Infrastructure

I was glad to see a training bus, with many drivers sitting in it, going past with one learner driver at the wheel:However, I was not sure if this was a training vehicle, and having seen the words "Tharabethi Vahana" on the bus, tried to google for the meaning of the word "tharabethi"...but could not find any free Kannada-translation website. Google does not translate from Kannada to English or vice-versa...but I am still amazed that in the home of the software industry, no one has yet designed a good Kannada-to-English translation site. ⊕

S Viswanath, from Outer Ring Roads Association shares the following information on the state of Ring Road at Bellandur junction. The U-turn at Intel junction after Bellandur is now completely blocked, so please drive carefully and move to the right lane after the Intel junction. The traffic police and ORRCA team is doing all possible to ensure smooth traffic. BDA work has created muddy messes at each junction. BDA has not cleared the sand/mud and this is blocking smooth flow of water at various spots. At the connections between service road/main road, the gutter is blocked and huge pile of…

S Viswanath, from Outer Ring Roads Association shares the following information on the state of Ring Road at Bellandur junction. The U-turn at Intel junction after Bellandur is now completely blocked, so please drive carefully and move to the right lane after the Intel junction. The traffic police and ORRCA team is doing all possible to ensure smooth traffic. BDA work has created muddy messes at each junction. BDA has not cleared the sand/mud and this is blocking smooth flow of water at various spots. At the connections between service road/main road, the gutter is blocked and huge pile of…

Office workers head home late on a working day. Taken at the Sarjapur Flyover Junction. Pic by Ravi Kaushik.⊕

Office workers head home late on a working day. Taken at the Sarjapur Flyover Junction. Pic by Ravi Kaushik.⊕

I was walking past the new Corporation Bank building in JP Nagar, and found that wheelchair access was provided:This got me thinking, and I started looking at other public buildings...and private ones too...and was saddened to find that in very, very few of them was wheelchair access provided. Why can't we, at the construction stage, take a little extra effort and provide wheelchair access? This would be so helpful to those whose mobility is restricted. One of the best examples I have seen, of a wheelchair ramp beautifully integrated into the steps, is at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. One can…

I was walking past the new Corporation Bank building in JP Nagar, and found that wheelchair access was provided:This got me thinking, and I started looking at other public buildings...and private ones too...and was saddened to find that in very, very few of them was wheelchair access provided. Why can't we, at the construction stage, take a little extra effort and provide wheelchair access? This would be so helpful to those whose mobility is restricted. One of the best examples I have seen, of a wheelchair ramp beautifully integrated into the steps, is at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. One can…

Writing about something is better when one tries it out too. I wrote about the Free Shuttle offered by BMTC between the City Railway Station and the BMTC (Majestic) Bus Station, here so, when I returned from Hospet last Monday morning (13th September 2010), I decided to try it out.For a start, the Free Shuttle stand is right in front of the entry/exit point of the Station, and clearly marked. As you come out of the exit and face the Prepaid Auto stand, it is to the left of the stand. I had to wait about 15 min for the shuttle, and…

Writing about something is better when one tries it out too. I wrote about the Free Shuttle offered by BMTC between the City Railway Station and the BMTC (Majestic) Bus Station, here so, when I returned from Hospet last Monday morning (13th September 2010), I decided to try it out.For a start, the Free Shuttle stand is right in front of the entry/exit point of the Station, and clearly marked. As you come out of the exit and face the Prepaid Auto stand, it is to the left of the stand. I had to wait about 15 min for the shuttle, and…

Roadwidening. Who thought that such a term would come into being and cause such a brouhaha here in Bengaluru. Anyways - the protests, the government and BBMP going back and forth on suspending roadwidening, TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices being slapped, red marks on the wall - all this has been talked about over and over. Now here's something new to swallow. Sources in the BBMP recently told Citizen Matters about 23 roads that are being widened. This is not part of the list of roads that are stuck in a High Court case. These are roads of newly-added…