Bangalore- A citizen's critical view..

Tank Bund breached

2007-04-17T02:32:00.000-07:00

After several decades of standing strong the bund on M G Road (now called a boulevard/ promenade) is coming down to make way for the piers to support the overhead tracks of the upcoming Bangalore Metro.

While it is hoped that the Metro will help ease Bangalore's traffic congestion slightly, what will be lost is a monument of Bangalore's history.

The bund according to history was constructed to separate the adjacent lake from the then South Parade. This bund flourished over the years with added vegetation and trees that acted as a carbon sink as well as an area that helped rain water seep through the earth to recharge the ground water table. Once the Metro towers over this area and though the bund maybe reconstructed in an albeit smaller form, it will be hidden from above by a huge concrete structure radiating heat and the loss of trees will only aid in increasing the ambient temperature in surrounding areas. Also chances of rainwater seeping into the earth in that area will be much reduced. Need the reader be reminded that the water table level in Bangalore in some areas is reducing at the rate of a meter a month!

A view of an 87 year old Bougainvillea grown on a pergola on the bund

Unfortunately the cries of anguish from the public that have just awakened are too late, as they come to realise that one more green monument of Bangalore is biting the dust. The only reminder that a tank bund existed in the vicinity will be the name of a shop on the commercial side of M G Road- Lakeview.

Plans are afoot to cut down more trees along major roads- around 300 trees in all. Will protests come once more after they are gone?

Dog Bytes

2007-04-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

Amid the rising heat comes news of dogs running wild, and turning their canines to bear on tender human flesh amid the lanes and bylanes of Bangalore.

Opportunisitic NGOs and people come out in defence of stray dogs or against them.

Amid claims that mass killing of dogs will not help, it is clear that the ABC in its current form atleast hasn't worked in the dog's favour nor to the citizen's advantage.

Clipping the ears is said to be proof of a stray dog having undergone a birth control operation. Though one can only verify that by physically examining the dog. That doesn't prevent a dog from attacking a human though they claim the aggressiveness of a dog is reduced after the operation.

What has been observed is that the door to door garbage collectors encourage dogs to follow them around as they go around the city collecting garbage. Also humans who wouldn't put their own children out of their home, prefer to feed dogs outside their home and encourage strays in this manner.

Tall claims that they help prevent crime by being watchdogs indicates the Bangalorean nature to look out for cheap alternatives to fight crime. The end result of such an attitude is another human has to pay for it at some other time and place maybe with their own life.

To the ‘loo’ we go

2006-10-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

To the ‘loo’ we go.

Bangalore among a couple of other cities in Karnataka is all set to fight the war of independence again. They will be renamed to satisfy the politicians who are merely searching for issues that are easier to tackle than the common man’s problems.

Bangalore from Nov. 1st will be called Banga’loo’ru. (Refer my previous post). If part of the criteria for choosing the name was the propensity of the local population to relieve themselves on roads and other public property, then it would meet that.

But it is a political whim, which is the latest flavour of the day for a state government that tries to use regionalism to make up for its deficit in governance. It is just the latest in a series of regional events.

Bangalore was recently in the news when a large number of schools were threatened with closure for violating a law which dictated that they should use Kannada and not English as the medium of instruction.

The schools may not be providing quality education, but they exist for a simple reason- to satisfy a demand, a demand unmet by City Corporation schools (public schools). Anxious parents eager to see their children do better in life, seek schools that can teach their children the language in global use- English. English they feel is the best way to get jobs in the private sector that will pay them well rather than the government. Can the government pay better salaries to their staff other than politicians?

Unfortunately sometimes these small private schools operate out of sheds and other areas. How could the government remedy this situation? Why can they not improve the public school infrastructure? They can even transport students across the city to public schools using the city bus fleet. Let them operate a few buses/ maxi cabs exclusively for public school students to pick them up from their homes and drop them in school and vice versa.
Even the public school classrooms lack basic facilities such as blackboards, tables, chairs, etc. Why can’t the government be penalised for that?

A couple of days back Bangalore and the entire state of Karnataka was held hostage to a state supported bundh (closure of all establishments for a day), to reiterate the point that Belgaum (a district in Karnataka under dispute with Maharashtra a neighbouring state claiming it) is an integral part of Karnataka. With all this political posturing, what was forgotten was the common man. Memories of the mob violence during the bundh after a noted film actor’s demise ensured that most people stayed indoors. They knew the government wouldn’t protect them. The uneducated wouldn’t even be able to read a map and point out the location of Belgaum and Maharashtra.

The main people to suffer were the daily wage workers, who suffered a loss of a day’s wages and went to sleep that night hungry, while the politicians burped after a full meal and relaxed in air-conditioned comfort. Let us convert politician’s wages too into a daily wage system and we shall see a reduction in bundhs.

Yesterday I had traveled to the vicinity of Sarjapur Road. A year after the floods (read one of my earlier posts) that ravaged the area, one can’t see any change in the basic infrastructure. Roads that appear to have survived a World War run through the place with humongous pot-holes and bumpy surfaces. The government has shown their inability to work on basic issues, focussing instead on relatively less important issues.

Along with the return to an old name for the city, let us take a step back to the days of feudal rule as well. ‘Old is Gold’

Man dies, Bangalore burns

2006-04-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Bangalore riots and arson

April 12, 2006 was the day that Kannada film actor Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Mutthuraj passed away in Bangalore. He was 77. He was better known as Dr. Rajkumar.

