Traffic in Bangalore
Travelling on the roads in Bangalore has become a harrowing experience in the past few years. The distance one covered in thirty minutes ten years ago takes more than an hour today. Traffic snarls at each crossing destroy whatever enthusiasm is left after a hard working day in the office for lakhs of employees. People in Bangalore spend 10–12% of their working hours in travelling, which I feel is inhuman. And the problem isn’t getting resolved very soon – in fact it is getting worse each passing day. Thousands of four- and two-wheeler vehicles are registered at the road transport office each day. The authorities feel this number will multiply in the coming months and years with cheaper cars coming to the market and the purchasing power of the people rising rapidly. The already overcrowded roads will come to a complete stand still then. The present conditions of the roads are simply appalling and don’t make the residents of Bangalore with its Silicon Valley tag proud. Pot holes spring up on the roads after every shower of rain. And when it rains, the roads simply turn into public drains. Its a nightmare travelling in the rain – you may not know if the harmless-appearing puddle of water is a deep, open drain.
In the old days it was called the pensioner’s paradise with its quaint tree-lined roads and peaceful residential areas. Its cool climate invited many a retired person to settle here. Within a decade things have changed. There is a huge population explosion due to the economic boom mostly from IT and ITES industries and the public infrastructure has deteriorated rapidly, unable to keep pace with the rapid population growth. I have seen two-way roads being changed to one-way, then back to two-way, and again to one-way in the opposite direction of the earlier one-way! With no space on the road it is not uncommon to find two-wheelers plying on the pavements that are meant for pedestrians. The authorities are at loss of ideas. Traffic tempers are at the highest and accidents very common. The Metro railway, which promises to alleviate the traffic woes, is taking its own sweet time to arrive and may not be running for few more years. Its slow construction in the areas over the present roads may even add to the traffic chaos.
