't open windows) while he was coming alongside me, that is not there in the video. He continued to wave me down even after that because he just wanted to create a ruckus. To keep the video brief, I omitted all of these.

Regarding the "losing traction" bit, yes, given the road condition bringing the car to a 0 from 30km/h (in the distance when I noticed the puddle) would have led to a certain skid which I wanted to avoid. There is no guarantee for the car to have prevented a splash as well. I'm not being "holier than thou"  I know it is frustrating to have water splashed and it is to some extent my fault in the judgement call I made (which is my takeaway from the experience).

But the underlying point is, given weather and road conditions, some of these incidences are beyond our control and losing the cool to a point of smashing someone/their vehicle with a rock is plainly stupid.

Here's what BHPian WorkingGuru had to say on the matter:

Your presence of mind to apologise as a response was wise & de-escalated things immediately.

Stay safe. Hope we all learn to respond similarly & get on with our life with minimal disturbance.

Here's what BHPian jono213 had to say on the matter:

Yeesh, an extremely unsavoury incident. Whenever these guys cause accidents and damage, we are expected to let them go because their incomes are not high but then they can pull off this nonsense and get away with it. Disgusting!

Here's what BHPian bblost had to say on the matter:

You handled it perfectly well. Proud of you.

This was like a triggering video for me since I had once run into this auto driver's brother in Hyderabad. Here's the link.

Not getting into a fight is the best outcome possible.

Here's what BHPian audioholic had to say on the matter:

This thing with Auto drivers or even motorists and splashing water is a very common form of ending up in road rage. But somehow people like him feel that this is done on purpose. My driver had reported this incident when similarly some auto driver got splashed from my Celerio while he was driving it and then the driver came back to take revenge by getting a bottle of water and pouring it back on my driver. Beyond that, he couldn't do much. Just street justice is being attempted with zero brains and emotions running high as to how someone can splash water on him.

I ended up splashing water a few years ago on a two-wheeler rider because my car landed in a pothole filled with water and at the same time the biker was overtaking me even though he knew that place had quite some water. He approached with full rage as to how I could do it. I just asked him what else I would have done and he had no answer.

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I asked him, how can he be so relaxed with chaotic traffic around. He said, both of his kids are studying well and even with his income from an auto, he's satisfied with his life, so no stress.

BHPian chaitanyakrish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I posted my experience on Twitter as well and also sharing here for our forum.

I Had to travel in an auto today as I will not take car to a place where there's no parking. I don't like to park on the roads. The auto driver was a middle aged man, probably in his 40s-50s.

Surprisingly he was driving very well and following all road rules like

1. Stopping at signals
2. yielding and giving way at intersections
3. Very relaxed and no stress
4. Maintaining lane and not driving like a snake.

I got curious and asked him, is he new to Bangalore and asked him to tell about himself. He said he came to Bangalore 20 years ago and used to work in a garments company for 2 years and has been driving auto for 18 years. He has 2 kids,one is studying CA (he used to do wrong calculations in garments business,so he thought someone should know accounts well). His son is studying BTech and in 4th year and already got campus placement. I appreciated him for driving carefully. He said,if he makes any mistake,it impacts his family,so he doesn't want to.

I asked him, how can he be so relaxed with chaotic traffic around(autos are not soundproof, and they get all the traffic noise). He said,both of his kids are studying well, even with his income from auto, he's satisfied with his life, so no stress.

I folded my hands and thanked him for the life lesson. As Dr. Abdul Kalam said in the European parliament, "Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is harmony in the house; when there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation; when there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world."

This Auto guy just demonstrated with his way of life.

Finally, when I reached home, I paid him 100 rupees and he returned 50 rupees change and said, this is enough for this distance!

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

What is happening at Bidadi is going to happen at Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and all such towns along the Bangalore - Mysore road.

BHPian GS300 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The 2006 Disney movie "Cars" has this town - 'Radiator Springs', which was supposed to be a popular stop for passengers along Route 66, until a new highway bypassed the town, causing it to be forgotten.

I was reminded of this recently.