His name will become synonymous with violence in Bangalore. It was in 2000 that widespread rioting and arson consumed Bangalore when sandalwood thief Veerappan had kidnapped him, from his farm in Gajanur a small hamlet in Tamil Nadu where he was born on April 24, 1928.

In 2006, Bangalore became a funeral pyre when Dr. Rajkumar died of a cardiac arrest. Anti-social elements in the name of his fans ran riot, forcing closure of shops and other commercial establishments. Bangalore was under a virtual dawn to dusk bandh on April 13th, 2006. The previous day itself, offices were forcibly closed in areas such as Rajajinagar, while shops and other commercial establishments in other areas of Bangalore also closed by 7 PM. Bangalore turned into a ghost town, where large MNCs and small shops alike shut down knowing very well that the government and the police would never be able to handle the situation. Offices and commercial establishments closed in an unofficial bandh, not as a mark of respect, but from the knowledge that the government couldn’t ensure the peace and security of Bangalore and Bangaloreans. If this was to be taken as a litmus indicator of the faith of the people in the government, the government has failed the test miserably. The CM was in a state of denial, announcing all the while that the situation was well under control, meanwhile ghastly images on TV showed a city on fire!

Shops were ransacked and looted, public and private vehicles were burnt, and offices of companies such as Microsoft, AXA, etc. were stoned. Corporate Bangalore was forcibly shut down. It was a day when democracy ceased to exist and a few elements dictated what others were to do. Cable operators blacked out all channels except for those channels that they wished the public to view. Lawlessness prevailed on the streets of Bangalore.

After his death, a blundering government shifted his body from place to place around Bangalore; further angering his so called fans. His body was initially moved to the Bangalore Palace, and then shifted to Kanteerva Stadium (earlier Sampangi Tank) and laid there for the public to pay homage. The stupidity of the government in utilizing this as the venue for his body to be viewed is overwhelming. An expensive synthetic track laid for athletics was trampled under millions of feet and later under heavy tyres as riot police stepped in a vain attempt to control berserk crowds. An OB (Outdoor Broadcasting) van of NDTV a well-known news channel was the target of mob fury. The van driver, who came face to face with the mob, was an eyewitness to the fact that many in the mobs were under the influence of alcohol. Many were villagers from around Bangalore, indicating that possibly political and muscle power had paid for their journey to the city, as well as their alcohol supply.

Many in the mobs, were youth leaping with joy in front of cameras, trying to get a few words in front of a camera, not out of respect for the departed soul, but to satisfy their vicarious pleasure of seeing themselves on camera. Several buildings and vehicles had pasted photos of Dr. Rajkumar on their windows hoping to escape mob fury. His face had become a sign of “mafia protection”!

Forcibly closing shops were not enough for rioting anti-social elements in Bangalore. Fashion guru Prasad Bidapa was eyewitness to a motorcycle being burnt in front of Bangalore Club, and its rider being beaten. Shattered glass from car windows was strewn on the streets even in areas such as St. Mark’s Road and Grant Road. At least five people have died and several vehicles burnt and several shops looted. At least five people have died and several vehicles burnt and several shops looted. Losses due to closure of businesses and damages caused will be in millions of rupees.

Dr. Rajkumar was finally laid to rest in a fish market-like situation, where his near and dear ones were jostled from side to side. The police were unable to plan and barricade an area for his family to perform the last rites.

You can view some pictures in my photo blog:- Focus, Shoot, “Bang” on Target

Some more info on Rajkumar:-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajkumar

Bird Flu ( Avian Flu) ( H5N1 virus) & Bangalore- Are we prepared?

2006-02-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Bird Flu ( Avian Flu) ( H5N1 virus) & Bangalore- Are we prepared?

Bird Flu has made its presence known on Indian shores by the death of birds in Maharashtra. What has come to light is that it appears to have been present in India for a few days at least before it came to light.

It at present is transmitted from bird to Man. Now that it has made the hop from Bird to Man, after mutation and recombination with already existing influenza virus in Man, it could modify into a strain more deadly, which can be transmitted from one human to another.

The hygiene and precautionary measures in India are far from satisfactory. Photos in newspapers and video clips showed personnel handling dead fowls with their bare hands, and injecting live ones while holding them in their bare hands.

The immediate public reaction was shock & the boycott of purchase of poultry. But the virus at present isn’t transmitted from “well-cooked” poultry. But in how many restaurants in Bangalore can you expect dishes to be well-cooked?

The stated method is transmission from sick birds to humans. The food chain before a poultry product or an egg reaches your table is,
Chicken / or egg is taken from farms by humans (possible bird influenza victims)
Chicken/ egg brought to open market for sale by the seller (possible bird influenza victim)
Chicken / egg sold to servant/ restaurant (possible bird influenza victim)
Chicken/ egg lying around in a non-vegetarian restaurant/ hotel before cooking (remember the same cooks and waiters are moving around with exposure to it) (possible bird influenza victims)
Finally at your table, if it hasn’t been cooked properly it could still carry it.

Also remember that it is just another flu virus, so it could hop from human to human in the same way that ‘normal’ flu is transmitted. So aerial route is a possibility?

How many poultry farmers will voluntarily cull their source of livelihood? Will the government give any incentive to them so that they cull them? With the prices dropping will the business minds try and make a “killing” on profits by substituting other products with “cheaper” chicken, and kill the customer in the bargain?

What can we do if it reaches Bangalore? Are we prepared? Is the government prepared? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves and the government?

Could it be like the Plague which struck Bangalore in earlier times and resulted in the creation of new layouts?

The route an Avian virus could take...

