the Bengaluru blog

Source: TOI

For those who enjoyed the toll highway from Electronics city to Silk Board in Bengaluru, constructed by NHAI, finally you must get ready to pay toll to use it henceforth. For those going to work, its still a boon and worthwhile investment. And for those investing in Hosur/Attibele/Jigani/Suryanagar, its even more worthwhile in terms of RE investment.

As for me, I did get a chance to enjoy this road, but even as I drove for the first time, came across a horrific accident where a car’s frontage was completely in smoke after hitting the divider. Further on, I noticed only half of a two wheeler which made gory thoughts come to my mind wondering where the driver and the other half of the two wheeler were. If you want to bet on your life, please drive below 80 kmph and in one single lane always. If at all you want to change lanes, its advisable that you give proper indicators for doing the act.

As for police patrol, its quite strong on the highway and they seem to come over immediately in case there is a problem. There are also digital signboards along the highway making it somewhat techno-gizmo-oriented. The highway itself due to its elevation is a breath of fresh air. Drive slow, and enjoy your drive.

Words don’t convey much. Pictures do. So here is the picture:

(Source: TOI)

Finally Bengaluru is waking up to understanding what it means to vote. And specifically to vote for a absolute majority. It does not matter who won these polls. One thing is certain that people have given a party an absolute majority. So that it can silence its critics and complete its proper functioning for the rest of the term. The BJP is on a roll as far as Karnataka is concerned. And here is why:

• Yeddy – Being a farmer, he can understand farmer’s sentiments. Being a CM he admits to his shortcomings and tries to constantly improve upon them. Being a senior administrator his focus is sharp – develop the city.
• Weak opposition – RV Deshpande commented in today’s newspaper that if Bengaluru’s elite had come in plenty to vote, then Congress would have won. Bullshit. If they had actually come in plenty and voted, Congress in fact would have lost miserably. Who does not know congress ? They are known to introduce those mouth watering ‘economic reforms’ which in effect are just triggers to price rises. RVD, I think you are too old to reason it out this way.
• Dirty politics – We don’t know where DG is hiding now. But HDK was his calm self (does he have much options?) – according to him, if this is what people want, then they must be ready to face price rises, and power cuts just because they elected the BJP ? – read as an absolute majority. Damn you parties, price rise is because of us population. What can they do about it? This world just got affordable to many more people, who have joined your ranks to claim their needs -  power, water, education, transport – so why will things not get costly? Milk dearer by Rs.3, petrol by Rs.2, diesel by Rs.3, so on and so forth. And by the law of the land, since diesel got costlier, like a theorem having corollaries, everything else in India is now proportionately costly. And add to that tax, vat, surcharge, birth cess, death cess, road cess, flyover cess, metro cess, political cess, voter’s cess – and you are in a big MESS of cess.
• The next time you eat that milk laden icecream just think how you are contributing to the price rise and you will realize you are the problem, not the political parties. The amount of subsidies on fuel is so high since the past umpteen years, that we have to cough up a hell lot to offset the situation. I dont see any difference in this price rise thing whichever party comes in. Show me one instance where there has been any price decrease on anything after or before any elections?
• Bickering congress – no amount of youth oriented political angles could fight against a determined party working towards development. A chance lost is 100 more opportunities permanently lost.

But is it all then rosy for the BJP ?? – Not exactly. Here is what they need to do on an urgent priority.

• Develop Bangalore fully and permanently with sufficient thought about the future
• Understand that Karnataka does NOT mean only Bangalore. Yeddy wake up and address other lesser privileged regions before they revolt
• Tackle infighting within party and dont show the cracks to everyone
• Handle the Reddy dominance in money power in a tactical way
• Complete huge infrastructure projects without slippages. Dont keep bragging about some elevated highway that NHAI constructed and stop swallowing JNUURM funds.
• People have belief in BJP as the only party which cares for Karnataka. Dont screw up that perception.
• Show other parties that you are secular enough. Stop piggybacking Hindutva and work towards the ultimate progress
• Make karnataka fully literate like Kerala.
• Use Bengaluru’s best technologies in other districts.
• Continue citizen friendly measures

Beyond all this, increase in power, milk, water costs is perfectly justifiable. Bengaluru cannot afford giving everything free to people anymore. For good services, there is a high cost. Take the case of water supply. Slapping huge bills is one way of avoiding unnecessary water usage. You should keep the same bill thousand times more for corporates for them to inculcate a sense of belonging and savings.