We live near Kengeri on the outskirts of Bangalore. Every once in a while, usually on Sunday mornings, we drive to Bidadi and have the famous 'Bidadi Tatte Idly' breakfast.

We usually go to the restaurant "Shree Shivasagar". My family and I love the Tatte idly and vada there, but the place will be extremely crowded. Many times, we had to sit on the steps and have breakfast since we could not get a table.

Yesterday, we thought, why not drive on the new highway and go to Bidadi. So we started. I was not able to really figure out where we have reached, the highway was smooth and it goes on without any exit or entry.

When I crossed a bridge, I noticed the WonderLa ride visible at a distance, so I realized we are going past Bidadi. After that my wife and I were desperately looking for a way to exit the highway.

We could not find any exit that is marked. But after driving for some time, we saw a break on the side fence and a road, something like an exit. We took it, we looked for the road that is the 'previous Mysore road' and drove back to Bidadi through the road that was completely damaged at many places.

At Bidadi, we had a hard time spotting the place, because the restaurant looked very different without the large crowd that is usually gathered around it. Somehow my wife recognized the steps down from the road where we usually sit, and stopped and went to the restaurant.

It was very different. Not many people. The usual queue that spills outside is absent. Most tables are free and workers are almost idle.

And the road in front of the restaurant "The Mysore Road" was completely empty. Hardly any vehicles are on the road. On the drive back home, we saw many of the usual breakfast places were closed - which is not normal for a Sunday morning.

What is happening at Bidadi is going to happen at Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and all such towns along the Bangalore - Mysore road. Many businesses are going to face a tough time. But I guess these are cycles of business. They need to find ways to lure people out of the highway or relocate to near exits etc. Or maybe when the proper exits are constructed, hopefully, there will be ones that go to Bidadi and other such towns.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

It's a matter of luck and no business can plan for this. I have also seen many businesses (especially petrol pumps & restaurants) lose 90% of their business overnight once a new highway or flyover is built. Sad, but not much one can do, other than adapt. There used to be a very famous restaurant for batata vada (potato vada) in Khopoli called Ramakant Vada. Was on the old Mumbai-Pune highway and a MUST-STOP for anyone driving to Lonavla or Pune. In fact, my parents used to drive to Khopoli just to eat + drive, and then return home. When the Mumbai-Pune Expressway opened, his decades-old business just vanished. What he did do? Adapted. He opened up a food stall at the expressway food court, right at the start, and was doing good business the last I checked.

If you can't change the world around you, change yourself

Here's what BHPian am1m had to say on the matter:

While I do feel sorry for the restaurant workers, feel relieved about not having such crowded restaurants en route on highways. The Tatte idly places in particular used to cause bottlenecks because of the crowds and lack of parking. Often idiots would park right on the highway. Not to mention their idiotic practice of getting their security staff to wave people in, even with a red light stick/wand at night. Very distracting to see someone in uniform waving a red light on the highway at night, and that's not even an official/cop! The Kamat Rrestaurant is another menace with idiots reversing out into the highway when they are done with their meal.

There should be designated food stops, off the highways, with well-designed entry/exits. But yes, again, do feel sorry for the workers of these restaurants. It's highly unlikely that the same small restaurants will get a chance to set up an outlet at these food courts, it'll be mostly franchised fast-food chains.

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

This is such an incredible coincidence. My wife and I used this new Bangalore -Mysore Expressway en route to Ooty on Saturday 16 Oct and returned on the same route on Sunday 17 Oct. We talked about EXACTLY the same topic and made the EXACT Same reference to Radiator Springs from Disney Pixar’s Cars, on the way out and in.

While it is so true that the local businesses and employees will be affected, it is also necessary to build these expressways and super highways with the future in mind. There are plenty of clear working references available across the world in the various places that our great bureaucrats and politicians visit on study tours to understand infrastructure. They can easily plan and implement things in this manner. Rest and Service areas with predictable hygienic experiences relating to Food, Washrooms, Convenience Stores etc, should definitely be an integral part of any highway.

The challenge here though will be the land acquisition piece and the time it will all take.