A few links where you can get info on Avian flu are:

http://www.medicinenet.com/bird_flu/article.htm
http://www.birdflu.org.cn/

"No Trust Among Thieves"

2006-01-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

The people of Karnataka are on the brink of a possibility of seeing a change in government.

But will it help the common man? Extremely doubtful, seeing the manner and reasons for which its happening. It’s widely publicized in the papers of the hankering for power by politicians. Nowhere is there a mention of people’s problems as reasons for a change in governance.

This transporting of politicians before the “Vote of Confidence” is interesting for a number of reasons.

If there is a change in the government we can be sure of: -

1) Lack of "confidence", trust and faith among the governing officials- the reason why they are spirited away right now.
2) Lack of integrity- if they could be bribed to change their stance.
3) Lack of strong individual character, and no moral values- they shift stances with the wind.

So common people take out your purses, no matter which party is the government of Karnataka, it is the Indian politician who remains as corrupt as ever!!

BMP claims another victim

2005-12-27T01:22:00.000-08:00

The lackadaisical attitude of the BMP towards anything related to the city welfare stands exposed once again. A senior colleague of mine sustained severe bruises and a serious fracture of her left thigh after she fell into an uncovered drain in front of her house in 8th Block Koramangala. This incident happened on the morning of December 26th 2005. The drain had been uncovered for de-silting, which entailed dumping the contents of the drain on the road and leaving the drain uncovered for months.

Major surgery is required in an attempt to set right her leg.

Remember this could also happen to you or your loved ones.

Following is an open letter written by her colleagues to the BMP.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To,
Public Relations Officer,
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP)
N.R.Square, Bangalore-560002
Office Phone No.:22975523
TeleFax: 22975582

Citizen Service Centres:
1. Head Office, BMP, N.R.Square, Bangalore
2. Public Utility Building, M.G. Road, Bangalore
3. Bhashyam Park, Malleswaram, Bangalore
4. Jayanagar 2nd Block, Bangalore

SUB: BMP claims another victim

Sir,

The BMP in Koramangala is busy demolishing buildings, but they don’t care to replace slabs over storm water drains after allegedly cleaning them, which entails dumping the muck on the road.

A senior colleague of ours, fell victim to the BMP negligence on Dec 26th 2005, after she fell into such an opening over a three feet deep storm water drain in front of her house in 8th Block, Koramangala. She has sustained severe bruises and a serious fracture of her left thighbone. This will require a major operation tomorrow in an attempt to set it right. She has been admitted in St. Philomena’s Hospital. The BMP commissioner should resign owning responsibility for this negligence on the part of the BMP. The BMP should also pay adequate compensation covering all expenses plus her salary for the months she will not be able to go to the office.

The CM and other bureaucrats are too busy changing names of cities and towns, rather than focussing on problems. Of what use are they to the citizens of Bangalore?? Let this serve as a warning to the other citizens, they or their loved ones could fall victim to a similar fate.

Yours sincerely,

Her colleagues

A village by any other name is still the same.

2005-12-27T01:14:00.000-08:00

Bangalore-> Benga'loo'ru

All this city renaming is totally uncalled for. These so called guardians of language and literature cannot even prevent the deterioration of Bangalore.

After re-naming roads after certain individuals, the government now seems lost in a world of despising the pages of history. After all, Bangalore aka Bengalooru was only once a village and a fort. Indian kings and chieftains didn't look at building Bangalore into a small town. It was just a small fort and village to defend. Kempegowda's towers built in strategic locations were built on important routes to the fort to mark not the expansion of the village but to contain it as anything beyond those points would be difficult to defend! It was only the later invasion by Britishers and expansion of a village into a small town which came to be called 'Bangalore'.

Politicians attempt at renaming shows that they have no achievements to showcase, so they do what they are best at eating public money. Renaming will cost millions of rupees in reprinting & rebranding. We can rest assured that the city will now take a step backwards into the Dark Ages.

While we end up calling it by a village name, it shows that we are still of limited vision, and stunted in growth. We aren't worthy to be called Bangaloreans, but plain villagers.

Bangalore: How IT all Began!

2005-11-10T04:09:00.000-08:00

How it all began!

Physical Features:
Bangalore is located in a region approximately between 12 degrees 15 min north and 13 degrees and 30 minutes north and 77 degrees 4 minutes east and 77 degrees 59 minutes east.
It is situated on the Deccan Plateau, in an area largely made up of a rock structure called Gneiss (pronounced like niece). The lay of the land consists of the River Arkavathi valley in the west, with the Cauvery flowing south of it. The east includes the basin of the River Ponnaiyar.
The central, southern and eastern parts are undulating with the low-lying areas containing a series of tanks and lakes.

The naming ceremony!
A king was supposed to have been wandering in the forest hungry when he was fed a bowl of boiled beans by a poor woman. He was supposed to have then called the town in this region ‘bendekalooru’. The name was supposed to have come from the Kannada word for boiled beans- bele bendeka. A small town is supposed to be still known by the name ‘Hale Bengalooru’ near Hebbal. A lesser known fact is that decades earlier the name Bengalooru had appeared on a Mauryan Empire milestone. What would have been the reason for its name then may have been the surrounding rocks- ‘Kallu’ meaning rock. BeneKallu?? Or could it have been like the Indonesian (Dutch controlled) province with a similar name- Bengkulu?? Or were the gold deposits in nearby areas known to exist in those ages itself, and so it received the name- Bangaraluru- ( Bangara meaning Gold). Or could it have been due to an abundance of Banyan trees that the Mauryans would have seen only in Bengal before??

What the area where Bangalore is now would have looked like then is depicted in the rough sketch below.