Someone in BJP commented after the elections:

We had said we will make Bengaluru a Singapooru, we have achieved it now

 

For heavens sake #Yavanoobba, do you have any clue what Singapore looks like or functions like ? Did you ever realize that Bengaluru is much much bigger than Singapooru now? And did you know Singapooru is not just about ring roads and IT Firms? Have you ever thought about how they manage their garbage? Or how they excel in every other field other than IT ? Or their uniform taxation on all goods ? Or the kind of transport system that’s available there? Or that it is one of the safest city in the entire world ? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you would also agree Bengaluru is nowhere near Singapooru, and will never be for the next fifty years at the nearest of future.

SINGAPORE IS BUILT BY ITS PEOPLE OF DIVERSE CULTURES. BENGALURU IS SCREWED UP BY ITS PEOPLE OF DIVERSE CASTES AND CREEDS. FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH ENDS. EACH TIME, EVERY TIME. WHAT MATTERS IS THE HABITS, AND ATTITUDE, NOT THE LANDMARKS OF THE CITY.

So BJP, concentrate on making Bengaluru atleast 25% of Singapooru. Good luck. You have MY vote.

Ask a small kid and he would have given the solution. Ask an old man and his wiseness would have manifested as a solution. It took the Bengaluru infrastructure experts a few years to come up with a solution to the (stupid) KH Road flyover. What is wrong with the flyover many people might ask. Well I would ask – what is exactly right?

• Its the world's only flyover with a signal light at the center
• Its the world's only flyover where a cop sits managing traffic at this signal light
• Its the world's only flyover which is mismanaged to such an extent that it has made proper roads crooked just because it exists
• Its the world's only flyover (perhaps) which can crush an entire road beneath it and the people on it to death in seconds
• Its the world's only flyover where the span of the column can be considered so huge to cause regular traffic jams
• Its perhaps the world's only flyover that looks like an X in shape!

Yes we are talking about the great Double Road flyover. Finally atleast the mess it has created has been solved to some extent by keeping things the way they must be. See for yourself: (picture courtesy TOI)

Now for some questions on this way of traffic flow:

• Isn't one of this enough either mission road to residency road or double road to richmond road, why both ways the traffic now needs to flow on the flyover?
• Is that design not silly ?
• The bigger question is whether this flyover is now required at all once you see the traffic flow ?
• If they do decide next to remove this flyover, will it solve any issues if one ways are created accordingly?
• Must a small stretch of road between richmond circle and VGP junction on double road make life hell ?
• Will we never see architectural marvels in flyover making at all ?
• What about the maintenance of such a flyover, what will be its state after say 10 years more ? Would you travel on it or under it ?

The issue is not with building flyovers. The issue is with people designing them and the limited scope of the needs of such a construction, that these people have in their narrow mind. Money flow aside.  Any guesses what the next great architectural marvel would be ? How about an underpass on both sides of this flyover ? Or better still a metro train running under this flyover ? Infrastructure planning is an art. Experience must speak by itself, without even a single question asked. You want an example, see for yourself the better part of Bengaluru infrastucture:

Image courtesy: BMIC – NICE

I saw an image in Times Of India, which spelt out the completion times for the Bengaluru Metro or Namma Metro train service. This includes completion of work and commissioning of the actual line. I present that image here for reference:

Source : Times of India.

Currently the line between Byappanahalli terminal and cricket stadium has gathered lots of steam and is on full pace especially in MG Road and CMH road. There have been a few roadblocks in terms of stay orders, but this is hopefull not expected to delay things more than a certain limit of time. So what you see as December 2010 could be well going into 2011 for commissioning. The Peenya to Swastik section of the line could also end somewhere in 2011 December if there are no hitches. Hopefully by 2013 all lines would be ready for use. It is also important to note that 2013 would be the end of BJP regime more or less in Karnataka so a lot depends on how they ensure this activity is complete by then. It is commendable that an extension of the line to Jaraganehalli and Hesaraghatta (shown in green) was done by the current CM. This makes more sense to connect the people of South and North specifically to city center. The lines shown in dark brown would probably be underground and this would be the biggest challenge for the Namma Metro considering uncertainities that would arise while the digging/trenching process is started. There have already been surprises with respect to the magic/match boxes, and the BMRC would have no excuses that this may not occur to them as well.

Monorail considerations are also on to firstly connect in a circular fashion, areas between Trinity circle, Lalbagh, Vijayanagar and Rajajinagar. But there also needs to be a deeper thought process to link up another route on the peripheries of the lines shown on this map. Security remains the top requirement of today for the metro, and no exceptions must be taken in this regard. The simplification of station design ensures that the overall work focus is maintained rather than just commercialization or elevations of these stations and subsequent monetization of the same. Hopefully its a better approach to take more time and do something of good quality once and for all, rather than constrict schedules and firefight at the last moment just to save some skin here and there, and avoid people's wrath. On the compensation front, it seems that BMRC has not learnt enough and they are still lingering the process which might cause further delays. They must realize that evicting necessary people at necessary places is more important at the moment for things to go on smoothly. However this has its own downside with respect to the sentiments of the people who have grown up in their current homes and would be displaced. One good example is the fact that the CMH road approach for Metro was not at all required, and it would have been more easier to run the line on Old Madras Road, considering the fact that CMH road is, was and always would be accessible from OMR from any point.