Here's what BHPian Chetan_Rao had to say on the matter:

When the Bhopal-Indore highway got bypass sections for towns en route, the biggest loss was the restaurant (Pawan?) near the Sonkatch bus stand.

Fantastic snacks: poha-jalebi, samosas and oh the mawa bati! Even the meals were lip-smacking.

Namesake stuff available at food courts along the new highway is barely even a poor imitation.

It's a faster commute now on fantastic roads, but the old route had a soul.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Namma Yatri fares will be as per the government-fixed rates.

Auto unions in Bangalore have developed their own mobile application called ‘Namma Yatri’. The new ride-hailing app has been designed to take on the aggregators like Ola and Uber.

According to a media report, the Autorickshaw Driver Union (ARDU) have developed the app in collaboration with the 'Beckn Foundation', supported by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. The new app will be launched on November 1, 2022.

It is said that auto drivers are frustrated due to the large commissions charged by the aggregators. They were also losing clients due to the inflated prices the ride-hailing apps were charging. In fact, the state government recently took note of overcharging by Ola and Uber and ordered them to stop operating 3-wheeler services in the city.

Reports suggest that Namma Yatri fares will be as per the government-fixed rates. A flat fare of Rs. 40 will be charged in a 2 km radius of metro stations, residences and offices, with an additional Rs. 10 as pick-up charges.

Peace Auto, another auto union is said to be working on a similar app called ‘Rook’.

Source: Hindustan Times

The move comes following complaints of auto drivers charging exorbitantly.

The government of Karnataka has asked aggregators Uber, Ola and Rapido to stop 3-wheeler services in Bangalore.

According to the additional commissioner for transport Hemantha Kumara, the move comes following complaints of auto drivers charging exorbitantly. He added that the transport department issued a notice to the companies to stop the services in the city.

Rapido has responded, stating that all their fares are in accordance with the fares decided upon by the state government. The company said that they were not charging any extra money.

Ola and Uber are yet to respond to the ban imposed on their 3-wheeler services in Bangalore.

Everyone seems to do it, irrespective of whether they are in cars, motorcycles, auto rickshaws or any vehicle for that matter.

BHPian nagr22 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

We have all been through two difficult years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and are recovering back to normal life now. Around this time, a new 'disease' has started becoming increasingly common among the drivers and riders of our roads, to an extent that it has now reached pandemic proportions - at least in Bangalore. The disease I am referring to is that of 'wrong side driving' or 'driving against the flow of traffic!

This disease has started catching everyone irrespective of whether he rides a bike or cycle, drives a car, auto, BMTC bus, garbage collection vehicles, tipper lorries, Yulu cycles etc.

Here in Bangalore, initially, it started because the cops created many ways to ease the flow of traffic and 'few' of our citizens didn't like the 'inconvenience'. Then the cops added dividers and removed random U-turns which were causing bottlenecks, so now 'more' citizens started driving on the wrong side because 'who drives 250m for a U-turn bro?' The disease has also spontaneously mutated to turn on the headlights, hazards and high beams as a means to warn others and this mutation have somehow wirelessly got transmitted to all the citizens who have been affected by this disease!

It has now reached a point where people drive on the wrong side of an "UNDIVIDED" two-way street with no real benefit for doing so

I was expressing my frustration about this wrong side menace with my colleagues and most of them justified this behaviour by saying the government hasn't made proper roads and is only interested in inconveniencing the public by creating unnecessary ways. My efforts to explain to them that one way actually improves traffic flow were countered by rants about rising in fuel costs and other political discussions which I don't want to mention here. All these people whom I spoke with are well-educated and well-earning citizens and I failed to convince them that wrong side driving is bad! That is when it hit me hard that this disease has now reached pandemic scales with no cure in sight!

I was wondering what can be done to cure this disease. One can say strict enforcement of the law by the cops is the cure, but practically that is not possible in the foreseeable future due to the less number of police headcount. Technology can be a solution but comes with high costs. Even if the technology catches all these offenders, who are going to enforce and collect all the pending fines since the no. of violations will be huge?

Bangalore cops too have stopped bothering these one-way rule breakers and are only worried about stopping two-wheelers without helmets.