A king called Kempe Gowda then took over the area and built a small mud fort here along with a few watch towers. He is said to have been an astute planner and built the watch towers as the maximum distance the city would extend to. His great military planning would have served in locating these watch towers, as he has selected relatively high points to build these, so that he could keep a watch over low-lying plains. Thereby enemy troops arriving would have to cross flat land and could be spotted at a distance. Any village beyond those points would have probably beeen difficult to defend.

Shivaji’s father is said to have captured the fort for Adil Shah who gifted it to Shivaji's father. Shivaji marries a Bangalore girl. Later on Aurangzeb’s army captured the fort and sold it to the Wodeyars for around 3 lakhs.

Later the fort was gifted by Wodeyar to Hyder Ali. Hyder Ali strengthened the fort with granite and also built Lalbagh nearby. The strengthening of the fort brought it more into focus and also most probably connecting trails went from it to nearby forts such as the Savanadurg Fort, Srirangapatnam fort (the present Mysore Road?), a trail towards the Devanahalli fort where Tipu was born and the Nandi hills fort (Nandidurg fort) (now Bellary Road??), a trail towards Krishnagiri & Vellore (now Lasker Hosur Road??) and a trail towards Chittoor (now Old Madras Road??)

The area around the fort was supposed to have been barren, as it was most probably laid waste by the defenders so as to have a clear field of vision around the fort.

With the fort now being a stronghold, the British during their time in India targeted it and won it from Tipu. They are supposed to have returned it to Tipu and on his death, gave it to the Wodeyars. The British regiments now moved into the area around it in full strength and plans were laid to convert it into a cantonment. The name also would have got changed to Bangalore.

What would have initially been tent camps on the plains around started getting converted into regular buildings and a large number of Bangalore’s current roads would have been formed around this time.

The Pete and Bazaar would have been the trading areas. The gaol would have initially been located where the Good Shepherd Convent now stands and would have later been shifted to the area which is close to Central College which would have been then on the outskirts of Bangalore. Bangalore was the site of a relatively unknown plot of a few to mutiny against the British much before 1857!!

The General Post Office (GPO) would have been built, the rail line is built and so is the Attara Kacheri (court house) and the Bangalore Palace. Cubbon Park comes up as the lung space. The British administration starts. Parade grounds would have been the maidan for troops to parade. A road would have been laid connecting the cantonment to Hosur Road which is now Brigade Road. The road where Bangalore Club now stands would have been where the British resident had his residence, and is now called Residency Road. A Museum would have been located on what is now Museum Road. A separate race course was made on what is now Race Course Road. Trees would have been planted along roads leading to the roads becoming shady avenues.

The retired and pensioners must have found it a quiet and peaceful town and with a salubrious climate to boot, it would have seemed ideal to settle down in.

An 1863 map.

The first telephone rang soon in the city and also the city was struck by the great plague. A huge city cleanup task was undertaken and new extensions such as Malleswaram were built leading to removal of orchards. Mayo Hall housed the new corporation offices.

India’s first electric bulb flickered to life in the City Market. Tata’s Indian Institute of Science was built near Mekhri Circle. Mekhri Circle takes its name from a benefactor who levelled the steep slope of the now Bellary Road so that the beasts of burden weren't put under a tremendous strain to haul goods up its slope to Bangalore.

Bangalore in the 1920s

A few years later the first flight (Bangalore-Bombay) takes off. Bangalore starts proceeding in leaps and bounds.
The Deccan Herald, a daily newspaper comes into being, the Vidhana Soudha is constructed. Bangalore had many tanks and lakes.

Bangalore’s water was sourced from the Thippagondanahalli reservoir across the River Arkavathi designed by Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Most of Bangalore’s water comes from pipelines laid in valleys so as to use minimum power for pumping water into Bangalore.

Large public sector companies set up shop in Bangalore. Housing colonies for workers are built close to factories.

Bangalore the town with a lot of rich history is now a bustling metropolis wherein its popularity has brought in more industries, more people and more pressure on its existing infrastructure.

Bangalore's growth has been phenomenal as can be seen from the chart below.

Kudos to the lowly citizen

2005-11-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

What does a lowly citizen do to combat water logging when the corporation itself has failed?

Take matters into your own hand and try to solve problems. This step has proved beneficial to a citizen in one of Bangalore’s suburbs.

Faced with possible water logging in her garden, she took the step of channeling water to the main storm water drain where she built recharge pits using nothing but common digging implements, cement rings and a stone slab.

The rainwater flows into these soak pits and recharges the ground water table. Sounds simple because it is. No fancy technology at work here, but plain common sense. It may or may not work in low-lying areas, but nothing is lost in trying.

It is time the government officials and other company officials realized that simple solutions are available. All along the storm water drains one can deepen the drains and construct these soak pits. But care should be taken to implement better filtering mechanisms, as sewage can and does flow on the roads, when the BWSSB (sewerage board) is undertaking sewer repair work or when a sewer is blocked. Also one can depend upon Indians to dirty roads in a zillion number of ways from their dogs relieving themselves to they themselves seeking relief.

Blug.. blug.. from flooded Bangalore

2005-10-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

After Mumbai, it is now the turn of Bangalore to be lashed by torrential rains and get flooded.
The political establishment more concerned about power politics has continually neglected the infrastructure of Bangalore or modified it to suit their requirements.

When Mother Nature has unleashed a deluge of rain on it, the already crumbling infrastructure of Bangalore has been washed away.

Now will start the blame game among politicians.

