Here’s Bannerghatta Road, at the Jayadeva flyover; four years ago, all the trees that had been planted on this road were cut down and the road widened, and the flyover built.

Can you see even a blade of grass in the picture?

What has the effect of the tree-felling, road-widening, and flyover-building been on traffic?

The traffic is as choked as ever, and all that has happened is that we have lost a lot of greenery and tree cover; the area has become much more polluted and noisy.

Can we stop further unnecessary felling of trees and widening of roads, which result in the same traffic congestion + lack of trees, just a few years down the line, and think of more long-term and people-friendly solutions to our traffic problems?

Just came across this Airport Transfer Service for BIAL. Since the New airport is far from the city and current Airport Transfers are very expensive for the families or individuals with lot of luggage. This service claims to make airport Transfers less expensive and still provide the required luxury while taking customers to and from the airport. They will pick up the customers from the Airlift pickup points and drop them to the airport and vice versa bring them to the city from the airport.

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- “HAaL ya B(IA)haaL!!”

May 22nd 2008, yes that’s the date! Just a day before HAL is pushed to cease domestic travel. Despite formal position of the civil aviation ministry is that metros require two airports likes of Mumbai and Delhi….

In an interlocutory petition filed by social worker B Krishna Bhat, Bangalore City Connectivity Foundation (BCCF) and advocate G R Mohan, SC sought the details regarding the meeting’s held involving the Chief Secretary and other senior officials on April 19 and May 12, it is learnt that in these meeting they found it impossible to retain the HAL airport.

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Now that the May 23rd 2008 takes all commercial flights off HAL airport, after the great ‘fixing’ of the protests to keep it open HAL is finally set to rest, an article written by Mr. R K Mishra about this episode in todays times highlights the same…

The new airport is all set to put holes in the pockets of the travelers under UDF charges and roaring taxis that will clinch out few more hundreds, that’s the story now!! The infrastructure starving city is now getting hoaxed by this new ‘arrangement’ by and between few that would churn many closing the HAL airport…uhhhh!
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“Stop!” came a voice from nowhere even as the cab screeched to a halt. In the moonless night on a road shorn off its streetlights, the light of the torch thrown full-on to the car was highly disconcerting.

I am not the one for great reflexes but survival is another thing altogether. In those seconds that the driver used to open the car windows, I had taken out my wallet and shoved it down the pouch at the back of the driver’s seat. The thought that I was not carrying my laptop offered additional solace to a heart that had lost its sense of rhythm and poise. (more…)

At the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation bus stand last week, I noticed this strange sight:

The pot was not there to provide a home for birds (in fact, I would say that pigeons and crows rate as pests and are not encouraged there) and it was upended in a net, so that the opening of the pot faced down. I could not find anyone who could give me a reason why it was suspended from the roof of the bus station. Any explanations, anyone?

Here’s the poster for the Car-Free Day

Do join the initiative if you can….

The car-free week is already on and will culminate in a cycling meet on April 27th.

Let me confess first that this actually began as yet another attack on the auto drivers, their methods, their rude ways etc. But then I realized that there is so little written about the positives of the auto drivers of Bangalore that it does seem to feel that every one out there is evil. There are a few guys out there who are generally nice & do some good deeds if not always at least once in a while. And there have also been times when we have not looked at them as aliens from the outer world & been nice as well. Some instances:

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Ever wondered what a girl auto looks like? Here it is:

It’s obviously waiting for a boy auto!

Crisis in Bangalore: Traffic is destroying this city

Do any of these frustrate you on a daily basis?
* Being stuck in a traffic jam for hours on end
* Seeing Bangalore being destroyed day by day
* Lack of respect for pedestrian movement
* High air pollution levels
* Huge, beautiful trees being hacked down

So far we have been waiting for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE to do SOMETHING about the crisis. Nobody is doing anything about it.

We are trying to form a city-wide group of people with skills, time and passion who are willing to do something about this crisis.
Be the change you want to see. Come and join Hasiru Usiru, and the Environment Support Group, in making Bangalore a better place to live.

Date : Sunday, April 6
Time : 3 pm.

Agenda:
We will have a talk detailing the crisis, and describe possible solutions. We’ll then have a discussion on how we can go about implementing them.

Venue: Environment Support Group
105, East End ‘B’ Main Road
Jayanagar 9th Block East
Bangalore - 560069.

Directions:

Map: http://www.esgindia.org/contact/contact.html
(From East End Circle in Jayanagar, go towards Jayadeva Hospital.
Turn left just before the Reebok showroom. ESG is on the right, behind the Reebok showroom).