Another controversy currently going on is the non-consultation with E.Sreedharan on matters related to the Metro. This is a shame that Karnataka has depicted an attitude like this when there is a capable person who is offering his services to bring out things on time. Ego is one thing, and realization of infrastructure in the true sense is another. The latter ultimately would be the collective efforts while the former is about who is the greatest in planning things. You decide which one we want! Its time we induct this man atleast now and make the project go forward faster. Another big difference and problem between Delhi and Namma Metros is the fact that in Delhi the rail route develops first and then everything linked to it, including real estate, whereas in Bangalore its vice-versa. Thousands of properties have been sold by developers harping on a non-existent PRR linking Surjapura and Electronics city even until today. The same thing with NICE Corridor. Whats the point in selling me a property that does not have access to the corridor by quotoing the corridor? It sounds insane. Even more insane is the fact that people actually buy these properties either without doing much research on the facts or sometimes foolishly and knowingly accepting the quirks upfront.

All said and done, I strongly believe and hope and also am sure that change is on the way and hopefully the worst case by 2015 which is exactly six years from now (yes this blog will still exist by then ) you and I would be taking the train more often than our cars for obvious reasons. I dont want to speak about BMTC linking up with the train routes, as it is evident that they are a self sustaining organization by now and they sure know what they are doing with a man like Tripathi at the helm of affairs. Even before you know it, BRT system will be in place and it certainly will be a well connected enjoyable experience. To end this post, only one question then remains to BMRC – how are you going to make this ride a safe one, what are your policies and plans for security on Namma Metro?

GOT SOME THOUGHTS? VOICE THEM OVER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS POST.

It would sure be good to hear your opinions.

Technorati : 2010, 2013, 2015, E, ashok kheny, banashankari, benglauru, bjp, blog, bmic, bmrc, bmtc, brt, bus rapid transit, buses, byappanahalli, central college, city market, cm, cmh road, congress, cricket stadium, deepanjali nagar, delhi, electronics city, hesaraghatta cross, hosahalli, jaragenahalli, jayanagar, jds, k r road, karnataka, kuvempu road, lalbagh, m g road, magadi road, mahalakshmi layout, malleshwaram, metro, mysore road, namma, nice, old madras road, omr, peenya, prr, r v road, railway station, rajajinagar, road, sarjapur, soap factory, south end circle, sreedharan, surjapura, swastik, terminal, tollgate, track, train, trinity circle, tripathi, ulsoor, utilities, vidhana soudha, vijayanagar, yeddyurappa, yediyurappa, yeswanthpur

So it all started off with NICE introducing a toll for their private BMIC-P perhipheral ring road south of Bengaluru. There was absolutely no intimation given to anyone among the citizens in anyway and drivers were caught unawares to pay money on that day. It would have still been fine, if not for the high toll collection which further raised the anger in people.

Now these were the rates in comparison with those elsewhere in the country and also showing a map of the NICE road in Bengaluru and their different rates for different sections within Bengaluru.

This obviously did not go so well with anyone in the city, though Ashok Kheny was stressing that he was going according to the law and rules signed with Deve Gowda who had then initiated this whole shit on himself. BJP obviously kept quiet, becuase it never was responsible for this mess. And to top it all Ashok Kheny said he had done this for the people! Ridiculous. So Mr.Kheny, did you atleast consult your Abhimanigala Sangha before you did this? or everyone else who liked your road and would patiently listen to you? Or were you in other terms just aiming that no one must be using your road at all in a way by making the toll so high. Your hard work, dedication and honesty is appreciated, but just come to think of it, why is your toll so high compared to so many other states in this country? Privatisation does not mean you can do whatever you want beyond whats permissible isnt it ?

So what would you expect next? All parties slamming this decision and ofcourse public violence, which was inevitable!

You brought this on to yourself Mr.Kheny. And when you saw your prized properties being destroyed and vandalized did some sense return to your mind and you then decided to 'revise' the toll to make it lesser by 25% as though you were considerate on the people of this city. The real fact was that you could not be prepared to lose your creation and had to listen to the people on the other side. Citizens matter always remember! So you then had to succumb to public pressure and reduce the toll finally:

Think again Kheny, was this all necessary for a man of your stature? How many governments and how many people will you go against to achieve what you want? Its good to some extent but beyone some extent it will backfire on you the way it did. Now if you raise the toll again in January, you know what you can expect again. Hopefully you will think and think for your own profit. Rather than for our loss.