Inadequate drainage, unplanned growth, illegal encroachments on lake beds, and a host of other factors have led to this situation. Read an article of mine from much earlier (July 31st, 2005) for more details- http://sunilpichamuthu.blogspot.com/2005/07/bangalore-and-floods.html

You can view pictures of flooded Bangalore at my photo blog. Some photos have been contributed courtesy Niju.
http://focus-shoot-bang.blogspot.com

IT companies maybe able to log out from a flooded Bangalore, but hapless residents bogged down in water-logged streets and homes have to contend with a slack political establishment whose view appears to be.. "Water-logged? Give them a net and let them fish!"

Peddling the idea of pedalling

2005-10-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Oct. 23rd, Bob Hoekstra of Philips managed to get two people, one of whom is the deputy PM of Netherlands not to accompany him for a walk in a park but a journey on two wheels (non-motorized) through some parts of Bangalore.

The idea is noble- to create an awareness among Bangaloreans about 'cycling for a cleaner Bangalore and Better Health'.

They set off on their bicycles, (were the bicycles with gears?- newspapers are devoid of details), only one of them, the Deputy PM dons a helmet. The rest put their faith in God and the relatively clear roads on a Sunday morning. Did their escort vans also help in clearing the roads? Maybe.

The photo makes it appear like a dream journey. Just three cycles on a Sunday morning meandering down a fairly clear and surprisingly smooth stretch of road, with a few escort vehicles some distance behind. The 25 km. stretch from Cubbon Park to Hessarghatta must have been a gruelling ride that Sunday morning. Imagine trying to do that in rush hour traffic without escorts! That too without a helmet! Suicide!

Would Indian politicians attempt such an event on Bangalore roads? I very much doubt it. Even if they were to try it, one could imagine the traffic blockades on a Sunday morning.

So what would be needed to convert what appears to be a pipe dream into reality?

Smooth well surfaced roads. Try riding a cycle through craters on the Moon or in Bangalore. We never read in the news article what the Netherlands Deputy PM had to say about the quality of Netherlands roads on which cyclists travel.
As an aside from a cycling site about cycling in Netherlands
http://holland.cyclingaroundtheworld.nl/
"... The main roads are often very busy, which makes them not enjoyable for cycling. All busy roads do have separate cycle lanes. So cycling along these roads is safe, but we don't recommend it. Much nicer are the special bicycle lanes, far away from motorised traffic.
The easiest way to find them is to follow signposted routes. In the cities traffic is dense. Dutch cyclists are notorious for ignoring all traffic rules, especially concerning waiting for red traffic lights. You'd better not follow their example..."
Good strong helmets. Never attempt such a feat without a helmet Bob!
Separate lanes for cyclists. What would that require? Definitely a lot of self-disciplined Bangaloreans. What has happened to the yellow lines painted with a flourish on the shoulders of many of Bangalore's roads?? Physical barricades would be necessary to safeguard cyclists lanes. Paint doesn't work. Cyclists and motorists would have to follow traffic rules strictly. Lazy cyclists are well known tail-gaters (one hand on a faster moving vehicle) Special bicycle lanes could instead be built to nearby rural areas and biking tours organised for tourists and other interested individuals, thereby bringing income also.

Self-discipline, honesty and integrity are qualities marked by their absence in Bangaloreans. Just the other day a traffic jam on one of Bangalore's roads led a motorcyclist and a bicyclist to take to the pavement, in a bid to speed up and overtake the rest but were forced to slow down as a pedestrian ( yours truly.. ;-) ) ahead, though moving in the same direction on the same pavement deliberately slowed down and refused to pay heed to blaring horn and ringing bells nor give way! Now isn't that irritating to you pavement dwellers (New definition: that species of Bangaloreans who drive their vehicles on the pavement).

The matter of traffic congestion cannot be solved by just adopting the common cycle. Much more will need to be done. Has anyone tried the even humbler method of walking to work? Even that people will not be able to do with ease, given the state of our pavements. People cannot walk the complete distance, so can we get buses which are not loaded to bulging capacity but where each person gets a seat? So what would be required is a better transport system involving a good infrastructure. Still a pipe-dream.

Can Bob and other IT heads enforce steps in their organisations, such as those using motorcycles and scooters push the vehicle for the last kilometre or two to work and study congestion levels in that area. Will that be feasible? Doubtful. They could still try it and see.

Can buses for IT companies work in reducing traffic congestion? Doubtful, seeing that most employees hours vary depending upon their work load.

Can mini-buses be arranged by apartment owners associations to drop/ pick up residents at places of work on weekdays and leisure/ shopping areas on weekends? Plan seems practical, but who will be willing to put it into motion?

Until then we can just ride stationary cycles or lie on our backs and cycle our legs in the air, dreaming pipe-dreams.

The link to the page on the Philips site with the scanned images of newspaper articles about the event:

http://www.bangalore.philips.com/html/oct23_05_var_cycling.html

Pol IT icking- Def: When a politician fights with an IT company founder. Who is King?

2005-10-22T02:21:00.000-07:00

A well known politician and a well known IT company's founder, have shouldered arms. The opening salvos were accusations laid at the latter's doorstep insinuating inaction on certain issues. The latter's response, resignation tendered.

The result: Egg on everyone's face. Shame for every Indian.

The background is the contentious issue of an international airport for Bangalore. Every Bangalorean worth his salt, knows for how long the bickering by politicians over the issue of the location of Bangalore's new international airport went on. How politicians surely bought land areas near possible locations, in a bid to make a killing when it finally came up. But how definite was the possibilty of the airport coming up there? Politicians lobbied heavily among themselves to ensure the result.

