Infrastructure in Bangalore

This topic must be by now the most popular tea-time phrase in Bangalore, the IT capital of India and what a tragedy it has become. For someone who has spent his entire life in Bangalore, it is a sad time that has come to pass that the city has become unlivable. I would like to really go out there and question the wisdom of people who would like to live (well thats a grand term to use considering the living conditions) in this place.

The apathy of nearly everyone who has anything to do with the road and traffic infrastructure of this city is a telling tale. I am forced to resign to my fate each time I step out on the roads and do not expect to travel at anything greater than 30 kmph average over a distance of 23 km on what appears to the plain eye to be a multi lane highway. Surely this must rival the average speeds seen in the streets of London at the turn of the last century. Nothing much appears to have changed during that time.

The last couple of days have been especially harrowing. Returning from ITPL on the outer ring road towards Sarjapur road, I was witness to what must have been the longest traffic jam in Bangalore's history. Traffic stretched end to end from the crossing with Sarjarpur road all the way past Intel's campus' if you know what I mean. This for the non-Bangalorean is a distance of about 2 km plus and is a three lane highway along with a service lane and believe you me, the entire stretch was choc-a-bloc with trucks, mad max sumos and if that was not enough BMTC buses joined the fray trying to cross the median to the service lane in what must be the most bizarre exhibition of stupidity. The Darwin awards people definitely need to start including special sections for extreme stupidity, the current categories do not sufficiently capture the enormity of the deed.

So there it is, for the average Bangalorean to be subjected to a barrage of vehicles on the road each driven by what appears to be a possessed individual ready to do anything to get past the others on the road and absolutely no patience. I think a solution at this stage is to examine the possibility of individuals like myself and you the reader highlighting the chaos and the anarchy into which the city is descending into. It is not too late but it sure will be if we continue to suffer in silence.