In his list are a few reasons why including the fact that it’s not up to international standards and the facilities for customers are not good enough. Of course, the fact that the airport was not built under his government might just be another reason.

But does he have plans to do anything to make it better is what he didn’t say much about.

I have not travelled to the new airport as yet. But I know the travel times have been anything between 1-3 hours for people depending on where they live, time of day and the state of the roads.

The other slightly alarming news I came across the other day is the number of deaths on the road to the new airport. Since it’s possibly the only remaining good stretch of road, vehicles speed up way out of the limits mowing down animals and pedestrians on the path. Maybe they need to install some kind of speed monitors on this stretch to stop this loss of lives.

Though we wrote a lot about the airport when it was being constructed, there hasn’t been much about the “post-opening” experiences.

Anyone with interesting experiences to share on their travels (to) and travails (of) the new airport?

So the result was that we were stuck. And badly. And of course, no one had any clue what to do after that. The rickshaws and motorbikes got onto the pavement. That’s one thing I am happy about - that Bangalore hardly has pavements because most of the times they’re used by 2 wheelers :-)

Earlier, they had cut down all the trees in the surrounding area - if you folks have been on St. John’s Road recently - you’ll see how mercilessly they’ve chopped down everything. I saw huge bulldozers one day and tree stumps lying all around the side of the road. The next day, everything was gone. This was one beautiful road - the stately old gulmohar trees providing the much needed shade by forming a canopy over you.

What have they done now? Cut off all of them - more than 50 of them I think - to make the road the size of a football field. Did they ask anyone before they decided to take up their axe?

Unfortunately, none of the other connecting roads are so wide so we are stuck with the same congestion problem - again. And it was proof that all the tree-chopping by the tree mafia hadn’t changed a thing. We were still stuck in one position for 1/2 hour now despite them making St John’s road the size of a football field.

Wider roads within reason is fine but what is this mindless chopping without a second thought? Without any concern or approval from citizens (is this allowed? do we have any rights?!). How many more trees will they cut and how wide will they go? And what when they’ve finished cutting down everything in sight? What will they do after that? Have they figured out that one day, there won’t be anything left to cut and chop off?

We really need people who are slightly smarter and think a little when on the road too. And that is going to be a challenge, always. Can you imagine a motorist pausing and thinking, “maybe I shouldn’t go that way and block all the incoming traffic”. Road sense I am afraid, especially when in times when most needed, goes away with the wind (perhaps it was never there to begin with).

We need more traffic cops out there sorting out traffic problems. Where do these people disappear when you need them? We need more ways to get from one place to another! We need a whole new underground train system that will take off half off the motorists and vehicles off the roads.

I think we need a lot more than mindless tree-chopping and I am afraid that by the time this city finds out, it’s going to be too late. It is already too late.

It took me 2 hours to reach from Koramangala to Silk Board, a distance of about 3-4 kms.

The news is still coming in from different sources. But do try and stay calm. Networks might be jammed so try and be a little patient if you’re trying to get through to your near and dear ones.

The first blast took place at Madiwala check post near Forum Mall. The reported toll so far is 1 and several injured. Gelatin sticks, used for mining etc. was apparently used for the blasts.

Read More:
- Rediff.com
- IBN Live
- BBC

The system works slightly differently now. You need to be registered on Bangalore Metblogs and commented a few times. If you have done so in the past, and are now interested in being upgraded to an author, you need to leave a comment on this page.

BM is looking for enthusiastic, committed and interested authors who are passionate about the city. The basic criteria is basically an interest in the city (events, activities, projects etc.), an ability to post a few times a week and of course, an inclination and ability to write decently well.

You can write on topics as diverse as events, politics to food and architecture. But they need to be related to the city or have some connection with Bangalore - that’s the basic requirement.

If you’re interested, please leave a comment and mention how long you’ve been following the blog and if you have commented earlier.

Anyway, though Bharat Thakur doesn’t personally come and teach you (sadly :-) the instructors are pretty good. Right now, JP Nagar, Koramangala and Indiranagar are some of the areas where the classes are being held.

If you want to come for a trial class, the timings are:
Morning: 6.00-7.00, 7.00 to 8.00
Evening: 6.00-7.00, 7.00 to 8.00

These are the batches at Koramangala. The other venues might have different timings.

You can also get one trial class, but do be prepared to sweat it out because the exercises are slightly improvised and are faster paced than the other yoga schools. So you might find the class slightly more strenous, but in the long run it’s a good way to burn your calories and get fit!

To come in for a trial class and for the current fee structure, call Ramshad: 9480336648.

For those of you who live around the JP Nagar area, there is the Jolly Colors 5K - a run followed by a Painting competition will be organized at JP Park on Sunday June 15. Run and then paint and express yourself! A mighty fun way to spend a Sunday morning with the family!

You can either bring your own paint and brush and palette for the painting competition or use the painting supplies provided by the organisers.

All finishers in the 5K run event will get a prize. Painting event prizes will be decided by a panel of judges. There will be prizes for all-round good performance in both running & painting events.

This event is being organised by Run Walk India.

And take it from me, there’s nothing as refreshing and fun as an early morning run!

So the BJP have won in Karnataka and the finally tally is:
BJP: 110, Cong: 80, JD-S: 28, Others: 6

BJP is now 2 short of 113 - the magic figure required for a simple majority - does not seem like a difficult task.

So now, the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in the south will be sworn-in on May 28 and B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as chief minister.

So what’s in store for Karnataka? I guess we will all have to watch over the next few months!
`

To refresh your memory (in case you haven’t been reading enough of it already!), the new airport is on the National Highway 7 and is 40kms from the city’s central business district.

Meru and EasyCabs are the taxi services which have tied up with the airport. An indicative price from the airport to MG Road is around Rs 600 including waiting charges of Rs 60 per hour. And if that’s a little scary, the shuttle services that connect the airport to different parts of the city might be a better option. There’s also an option of long term and short term parking at the airport.

So hope you folks are all geared up for the new BIAL airport!

For more information, go here: www.bengaluruairport.com

So we might not have proper roads, or good infrastructure and we can talk all day about the lack of our public transport system. But one thing is for sure - these folks are so rich they can possibly get a whole highway created just on their wealth!

I was reading an news article about how much these folks are worth and here are some really astonishing figures. These have been declared assets in their affidavits filed for the first phase of the poll.

Prasad Reddy: Declared Rs 220 crores. With assets in real estate, and more than 200 crores invested in land, commercial property and apartments. He owns 15 vehicles at a combined worth of Rs 3 crores!

Kuppendra Reddy: In terms of finance is worth more than Rs 180 crores. Owns commercial buildings worth nearly 55 crores and a residential building worth Rs 5 crores. And added to this are bank deposits, bonds, debentures, shares…

Krishnappa who is a contractor and an agriculturalist. Cash of over 27 lacs and deposits over 14 crores and bonds and debentures over over 19 lacs. Also, around 21 vehicles at 1.79 crores and jewellery of more than 2 crores. There’s more!

It took me a few minutes to let all these crores sink in. I for one, can’t even imagine how anyone can amass wealth of this size and quantity in one lifetime, especially with their respective backgrounds. Amazing!

Come ONE come ALL. It’s only if you feel good, do you look good. So, what are you waiting for?

The details of the run are below:
Come Run The 5 km
Sunday
April, 13th 2008
Start: 8 am
Regsitration: 7:30 am
Venue: JP Park, Mathikere, Bangalore 54
More: RunWalkIndia

Target Audience: one and all… couch potatoes to crawlers to joggers to
sprinters. Get your kids along or your lazy ok half.

Be a part of the revolution.