Finally the location was decided. Progress was slow no doubt. We can depend upon a politician's statement for that. ".... when I stepped down from Prime Ministership..." Do we sense a bit of anger in that phrase? The founder of a leading IT company took the reins of the conglomerate of entities forming the organisation entrusted with setting it going.

Cut to the present:
The leading IT company is lambasted for not 'reserving' jobs for local candidates.
The leading IT company is lambasted for 'reserving' land for its use.
The leading IT company's founder is personally attacked through the media.

If we reserve political jobs for only honest, qualified people, maybe we can develop a better political system?

Have we questioned the land bought by large hotels, restaurant chains in prime areas? How did they acquire it? Was there any political influence in that?

IT companies surely need to plan their development. They need to plan, acquire land, draw building plans, and then only build. They expand to satisfy customer demands. Can they develop like politicians do?
Politicial plan for growth:- Wake up one day, chop a tree, construct a building in its place, decide building is unviable, go back to sleep.

Can any business do that?

The pressure must have been tremendous on the IT company founder, but has he done the right thing by resigning? He could have easily issued a rebuttal like his company did. Was it done as anyway he's retiring from a long and illustrious career next year and this would have been an unnecessary burden for him?

The jury is still out.

The true test of leaders is in tough times, and these are tough times for Bangalore, Karnataka, India and its people.

-Sunil

Would you attend the I.T. fair?

2005-10-22T02:04:00.000-07:00

It appears that the Bangalore Forum for I.T. (BFIT) consisting of twenty leading IT companies and their heads are going ahead with the boycott of the I.T. fair.

But what about the thousands others like ourselves who are citizens of Bangalore? What recourse do we have? How many of us who are regular attendees at such fairs have thought of skipping it? Can we not register our silent protest by our non-attendance and inform others not to attend? After all a fair's popularity depends upon the number of visitors. How many are going to hold banners outside the fair and showcase for visitors to the fair, the problems plaguing our infrastructure?

What are you going to do about IT? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments/ suggestions.

-Sunil

Collapse and Chaos!- An extremely smelly issue!!

2005-10-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

Collapse and chaos

What was to happen when an old sanitary line was blasted with water at high-pressure for over several days? A final collapse as it succumbed to pressure!!

This situation led angry motorists to cry themselves hoarse as they lambasted hapless traffic police personnel who were setting up barricades and who were forced to reverse their pet one-ways. It was lucky that the collapse didn’t claim any victims through injuries or deaths. The BWSSB has now swung into action replacing the old sanitary line with a larger, newer line.

This will come as a relief to residents living downhill, notably residents of Hayes Road and D’Souza Road, who for several days have been patiently bearing the presence of a large sewerage clearance machine at the junction of Residency Road and Hayes Road, disrupting traffic and causing an extremely smelly situation especially for the residents of D’Souza Road, as the sewage water outflow was let out during the process of blasting it through the sewers and the smelly water and sludge following the slope of the roads, collected on D’Souza Road, for several days while sanitary engineers blasted their way through, until relief came to the residents when the line finally gave way. The engineers were preoccupied with the problem of clearance of the blockage and not interested in where the sewerage outflow was going. There was no plan nor scheme in place to collect the sewerage in a separate device/ machine. Meanwhile residents of D’Souza Road and Hayes Road were forced to go about their normal business, while wading through sewerage water or driving through it.

The stink and filth will hopefully no more wend its way downhill, though rainwater will continue flooding D’Souza Road, courtesy of a leading IT company that acting as a generous benefactor a few years earlier gave a ‘gift’ to Hayes Road on which its office is located. The gift consisted of:

1) Pavement barriers.
2) Of course the sealing up of storm water drain inlets on Hayes Road..
3) Re-tarring of the road.
4) Changing the camber or sloping of the road while re-tarring so that water doesn’t flow on the surface of Hayes Road, but is diverted into D’Souza Road.
5) A slight encroachment on the pavement by their power unit.

While the replacement of the drain will cause a temporary annoyance to angry motorists, it will come hopefully as a relief to the residents from smelly sewerage but not rainwater.

-Sunil Pichamuthu

Let a dead dog lie OR It is a dog’s life and a dog’s death!!

2005-10-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Let a dead dog lie OR It is a dog’s life and a dog’s death!!

The recent festivities in Bangalore were joyous occasions for some, and not so joyous for others including our animal friends. Rains lashed Bangalore with the onset of the north-east monsoon, with predictable results- flooded roads, clogged drains and sewers, tree falls and overall a complete collapse of the city infrastructure, which the government and the IT industry have promised to rectify working together.

When ordinary men die, it makes news, but when less than ordinary animals die, it doesn’t deserve even a passing mention in newspapers. On the day Ayudha Puja was being celebrated in Bangalore, the dead body of a stray dog was seen on Richmond Road. The day before rains had lashed Bangalore. The body of the stray dog lay with gritted fangs near the foot of an electrical junction box and a light pole located in front of the office of a leading IT company- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The location is an area that gets easily flooded at the drop of a hat and the fall of a raindrop. Rainwater and electricity appeared to have joined hands to deal a blow to the stray dog from which it never recovered. It could have very easily been the body of a human stretched out there in the agony of a death struggle. That would have been published in large photos in local papers.

But the 'unknown' stray dog had to lie there, with no one to pay homage to it, apart from people passing by who would try and avoid going near it because the cause of its death was 'unknown'. It laid there, its body bloating with each passing hour, its upturned eyes staring sightlessly at the sun and moon bathing its body in their light while passing over it at least twice or thrice. This was no highwayman shot down like a dog on the highway, but a stray dog, whose only sin was to be born in a city called Bangalore, where Animal Birth Control programs (ABC) do not seem to have an effect on the population of strays, which lead a life of extreme danger. Has Man’s best friend unnecessarily sacrificed its life to try and bring to the attention of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) (a fancy term for the unfancied city corporation), what flooding can do??

