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Written By Arun - 22 April, 2009
First the commercial establishments on CMH Road raised their voices, then on Raj Kumar Road. Most of the residents in Vijayanagar were mute and raised no voice. Avenue Road does not like the idea. It will soon be Vidhana Soudha, High Court and Minsk Square that will get altered. KSCA, though unhappy is not worried much since it is quite sometime that they stopped promoting cricket. And now we are on the verge of pushing a part of Lalbagh and the verdant Lakshman Rau Boulevard as part of history. It is really heartening to see people up against the adamant BMRCL which has not been conducting in an undemocratic manner. The wannabe Parliamentarians have had their voices heard too, some reliable some to be trashed instantaneously. I really wonder, what stops BMRCL to go back to the drawing board. Yes, there will be a delay, but let them not forget that any number of BMRCLs can be created, but cannot create one bit of Lakshman Rao Boulevard or Lalbagh. And what approvals are we talking about? It is from our own State and the Union Govt!
A lot could be written to make BMRCL and the Governments understand that they are building the METRO for the people of Bangalore. But it is time that they shed their arrogant behaviour and talk to the people and make NAMMA METRO really count. The often heard ‘…not possible at this stage…’ is not acceptable.
This is one thought provoking suggestion on Hasiru Usiru mailing list by Mr.Nityananda…
‘…all ideas of what to do about the 4th Main (Nanda Rd) when the Metro is built have failed. Going underground is too costly. Going overhead involves cutting almost all the trees. Changing the alignment will involve too much take over of private land.
Here is a RADICAL possibility which I hope can be considered
-Retain the present alignment as it is the logical one requiring no land acquisition, and gives best service to BOTH Jayanagar and Banashankari residents.
-RUN THE TRACKS AT THE GROUND LEVEL FOR THE FULL LENGTH OF NANDA ROAD (4TH MAIN). This has several advantages:
-The trains will not therefore be obstructed by the overhanging branches of the giant trees on 4th Main.
-The added cost of going underground is SAVED.
-The cost and time of overhead viaduct is also saved
-Run the power high voltage rail at ground level on this stretch as in Britain.
-WORLD CLASS ARCHITECTS can design the Jayanagar station to have a rural look and feel at ground level WITHOUT cutting any trees. In fact the tree trunks will be an integral part of the station, just like at any village stn in India!
-Residents of Bangalore voluntarily give up the 4th Main for use by cars / buses / bikes and dedicate this stretch to the preservation of India's environment - giving an example to all of India.
-Road traffic can still be given a few East- West crossings UNDER the Metro tracks at say 27th , 36th and 40th Crosses. This could be funded from the amount saved above.
Hope the BMRCL will suitably respond, as this meets all their technical needs and we ask only the residents of Bangalore to sacrifice a small 2.5 Km stretch of road and we ask nothing of the BMRCL, except some small use of the imagination and a little sensitivity to the environment…’
COMMENTS
idontspam - 22 April, 2009 - 08:29
How come nobody till Mr. Nityananda thought of At ground ?
We at Praja have been discussing that option since ages... please look up the archives. I will post them here if I find those threads.
idontspam - 22 April, 2009 - 07:30
It is not radical at all. It is logical I would think. Let us make this a PT only street. Magic box can be used to go under.But does this prevent the trees at lalbagh being chopped?
If only this was light rail we could have used the road for normal traffic also since it doesnt use a third rail.
Vasanth - 22 April, 2009 - 07:58
I liked this idea too. I daily cross the Nanda Road and this thought had come in my mind. There are service roads to serve the residents and for main traffic there is Kanakapura Road 2 blocks away and KR Road 3 blocks away towards West.
On the Jayanagar side too (towards East), there are underutilized wide residential roads.
Service roads should be made one way in each direction.
Cost saving of nearly 300-400 crores as well as trees and quicker implementation.
das - 22 April, 2009 - 08:09
Whenever one thinks of Bangalore Metro, one always thinks of Above ground or Underground. How come nobody till Mr. Nityananda thought of At ground ?
The practicalities will have to be studied in depth of course, but at least it's a new idea.
Srivatsava - 25 April, 2009 - 06:06
Vinay_Sreenivasa,
Our objective is not to stall or derail the metro or the road-widening case. our objective is to ensure that the right process , the laws are followed for these projects. that publc consultations are done, that BDA which is the planning agency for bangalore prepares a scheme, and these agencies implement it accordingly.
Firstly, many thanks for giving your response. I understand you have put a lot of sustained effort for a long time. I wish you will see success in the future!!
My concern against HU (or any other green group) has been vindicated by you. Your focus, as you have said, is on compliance with law, while implementing these projects. You and I know the law well and hence we try to judge the extent of compliance by BMRC/BBMP. They (BMRC/BBMP) are one step ahead of ordinary souls like us. they not only have knowledge of the law, but also have immense knowledge of 'successfully' working around the 'restrictions' in law.
Even if you one day find success in your objectives, you will only ensure that the present laws prevail. That is not enough for us. Metro will happen despite any form of opposition. I do concede that there are excesses by the civic bodies. They may start cutting trees even before they get the permission from all quarters. They may fell a few more trees than what is permitted. Afterall, they are like us. We citizens make 'building violations', they make 'demolition violations'!!!
Change/extend the focus of your protests to include some of the following points. I am trying to put forth some points that have been discussed on Praja recently
- Alternative to tree 'cutting' has an interesting stat that you can use during your protest.
Metro Costs us tens of thousands of crores. If we can move a thousand trees at a cost of 1 lakh a piece, it will cost us just around 10 cr.
Strive to relocate tress within the vicinity. Not all of those trees may do well. But, we should also be able to contribute trees/saplings or even expect BMRC to bear the cost. It doesn’t bloat their budget!
- Can we force carbon offsets in public projects? (on this post) suggests a more flexible approach. The funda is that loss of trees doesn’t have to compensated with trees themselves. The post suggests some alternatives. Please try and see if these can be accommodated in your objectives.
You have got great organisational skills and if you put them to use in directions as mentioned above (not specifically these, but this direction), you have an additional person joining you in your endevour!!
MY support will not necessarily be to 'enforcing' every rule, but to enforce the 'spirit' of the rule and the reasoning behind it.
-Srivatsava V
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