I have had many near misses on one-way roads due to these diseased riders and I am now extremely frustrated and scared to even drive my car! What is the cure for this?

Here's what BHPian Col Mehta had to say on the matter:

The situation in Delhi isn't different. You will see idiots driving on the wrong side all the time, with no guilt or realisation. Bikes, cars, rickshaws, autos, cows - everyone! You confront them and they will be ready for a fist fight (except the cows).

We call these idiots "wise" for being able to ditch the traffic on the other side, of course, it doesn't matter that it comes at the cost of others' inconvenience and safety. They think it's absolutely fine to do that. How do you fix that? If you think that education and awareness will do that - we see people who are educated and well off doing this more often than others. Breaking rules, being inconsiderate and being selfish are embedded in our society so deep that It's almost beyond repair. Absolutely hopeless.

Here's what BHPian Rohan265 had to say on the matter:

I believe that wrong side driving is the symptom and not the disease itself.

Enforcement and fines don't work for long because we are treating the symptoms and not the disease. It's not like the flu where you only treat the symptoms and the body heals itself. It's like jaundice where the yellowing is just the symptom. You need to look at what's wrong with the liver.

When it comes to wrong-side driving we need to know the reason why drivers make this decision. Even the "diseased" drivers know the risks behind what they are doing and nobody would willingly take the risk. From experience, I have seen that wrong-side driving is primarily caused by poor infrastructure. You heard your colleagues. People choose to drive on the wrong side because they feel the other option is tedious or impractical. The lack of consequences only encourages this behaviour.

It all boils down to how poorly our cities have been designed. The one-way road solution is again dealing with the symptom (traffic jams) and not the cause.

Unfortunately, the disease can only be cured through a slow infrastructural overhaul. There is no easy way out. Some design modifications can be done to make it impossible to drive on the wrong side. Most city bodies know this but are unwilling to go there because they would face a heavy backlash. I remember giving infrastructural solutions to a city PWD engineer and he derided me by stating "Kuch practical batao jo aasan ho" (give me a practical solution that is easy to do). Nobody is currently ready to take the big step. I wouldn't expect a solution quickly. This is like treating obesity. It will take willpower and baby steps to get to the solution.

P.S: Education/Awareness is often given as a solution. While I agree that educating children should be a priority, it doesn't work for adults. Social influence always takes precedence.

Here's what BHPian RaghuVis had to say on the matter:

I recently moved to Pune from Kochi and my god it's a pandemic of the largest scale.

First few weeks, I did not have a vehicle and was relying on Autos and I really thought that the service roads, especially under bridges were open for both ways. finally when I got into a car with a colleague and he took a longer route is when I realized I have been travelling illegally all this while. They don't even leave big flyovers or even bridges! And it's not just two-wheelers or autos. I saw a mini lorry on the wrong side of the flyover happily driving away with no remorse.

I have never seen such large-scale wrong side driving ever in Kerala!

PS: Blaming the government is the laziest thing to do here.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I was intrigued by the infamous ditch at Anmod, located on a stretch of road that is part of the Bangalore Goa highway. It is a monster and cannot be taken even at slow speed.

BHPian rajathv8 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Anmod car breaker:

I was intrigued by the infamous Anmod ditch so I clicked a few pics here to document it. It is indeed a monster. This is not a ditch that can be taken at slow speed. The drop is too much and it WILL hit even at crawling speed. My A-Star took a hit as well - 170mm GC and lightly loaded. It all depends on the approach.

Easy - it is at the turn to Doodhsagar Jungle Resorts.

Set Doodhsagar Jungle resorts as a stop on Gmaps and watch out for the deviation from the main road to identify the spot.

Without the above, it is not easy to identify the location. I witnessed many sudden braking incidents during my recee - it scared even the likes of XUV700, XUV500, Hector and an Endy. The 500 kicked up quite some dust while braking but none of them got a hit.