The pavement in front of the AMD office was also covered by a large load of sand dumped on the pavement forcing unwilling pedestrians to take to the flooded road and getting drenched by vehicles passing through the water, while trying to maintain a distance between them and the body of the stray dog.

The incident brings to light several shortcomings in Bangalore’s systems. The fact that garbage clearance and other corporation personnel passed it regularly for at least two to three days in a row without any attempt to remove its body indicates the lack of concern the corporation has for the health of Bangalore’s citizens. The leakage of electricity is a dangerous thing in itself. Now we come to the flooding itself.

Can IT companies that threaten to boycott events in order to get sops from the government be held at fault? The pavement in front of the AMD office has been paved with interlocking pavers. These stones need to be laid in a bed of sand. Needless to say this shows signs of collapsing at parts into the drain below. The people doing the paving have sealed off the drain inlets so the rainwater can’t enter the drain in front of the AMD office, while a gap in the pavement just between the AMD office and the next building also housing an IT company goes uncovered, posing a danger to pedestrians! Why couldn’t it be covered? Is it because it lies in no-man’s land between two IT companies? The loose paving slabs in front of that IT company have holes in them, ostensibly for letting rainwater through, which functions perfectly only when the road is flooded and the rain water covers the pavement. These loose slabs act like a dam’s crest gates. When the remodelled drain below owing to its reduced capacity is turgid with water, the slabs are forced back by the vengeful waters, and the rainwater is released, while creating a watery trap for the unwary road-user.

All this occurs while government officials and IT honchos pat themselves while they praise public-private partnership.

-Sunil Pichamuthu

IT industry and politics- hand in hand

2005-10-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

IT industry and politics- hand in hand

After some aggressive posturing by IT head honchos, its back to normal for them as the Govt.
has appeased them with a few short-term measures and conciliatory gestures.

The claim of the IT industry to represent the people has been proven to be false. The main focus has been solely on roads travelled by them, and not towards the overall development of Bangalore. Whether the long-term projects are completed or not, the short-term measures have been done to soothe the IT industry while the ordinary people continue to struggle to stay afloat on flooded roads.

Soon after the IT industry grievances were well advertised in top papers, the sluggish
government machinery swung into action. Paving slabs were overturned, a 'few drains' were
dredged or cleared. Pot-holes on roads that were leading to 'leading IT companies' or on
which IT companies were located were filled in.

The rest remains in its original state of neglect. Drains leading to the freshly cleared
drains remain unscathed, and continue gathering silt to dump into the cleaned drains. Paving
slabs removed on roads minus IT companies lie where they were thrown. Rain water is diverted off 'IT lanes' into 'common citizens lanes'!! Drains on IT lanes are sealed off, as there is
no necessity for drain inlets on those roads since the rain water is diverted onto the
surface of convenient side lanes nearby.

Bob Hoekstra, Narayana Murthy and the rest of the IT heads continue travelling in their
limousines to their destinations while the backwash of the IT companies posturing continues
battering the common citizens of Bangalore, whose only claim to fame is their payment of tax
to maintain the roads of Bangalore in a continued state of neglect.

Radio City's traffic jam warnings will need to be complemented with warnings for pedestrians
of missing pavement slabs, so that they know which pavements to avoid.

IT industry and Politics are turning out to be the same monster wearing different hats.

Don’t drink the water and don’t move on the roads

2005-08-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

The BMP commissioner recently blamed the rainwater accumulation on roads after a spell of rain due to the citizens of Bangalore moving on the roads and blocking the flow of rainwater after the rain halts. His solution is simple but ludicrous, wait for an hour after the rain stops before venturing onto the roads.

His statement indicates that the BMP far from recognizing a problem is following the ostrich’s approach of sticking its head in the sand and pretending a problem doesn’t exist.

The very fact that the accumulated rainwater doesn’t drain away immediately speaks of the faulty design of the roads and the drains. Low-lying areas in the event of heavy rains will get flooded immediately due to the inadequacy of the drains, and the improper road surface. It is then a design issue, which needs to be addressed immediately and not ignored. When the design is faulty, any patchwork done will be of no use.

Meanwhile television cables are still strung from electric poles and hang very low, pulling down electric cables and making contact with electric cables thereby threatening to electrocute members of the public. One man’s death is another man’s entertainment!

Sunil

Bangalore rots, while I.T. boycotts.

2005-07-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

Sir,
The proposed boycott by the I.T. industry is a step in the right direction to emphasise the miserable failure of the elected representatives of the people.

It should remind the authorities that Bangalore is like a mango rotting inside while the skin appears mostly perfect. The canker has set in due to the lackadaisical attitude of our ‘elected representatives’.

Considering that people employed in the I.T. industry live in Bangalore, I.T. companies are representing them, but the companies should be mature enough not to just look at improving infrastructure from the companies and their employees’ viewpoint but also from the broader viewpoint of all citizens.

From what I’ve observed, most companies are satisfied just 'improving' stretches of road or pavement just in front of their offices. They should look beyond this enabling them as well as Bangalore to grow properly.

Sunil

Bangalore and Floods

2005-07-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

Bangalore and Floods

Hopefully the recent floods in Mumbai have served as a warning to the Bangalore city authorities, where floods can and do occur at the drop of a hat and the fall of a raindrop. A short spell of rain can bring Bangalore to a grinding halt. Prolonged rains can turn Bangalore into a watery grave.

