Naan nimmana touch maadna? Tragic consequences.

s_yajaman - 5-MAY-2008

Challenge anyone driving fast in a residential area and chances are you will get this response - naan nimmana touch maadna (did I touch you?) as if that is the only measure of safe driving.

Here are the tragic consequences of this sort of attitude. One life snuffed out because of some idiot who thought that driving fast is his birthright and as long as he does not touch anyone (more precisely he has not hit anyone so far) he is driving perfectly safe. These people were not running across a road or crossing a highway. They were walking on a pavement in a residential area.

What do you know about the candidates in your constituency?

roshanrk - 23-APR-2008

Political parties have come out with the list of candidates for various constituencies. How much do we know about them? As for me, I know only the name of the BJP candidate from Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency. No idea about other candidates or what any of them have done or plan to do for the constituency.

Public transport (BMTC) - what is needed to improve it? Your thoughts

s_yajaman - 22-APR-2008

One of the things that Bangalore lacks is a good integrated public transport system as of today. Namma Metro promises to improve things but is a few years away. Till then we depend on BMTC for public transport.

BMTC has changed a lot over the last 5-6 years. It (at least according to the website) operates a fleet of 5000 buses and carries about 30 lakh passengers a day (if one person makes 3 trips a day - it is 3 passengers). however, it still has a long way to go.

Best Practices for Bangalore

Bengloorappa - 8-APR-2008

I am trying to enlist here some of the best practices that I have seen/heard about City Management. Please feel free to add, edit/dissect as you may please.

1. Locality based Infrastructure Management - A la Delhi model can be adopted by empowering local Residents' associations, where available, to get Infrastructure like Roads, Parks, Water and Waste management managed and maintained on a locality basis and make engineers and other city corporation employees answerable to such associations as well as to their own management. This can lead to quick addressal of grievances and form power centres for effective infra management. In Delhi, residents' associations are headed by retired govt. employees who have plenty of time on their hands and a vision for their locality.

Dumping Grounds

Vijay - 28-FEB-2008

Heres something thats totally counterproductive.

For all of you who have travelled on the Bangalore/Mysore road, the Vrishabhavathi canal on the outskirts of Bangalore is a familiar sight. Theres also a water treatment plant that was set up at great cost just before Kengeri.

Knowledge city - DLF township or " gowda family township"

pradeepwins - 31-DEC-2007

Dear prajegale As every one knows bangalore outskirts are getting filled with township, but i have one doubt- is these township helping bangalore civilians or politicians !!!!!!!! .... ok it may be helping politicians only.. but the bidadi knowledge township is of DLF groups or gowdas family's????

Cycling on verge of extinction in India

asj - 26-DEC-2007

The West is promoting cycling increasingly but in India many small cities like Pune and Banglore are making it extinct.
The picture below says it all.

School vans (Omnis) - a disaster waiting to happen

s_yajaman - 12-DEC-2007

When I go to drop my boys at school and pick them up, a familiar sight greets me - Maruti Omnis with about 12-15 kids in each of them. There is not even space to keep their bags inside the Omni and so they are on the roof. Many of these are with white boards and so possibly illegally being used for this. If this overloading is not enough, the way they are driven is horrific. I have seen them go at full speed, jumping lights, taking turns without slowing down, etc. Sadly it seems a matter of time before something serious happens.

Pre-paid auto service at Bangalore City station

s_yajaman - 3-DEC-2007

I have been travelling to Madras and back by train quite often over the past few months and have had the opportunity to sample the pre-paid auto service about 5 times. The sample size might be a bit too small to make any conclusive statements, but here goes... All my arrivals into the city have been around 5:00 a.m. by either the Bangalore Mail or the Kaveri express. Invariably there are taxi drivers and auto drivers who greet you at the exit. Invariably I refuse.

Planetarium and the Vishweshwariah museum - a study in contrast

s_yajaman - 3-DEC-2007

Last Thursday my boys and I visited the Nehru planetarium. It was a school holiday for them. We wanted to see the 12:45 p.m. show on the solar system. I have already covered the trip itself in another blog. To summarize - we made it in about 40 minutes no thanks to some hare-brained traffic light logic along JC Road.