Anatomy:

There are 3 points of interest:

• This is the car breaker. It is a sharp dip from concrete to a sloping mud surface with ditches. It is the worst of the three and the one where most cars were getting hit. In the span of 15 mins I was taking pics, a Jazz, Punto and Alto got severe hits. The Alto took a hit between the wheels and another one on the rear overhang.
• This is the rise while going towards Goa. Its not as bad as above.
• This is a gentle transition towards Doodhsagar Resorts turn and is the preferred approach to take. It does not have a sharp drop.
• The 150 feet stretch had many deep potholes and ruts. It was not motorable by cars. So the cars had to resort to the 80 feet stretch. To avoid the car breaker, follow the 3->2 route. On return journey take 2->3 route.

Look for annotation in the images:

Notice the Doodhsagar Jungle Resorts board on the left:

More images:

Notice the marks on the concrete edge and the broken car parts visible:

Closing thoughts:

This spot is in a densely forested area with significant rain and truck traffic. The optimal approach will change with time so best to walk it out of required.

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After 1.5 years of riding & a few pandemic breaks in the middle, I've shortlisted some of the most scenic and cycling-friendly (unfriendly, too) routes around the city.

BHPian vinya_jag recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Had been planning this thread for a while now. All of this started around a year and a half back, when we started cycling, for fitness, and formed a small group. None of us knew much about cycling, not sure which cycle to buy, how much distance to ride, where all could we ride to, etc. However, after a year and half of riding, and a few pandemic breaks in the middle, listing some of the most scenic and cycling-friendly (unfriendly too) routes around Bangalore (North).

Hennur Bamboo Forest

• Place: 5
• Cycling inside: Allowed sometimes
• Route: 3 (Via Hennur road)
• Difficulty: 3 (Watch out for traffic on Hennur road)
• Eateries around: None (Pack your food)
• Notes: Google Map destination leads you to a dead end. Stay on the main road to reach your destination. Each season has a different colour to these trees. If you are lucky enough, you might spot a peacock or two.

Route

Place

Avalahalli Forest

• Place: 5
• Cycling inside: Allowed always
• Route: 4 (Via Presidency school)
• Difficulty: 2
• Eateries around: None (Pack your food)
• Notes: Best place around Bangalore for Cycling forest trails. Mountain Bike or Hybrids are preferable. However, I have taken my road bike there. With a little difficulty and a little carrying around, you will be able to make the circuit of around 3-4 Kms within the forest itself.

Route

Place

Hesarghatta Lake

• Place: 4
• Cycling inside: Allowed always, Need to carry cycle and cross a couple of small gates
• Route: 4 (Via Avalahalli)
• Difficulty: 3.5
• Eateries around: Darshinis a few kilometers away (Pack your food for the lake bed)
• Notes: There are multiple routes to this place. Choose the Avalahalli route for easy access and fewer inclines and declines. Still a medium difficulty route with sparse traffic and scenic roads. You will find a lot of cyclists smiling at you along the way.

Route

Place

Hesarghatta Lake Via Rajanukunte

• Place: 4
• Cycling inside: As above
• Route: 5+ (Via Rajanukunte and KMF)
• Difficulty: 4 (Distance)
• Eateries around: As above
• Notes: Best road for cycling, or walking or anything. The KMF to Hesarghatta stretch is picturesque

Route

Place

Devanahalli Fort

• Place: 5
• Cycling inside: Allowed. Need to carry cycle up a few steps to reach the fort wall
• Route: 4.5
• Difficulty: 3.5 (Crosswinds)
• Eateries around: Along the way, you will find a few
• Notes: Airport road is a cakewalk on any day, stay on the flyovers and you will have uninterrupted cycling for hours. Distance and crosswinds while coming back make the ride tough.

Route

Place

Hennur bamboo forest & Chokkanahalli forest, Mandur bamboo forest

• Place: 5
• Cycling inside: ALlowed sometimes, but this route goes through Chokkanahalli forest
• Route: 4.5 (Via Airport road, Razak Palya road)
• Difficulty: 3
• Eateries around: None
• Notes: This is a circuit road, choosing the best routes for cycling

Route

Route pics

Continue reading about vinya_jag's cycling destinations for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

Constant construction activities in the locality create fine dust that gets deposited on the cars. I've to clean this abrasive layer every single day.