Bangalore saw the formation of its original drainage system under British rule, when stonewalled box drains led storm water to nearby lakes. This was sufficient for those days. With the ‘modernization’ of Bangalore, the drains remained the very same while lakes were drained and the beds encroached upon in Man’s greed and need for more space and more land.

We then reached the phase where traffic in Bangalore started increasing, and the civic authorities in their shortsighted plans to ease traffic congestion decided to increase ‘motorable’ road surface by widening roads and thereby reducing pavement width and removal of pavements on some roads. The unseen victims of these measures were the old storm water drains. As they lay directly below pavements that were being altered, they fell victim to the cost cutting contractors who replaced them with even shallower and narrower drains.

The next step forward for corporators returning from foreign tours was to implement ‘modern paving techniques’. This led to laying interlocking pavers in a bed of sand over existing slabs covering storm water drains. The result can be witnessed on several roads. In some places they have collapsed into the very drains that they were supposed to cover and in other areas they are sinking due to the sand leaking into the narrow and shallow drains below clogging them.

There is also no scientific method followed of contouring (cambering) the road surface so that water doesn’t stagnate on the road surface but flows into drain inlets. On some roads you will be surprised to see the complete absence of drain inlets, though a drain will exist on the shoulder of the road. This indicates the presence/ existence of influential individuals or corporates on that road, who influence the authorities to camber those roads so that rainwater flows into adjoining areas. This NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) syndrome affects entire Bangalore, and no combined scheme can be successfully implemented until the syndrome is cured.

Fat cats from the corporate world flout traffic rules and park their cars illegally on pavements, breaking slabs. The hole is quickly filled up with debris and garbage contributed by passing Bangaloreans, resulting in another blocked drain. Only the traffic police can prevent such happenings by providing railings for pavements and booking offenders.

No proper filter mechanism is implemented at the drains inlets. Desilting of drains when done is at the most, manual opening of drains and the silt thrown onto the roads, waiting for the next rains to wash them back into the very same drains.

Bangalore requires wider, deeper storm water drains fitted with a rain water harvesting mechanism. Creation of new, deeper artificial lakes, and a proper mechanism to channel water there is an expensive proposition and is less likely to be implemented by political parties more concerned with self-survival than the survival of Bangalore.

Until some measures are taken on a war-footing with the future thought of as well, Bangalore remains a disaster waiting to happen.

Sunil

Compound wall collapses..

2005-07-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

The compound wall of the Samyuktha Karnataka newspaper press on D'SouzaRoad, opposite Devatha Plaza late at night on Wednesday 20th July, 2005 collapsed on an auto and scooter crushing them. I guess its lucky that no one was hurt or killed.

-Sunil

The Hindu : Restoring to the Garden City its pristine glory

2005-07-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

An article of mine published in The Hindu newspaper:

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/01/28/stories/0428402q.htm

Other reading material
The Big Dig

Mr Tunnel

-Sunil

Are public roads for public use??

2005-07-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sir,

I came across the attached map of wardworks in ward 76. From it I found out that behind Devatha Plaza (Residency Road) and in front of the LIC officers quarters off Hayes Road, a road has been marked with a blue line indicating that it comes under the maintenance contract which has been assigned by the BMP to a contractor.

But if your reporters were to visit the area, they would be stunned to realise that a barrier has been setup at both ends of that road, and it is like a private parking area with no throughfare allowed!! Does the BMP now maintain private areas using public money or can any private party cordon off public space and utilise it for private purposes?? So can we block any road we want to and utilise it as a private space?

Yours sincerely,
Sunil Pichamuthu

A dying corporation

2005-07-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

A dying corporation
Sir,

The latest attempt to enforce BMTC bus use among school children hints at the realization of the government that with an upcoming Metro Rail and other transportation methods, the BMTC is going to see a downswing in its fortunes.The photo on Page 2(DH, Jul 2nd, 2005) shows that our pavements haven’t been designed for school children let alone others to walk upon. Can the traffic police do something about that? Like increasing pavement area and creating pavements on roads lacking them? Can they ensure that pedestrian crossings are safe? BMTC buses are also to blame for traffic jams! I have seen several traffic policemen mute witnesses to buses blatantly flouting traffic rules, as they take turns from wrong lanes, stop in the middle of roads away from bus stops, jump signal lights. A few months earlier a BMTC bus carrying schoolchildren met with an accident near the GPO[see DH Report, The Hindu report]. What will the police do ahead of time to ensure such incidents don’t happen? Can they post 10-15 policemen per school forever?It is time they got back to the drawing board and studied the situation in a broader perspective.

Sunil Pichamuthu

Let us tar the corporators!

2005-07-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Sir,

For several weeks now, tar has been dumped against the compound wall of our house on D' Souza Road by the city corporation. We had painted it recently at great cost, a few days after which the corporation had slunk up early one morning dumped the tar and fled.

When rioters damage public property they are arrested, the same should be done to the corporators of Bangalore City and they should be tarred and feathered as well!

The government has a lot to answer for, as they are responsible for the damage caused so far.

Also extensive damage is being caused to the pavement slabs on D' Souza Road by cars being parked on the pavement. When the traffic policemen can deploy several men around schools to enforce a parking ban, don't they have the sense to deploy sufficient men to enforce the no parking rule supposedly on one side of D'Souza Road. As they are seen to be colluding with those violating the no- parking law, the traffic police should be booked as well!

Yours sincerely,

Sunil Pichamuthu,