Technorati : BMIC, BMIC-P, NICE, ashok kheny, bangalore, bannerghatta road, bengaluru, blog, booth, btm layout, electronics city, gottigere, hosur road, kanakapura road, magadi road, mysore road, nice road, rates, silk board, toll, tumkur road, violence

If you have been going around Bangalore watching the billboards at major traffic junctions, you would not have missed out seeing this advertisement about the commune apartments from golden gate properties. Their unique selling proposition is apartments at 19 lacs onwards as the pricing. There are a few things that I wanted to voice about this project which I will do here for the benefit of those wanting to invest in it. Firstly it is close to the NICE Corridor done by Ashok Kheny and company. They go on to say on their website that there would be a road leading to their apartment from the clover leaf junction that NICE has constructed in Somapura Village halfway between Kanakapura Road and Mysore Road. More details about this so called road or roads are present in their own website.

What I like about this project is that the apartments look nice for that price range of 19 lakhs and up. Golden Gate properties have been consistently improving on their designs ever since their first few projects in Begur (near Bommanahalli) almost 7-8 yrs back. That is good news. The Commune does have its own share of issues as well which are evident from the above photo (again taken from their website, with due credits to them). The main cluster of apartments have a region on the inside which would have dimly lit areas thanks to minimum sunlight penetration. Elevationally the apartments look good at present, but the free areas surrounding them are surely going to be occupied slowly by all other apartment builders, making life hell around that area sooner than later. Already Kanakapura road is a good example of civilization improving day by day so much so that they had to do double laning of that road upto Konankunte junction.

As far as the plans are concerned, they offer three types of flats, two of 900+ dimension and one of 1100+ dimension. After checking out top views of each of these I found only the Plan 1 reasonably okay in terms of spacing of rooms and privacy. The rest were a bit unimpressive but hey then that is what low cost housing is all about! I did not like the fact that other than the hall, no other room had a balcony provided which is bad. Also the specifications are not so impressive as I have seen in certain other apartments of course at higher costs. Also to be noted is that only 50% of the car parks would be concealed while the rest would be open to the elements, and god save your vehicle in such a case.

According to their own costing sheet the prices for the starting at 19 lacs apartments would now end up to be either 25 lacs or 30 lacs for the bigger one. So is it affordable living? Think again, I sold my apartment at HSR layout for just a thirds more than this.

Two other things really bother me about the Commune. One is that in their walkthrough they show a road from the clover leaf junction all the way upto their apartment complex which in my opinion would never exist. NICE company is smart enough not to provide entry and exit at the clover leaf junction for every tom, dick and harry. Why for that matter I would be surprised if Banashankari 6th Stage BDA layout manages to secure one exit and one entry point into the clover leaf. And in the case that this entry and exit are not provided, the Communists if I may call them so would then have to either reach Ravi Shankars ashram or Mysore Road to secure an entry into the NICE BMIC-Peripheral Ring Road linking Tumkur Road with Electronics City. So I would take this road approach statements and plans with a pinch of salt.

The second most irritating thing is that the compound wall of the Commune directly abuts or is adjancent to Vrishabavathi Valley or river. For those who do not know what this river is all about, dont have your hopes high, here is the wikipedia description of the river – The Vrishabhavathi River is a minor river that flows north of the Indian city of Bangalore. The Vrishabhavathi is a tributary of the Arkavathy River. The majority of the sewage emanating from Bangalore is carried by these two rivers. Click here for more information. If you want to see a map of how the river flows until it reaches a sewage treatment plant on Mysore Road, see the figure below. (note that the blue river flowing behind the apartments in the figure above is the one being spoken about)

So with this said, how would you like to live bang next to a sewage river? My guesses are as good as yours. There are positives with Commune in trying to provide low cost housing in these troubled times, and there are cons of living next to the NICE clover leaf and the VV Valley/River. Once the mysore bangalore corridor is operational the noise levels in the corridor are expected to go up manifold disturbing peace and harmony all around given the fact that we Indians are fond of honking our vehicles even when there is no necessity for doing it.

This review is not about deciding whether the Commune indeed is the next wave of low cost housing and whether it is the best project till date in town as far as low cost housing is concerned. But it does touch upon the projects highlights to meritoriously put forth a few points to note before investing into it.

Technorati : 3d floor plans, anjanapura, apartments, approval, art of living, ashok kheny, ashram, banashankari 6th stage, bannerghatta road, bda, begur, bmic, bommanahalli, commune, electronics city, family mart, ggproperties, golden gate properties, hsr layout, kanakapura road, konankunte, kumarans, low cost housing, magadi road, mantri, metro, mysore road, nice, peripheral road, ravi shankar, ring road, sewage treatment plant, singapore gardens, south bangalore, spencers, tumkur road, vakils, vrishabhavathi river