BHPian saikarthik recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Say you are on the outskirts of a bustling metropolis and the locality is under development, you would totally feel this. Now, every ordinary citizen who lives in such an environment would find difficulties with the ongoing construction of basic infrastructure or buildings. But there are some more problematic nuances for some who are like the people on this forum.

I am not posting against the development or with an intolerable mindset of the problems around, but just to pen down a couple of observations and also to get some more from you guys. I am not disclosing the exact location, but this is around the Whitefield-Hosakote road. The street I reside at now is pretty close to the main road and also the old Madras road, the place is full of residential apartments, roads are partly laid, sewer lines, gas pipeline, optic fiber and electric poles are being laid, almost every month or so one by one. This situation is experienced by almost everyone like each department or corporation decides to dig and fill a freshly laid road, they won't even coordinate like removal of debris. What's new?

But, it depends on how long one locality can endure this, especially when the street is on the path to vast, open, undeveloped land. There are agricultural fields behind our apartments and even they are being converted as plots for sale. Whenever we think this is over and we can live peacefully, some other plot gets sold and the whole "Khadda khod" business starts. Let me list down some of the issues to keep this thread crisp and to the point.

• Constant construction of buildings which create fine dust which gets deposited on the car - have to clean this abrasive layer every single day apart from reduced quality of breathable air.
• Noise from the construction site from the machines, and material loading unloading.
• Unsafe and clogged streets due to increased traffic - flying rocks from tire squeeze, unruly driving, parking irresponsibly and blocking exits.
• Nails, debris, shards of glass, unwanted material dumped and whatnot on the road.
• Broken roads, manholes, sludgy roads during rains.
• Interruption of power due to new lines, or moving old poles.
• Unusable road sections - poles not moved, manholes are either deep or protruding.

A recent example is, we used to buy fresh veggies from the farmers behind the apartment, but now a large private corporation has bought it and they are filling the land with mud, using large trucks which are too heavy for this road. Take a look at the land which was used to be farmland, rich with water and a lake nearby. Also, the roads which lead to it where we reside.

The company has promised to relay the surface and also replace the broken manholes, which is the best they could do and I am glad they promised. But this is a pain we have to endure for at least another 5 years or so considering all the fresh plots that are being made and sold.

What are your experiences and any suggestions?

Here's what BHPian Akshay6988 had to say about the matter:

I can feel your frustration as I am also facing this menace of dug up roads! The arterial road joining to the main road from my society is about a kilometer in length, half of which didn't exist at all - it was going through a private property and the land owner wasn't budging to give up that area. After lots of follow-ups and speaking with local politicians, finally, that road was constructed in last August. And now the municipality decided to build the remaining half of the road. One would say that's a good thing, getting good roads and such. But the thing is, these people "forgot" to lay down drainage pipes under the newly built road. Yes, that is what the contractor said when asked why he was digging up an already made road.

As if this wasn't enough trouble for me, they dug up the side of the road thrice in the last four months - to lay down the gas pipeline, underground electricity cables and street lamp poles. In all these instances, they did the work over the weekend and promised to fill in the pit the same day, but that didn't happen. My house is parallel to the road so I couldn't take out any of my vehicles for two days. It is really frustrating to see the tax money we pay, being misused and wasted by these incompetent folks, at the same time giving trouble to us.

Here's what BHPian am1m had to say about the matter:

It's not just the outskirts, Bangalore city center too was 'under construction' for a long time for the smart city initiatives. It's all completed now and looks great, but I fear it's only a matter of time before they dig up everything for some other project!

Here's what BHPian Raghu M had to say about the matter:

I think we are all part of the problem, aren't we? Before you moved to that location, the already existing neighbors might have felt exactly as you do right now. New localities are always full of activity. I don't think there is any place in cities when we can relax unless there is every inch is taken up. My area was peaceful 5 years ago, now it is home to some big real estate ventures. Roads are in bad shape, are being dug every now and then. Apart from getting frustrated once in a while, there is very little we can do.

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